Sweet Giselle

by Karen P. Williams

Giselle thinks she has the perfect life. Her fine and sexy husband, Giovanni, is obsessed with his perfect wife and gives her whatever her heart desires. Giselle thinks her husband can do no wrong. What she doesn't know is that his lucrative adult film company is not as legit as it seems, and Giovanni's seedy dealings put his precious wife in danger. Giselle is kidnapped by a vicious drug dealer named Bryce, who is hell bent on revenge after his sister comes up missing and he believes Giovanni is responsible. Bryce takes the thing he knows Giovanni treasures most. He plans to torture Giselle, but instead he finds himself falling in love with her. He reveals the truth about Giovanni and the news pushes her right into Bryce's arms. Giovanni wages a war against Bryce and anyone close to him, leaving several dead bodies in his wake. Now that he has his wife back, Giovanni thinks things can return to the way they were. Giselle, however, can't get Bryce out of her system, and continues to see him behind Giovanni's back. As the war between these two men heats up again, Giselle has to decide if being with the man she loves is worth risking her life.

Genres: African American, Urban

257 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2012

About the author

Karen Williams has worked as a Probation Officer II for 12 years. She now works as a School Counselor. She is the author of “Harlem On Lock,” “The People Vs. Cashmere 1 and 2,” “Dirty To The Grave,” “Sweet Giselle,” “Thug In Me,” “The Demise of Alexis Vancamp,” “Politics As Usual”, “Hail Mary 1 and 2”, Aphrodisiacs: Erotic Short Stories, and “Diamond In The Sky” in the anthology, “Around The Way Girls 7”. She also the author of “Dear Drama 1 and 2” under the Pen name, Braya Spice. She loves writing urban, contemporary, and thriller fiction. When she first started writing, she was inspired from her work with juveniles, as a Probation Officer, and wanted to tell their stories. She wanted to give real people a voice. She is the mother of two lovely children. Karen loves good R & B music, movies, and to cook and bake for families and friends. She recently finished her 13th novel “Forever Reign”, and is working on another.

Reviews

[Athena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet Giselle captured me from the first page. It was very well written and the writer did a great job of making the scenes play out visually in my head. Poor Giselle, there were times that I wanted to choke her for making such dumb decisions and there were times where I just wanted to hug her and pray for her. She seemed to never catch a break and with every event that happened to her my heart broke. One thing that I liked about her character is that she was a fighter physically and most importantly emotionally. This book definitely makes you wonder how well you know the people that you associate with. The storyline was fast paced and different from my normal reads which was refreshing. Although this book took me on an emotional rollercoaster, I was happy that it ended the way that it did bc I was rooting for certain characters. The only small issue that I had with "Sweet Giselle" was towards the end the situations that she endured were so descriptive that they didn't hold my attention at times. Overall, I'm so glad that I finally read this book and I recommend it

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

" Sweet Giselle" was my first read by Author Karen Williams and let me tell you, this book took me on one wild ride! It is the story of Giselle, a young girl struggling to stay afloat after tragedy strikes. Her life seems to be falling apart right in front of her eyes...that is until she meets the rich and handsome, Giovanni. Giovanni wastes no time providing Giselle with everything imaginable. She thinks she's finally found the answer to her problems. But little does she know...her problems have JUST begun.
Sweet Giselle was truly a page turner. I read it in about two days. Giselle was a very believable character,although naive, she made for a nice change of pace. I love a good standalone book every now and again. Job well done Karen! 5 Stars!

~Black Faithful Sisters and Brothers Book Club~

[Yvette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! I love it when a book strikes different emotions within me! This one did just that! Giselle, sweet young and innocent Giselle, allowed herself to become captivated and totally swept by Giovanni! Giovanno was a MONSTER to say the least! I don't want to give the book away but this one had me tee-ed off, gasping in disbelief, and sometimes sad. It was very well written. This is the first book that I have actually read by Karen Williams but it won't be my last. I have others on my shelf that I will be pulling down to read! She is an awesome story teller! The book clearly shows you how far people will go for the love of money and just how much power folks with money really can have! Very Good Read! Now on to the next one!

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book that had my attention from beginning to end. Giselle had been through so much in her life that when she thought her knight in shining armour was there to rescue her she jumped at the change to be with him. After an unfortunate circumstance separates her from her husband she begins to learn more about her husband and the secrets he is trying to hide from her. This was the first book that I read by this author and I am looking forward to reading much more.

[Marissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be careful who you marry. If it looks to good to be true...IT IS!!

[K.B. Krissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like RAW urban fiction mixed with the sick predators of the world than Sweet Giselle is for you. I must warn you, this book is sexually explicit to the tenth power. Women are such warriors. I would need therapy, a perfect husband and the Lord to fix me after what Giselle went through. This story is about a woman who fell in love in the teen porn industry and was very misguided by a producer who married her. She ends up paying the price for his double, sick, warped lifestyle. WARNING, it’s graphic. However, this is the gritty side of being sex trafficked.

[SheaButtahBookhead]

A HOT DAMN MESS! Giselle struggled from beginning to end. She’s taken advantage of and abused the whole time, even by her “love interest”.
I have no idea why this was listed as romance on audible. It’s just another story of a black woman being put in the most traumatic life one can create where shes used, abused, and manipulated.
We never see her being loved properly or “saved” like the damsel in distress she clearly was.
The “happy ending” is her losing everyone she ever cared about and having a baby by her rapist. With the last scene being them sitting on the beach like a happy family. After nearly being beat and r@ped to death? Girl bye.

[Alexis *Reality Bites* · Rating 1 out of 5]

THIS BOOK WAS NOT FOR ME.

This book focused on to many things that are to strong for my taste buds. I am not for brutality against women and i hate pedophilia. It was just waayy to much. This book included a psycho child rapist,kidnapping,abuse,shootouts and lots and lots of murder. I do not recommend:/ But to each his/her own.

[Latonya]

well, i thought the book, was sumething, i never thought it be like that, that she got kidnapped by her husband enemies, all she was rape, and she feel in love with the only man that want to kill her husband, her husband is sumething, beat her up, and had guys gang rape her, and he didnt care one bit. i am so happy that she finally with the man she want to be with.

[Fatima · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Story

This was a great read, Giselle went thru a lot in this story, I thought she was naive but as the story went on she started to win me over. Giovanni was a nasty individual, and Bryce was the truth, I didn't like how he went about things, but he eventually got it together. This story is a page turner from the beginning to the end. I definitely recommend this book.

[*~CONN!3~]

This book is one of two stories my online book club JawJackin 4 real is reading....Redbone is the other, this is April's picks..........I'm looking 4ward 2 reading them both.

OH wait............misprint, REDBONE is saved 4 MAY, my bad, lol

[Radiyatu Bafalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

when i first read this book, the story grabbed me from start to end. it felt like a movie. it was very emotional. giovanni is very obssesed with his wife, he would do anything for her but when he gies too far.. she really see the beast in him. great book fom start to end.

[Monique Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first read by Karen and I loved it. It kept my attention from the first page. Suspenseful with so many mixed emotions.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was not what I expected!! Great book

[Page Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was tempted to give this book 4 instead of 3 star rating, but this is where listening to something in audiobook can take a turn. The narrator, though very good, was clearly Caucasian. This did not stop her from reading the material in a very believable way. For me however, I question the choice to use a Caucasian narrator to read dialogue that contained the continued casual use of the N word. My feelings about that choice overshadowed my ability to simply listen to the narration because I feel offended. Secondly, with all of the heinous things that happened to Giselle, I'm very disturbed by the ease with which she was able to recover and forgive an attacker, to not only have sex, but initiate rough sex with them. Within days of these what should be traumatizing events at that? Like, what twilight zone am I in? I was almost onboard with some of this strange love that built until that happened. Karen Williams is a very good author, but these 2 things irritated me enough that I will second guess another read in the future.

[Kendra Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. The story line was great! Sweet Giselle is a great title for the book. She went through everything from her parents, to her husband, and her best friend. Giovanni seemed like he was going to be the light at the end but how the tables turn and his true colors are revealed. He is a sick individual along with his trifling father. I believe her best friend was always jealous of her since they were kids. She is a sick individual as well.

Along comes Bryce. I'm sorry but I can't excuse some of his behavior either, I empathized with him but can't excuse it. I'm just happy that he and Giselle were able to meet under unfortunate circumstance.

[Charm 🌻 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5…Honey, this will take you on an emotional rollercoaster, but it’s a good book. It was definitely intriguing from the very beginning. I listened on audible. The only part I didn’t care too much for was toward the very end when I felt Giselle made some unnecessarily stupid decisions, but again it was still good. Trigger warning of some very graphic, violent scenes.

[Torrel Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

I lovedddddd it! Lots of twist! Great book can’t wait to read more from this author!

[Dalesha R · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good read but it was also very sad. 💔

[Freda Yaa]

Interesting story

[Sharah Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Last book for 2021.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!!!

Very good book from the beginning til the end. I highly recommend this read. I look forward to reading my next book by this author.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

First I just want to start out by saying That I AM NOT OKAY. This book had me in tears. It's just that everything this character to went through. All the times she was raped, everything she lost, how many times she was betrayed...just DAMN. I Literally don't know what else to say except that she finally got the happy ending she needed in the end.

I've said this before, anytime an author can make me cry after reading their book automatically makes me believe that they are an amazing writer. However, with that said I have a few problems to point out that I think took a little from the story. The first problem was some of the way the author described things. With everything that happened in the book and how good it was, this seems petty but I can't ignore it, like when she says "I looked at him fearfully". How do you look at someone fearfully? I know what she is trying to say but she could have said something like "I looked at him, my face portraying all the fear I felt towards him." It's not perfect I know but better. She also could have said something like " I couldn't take my eyes off of him. I had never seen him like this, this enraged. It showed him as the monster he truly was." Something more than just "looked at him fearfully." If It was another author than I probably wouldn't have brought this up, but in the acknowledgements the author brings up her creative writing classes so I expected more.

Also another thing which I thought didn't really fit was how quickly the character was okay having sex after she was raped. She was okay with having sex with Bryce a few days after her husband had people rape her. I could be wrong about this but any woman that has been raped would not be okay with having consensual sex with anyone, let alone with someone she was in love with. You can argue that she just has a resilient spirit but I think that even a resilient spirit would need a little bit more time. Once again I could be wrong.

On the better note, I love that the Author made Giselle such a strong character in the end. I also like the fact that as a reader I saw Giselle transform from this Damsel in Distress, docile wife to rebellious wife, and her own Heroine by the end of the book. I think the author did an amazing job on character growth displayed in the book. I also like that the ending wasn't a fairytale ending where everything is perfect as if nothing had ever happened but an ending where so much was lost but she still got a happy ending that she and Bryce worked hard for.

All in All the book was really, really good and I actually gave this book 4 and a half stars.

[Doniqual Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Sweet Giselle" is one of my favorite books by Karen Williams. The story starts off with teenage Giselle who has a very easy life. However, one day it changes and soon everything goes downhill from there. Giselle starts to do things she never thought that she would do in order to provide for her and her brother. Giselle meets a man, who will eventually become her husband, and he introduces Giselle to alot of things that she thought she would never have or see. Giselle now has a perfect life, but her husband is hiding some very bad secrets that are going on right in front of Giselle, who is blinded by all of his wealth to see. Now Giselle is in danger because of her husband, and she starts to learn alot about him that she didn't know before. That's all I shall say about this book because it is really good. I reccomend that you read this book because it will have you reading it until the very end. I honestly finished this book in one day.

[Sheda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing! By the last page it definitely brought tears to my eyes. It's so crazy how many women actually do marry monsters and never have a clue about the things they are doing. Giselle went through entirely too much. I was happy to see character growth and change by the end. I would definitely recommend this book and I will be checking out other books from this author! Great read!

[Winter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazingly good! I just chose this book looking through my random recommendations on Amazon. I was so pleased and couldn't put it down if I wanted too lol I highly recommend this book and fyI, I read this book a year ago, I just haven't updated my good reads page in for ever :)

[Tasha]

I could not put this book down, took me 8hrs. Giselle went though so,so much and yet she came out on top, sorry her brother had to die. Got to read the rest of Karen Williams books, love,love,love her ;-)

[Yvette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was not disappointed! It was different & I loved it!

[Delonya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Final Rating 3 Stars.

[Lisa G · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It grabs you from the 1st page. Karen Williams never disappoints