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Shooting Blindly in the Dark

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A young Black Reign is just trying to survive. She considers herself a realist, and decided that she doesn’t have time for fairy-tales. Therefore, she wasn’t some young naïve girl looking for love.

Kaydoa doesn’t live a glamorous life, either. He hustles just to get by, and provide what he can for his beautiful girl, Farrah. Life coasts on for him and Black Reign, until they decide to get money together. All goes according to plan, until someone decides to get their feelings involved. Hustling with the one you love is extremely complicated, but the two attempt to make it happen. Soon, their decisions take them on a journey that neither of them seen coming.

Shooting Blindly in the Dark is a story about the power of love. When two lost souls come together life seems complete. But in the real world there are no fairy-tales, and reality can be harsh and uncaring.

466 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 7, 2015

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Nicole Jackson

146 books413 followers

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5 stars
522 (78%)
4 stars
91 (13%)
3 stars
39 (5%)
2 stars
11 (1%)
1 star
4 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 117 reviews
Profile Image for Lisette.
636 reviews49 followers
January 15, 2024
This was drama!
From beginning to end, I couldn't help but root for Jasmine and Kaydoa. But when I met Keyon, I wanted him to be the one. I would love to read his story. He came in, and his short time left quite the impression. I believe that Kaydoa loved Jasmine, but he was too wishy washy and doubling back was not the move. In my opinion, that was an unforgivable offense. This book stressed me out but in the best way.
Profile Image for Shakeria Sharie.
672 reviews30 followers
May 21, 2015
I loved this book just like all the other ones. It was great from beginning to end. Jasmine had so much growth in this book.
151 reviews1 follower
July 17, 2017
Really

It was a good book. I'm just not a big fan when the side chic takes the main chic man and have the happy ending. REALITY things like this happen everyday. I felt sorry for Farrah cuz she lost herself in a man. Both women PLAYED the fool. Sometimes it was RIDICULOUS. Over all GOOD READ.
Profile Image for Shoda.
208 reviews4 followers
October 1, 2020
Ok read

I don’t like when men do women dirty and still end up with what they want.. I felt both Jasmine and Farrah were WEAK, Jasmine steady saying she got the upper hand when really it’s Kaydoa who has the last say so cuz if he wanted both y’all he would of still carried on and both Jasmine and Farrah would still be falling victim. I really wanted Jasmine to move on but she weak so of course she kept giving him chances after chances. Everybody steady saying how she shouldn’t be mad that he got back with his ex but that was a low blow for him.. could of messed with a random but you was out free like a family with Farrah talking about you need help with the baby, HIRE A NANNY..
Profile Image for Jaliesa.
211 reviews16 followers
August 28, 2026
Wasn’t my favorite but still a solid read . All
The books be filled with drama . & I wanted Jasmine to win so bad . It’s funny how I liked Kaydo in Wale & Key book that’s why I went back to his but I didn’t care for him that much in this one . Loved Jasmine down though and Keyon was a real one .

One thing that’s going to happen. Babies, break up to make up and some crazy characters either male or female . I hate that Farrah was so weak behind him but then again she brought everything on herself he played with you once why give him a chance to do it again it broke my heart she did that her self cause she deserve so much more . Those songs and lyric going to hit every time .
Profile Image for Kris Danielle.
241 reviews4 followers
March 24, 2017
SBITD

This book was the best one I've read by Nicole Jackson yet! The love Kaydoa and Jasmine have for each other is refreshing. Farrah was so weak and it made me despise her. I'm glad Jasmine got help for her problem and finally found herself. Great story few errors but I don't even care. It still deserves 5 stars!
Profile Image for OhhSlimmm.
506 reviews32 followers
April 12, 2017
Black Reign and Kaydoa was a wild card I didn't think they will make it so much drama but overall good story
Profile Image for Ali.
85 reviews11 followers
April 30, 2025
a page turner

Ms. Jackson,maaaam, you took through me the trenches with this one! 600+ pages and every single one had my mouth wide open.
Profile Image for ☺~Tina~☺.
386 reviews1 follower
June 11, 2021
There were some grammatical errors but a good read. It had plenty of drama and it was a little to real for at time on what women allow in real life. Sometimes women are so busy trying to prove that that can take someone else’s man that they don’t realize that that just gave the man the power. All side chick have to play the role and they have to hope and pray that they end up on top. Sometimes you do (because sometimes that person isn’t your person no matter how much you love them) most time they don’t. Here Jasmine was stronger than Farrah because while she broke and mess up, she was strong enough at one point to walk away and not settle. Farrah just didn’t know her worth. That is always the most important thing in life. Kaydoa just wasn’t Farrah’s person he threw her away to easily. He showed her exactly how he felt about her time and time again. The level of disrespect was astronomical. Now, he is happy and living live and where is she? This is why you don’t put your happiness in other people’s hand. The happiness the bring should be gravy not the foundation of the relationship.
Profile Image for Court.
3 reviews
July 12, 2017
This book was okay/good for the most part

This is like my 4th or 5th novel I've read by Nicole Jackson. I absolutely love her stories but, however, I really dislike the fact that the women are perceived to be so weak. The main women characters that is. Black Reign is portrayed as a strong, hood chick but when it came down to Kaydoa I hate that just because he didn't want her, it literally drove her to becoming a drug addict. I can understand that sometimes women are weak for men but in the 4/5 novels I've read, ALL the women reacted in a similar way. I guess as a woman I'd like to see more of the women characters stand up for themselves and have just as much willpower as the men. Instead of always reading about how a woman would just die if she could have the man
47 reviews7 followers
May 14, 2015
Loved this book!

Love love loved this book! I love all Nicole's books but this is definitely one of top 5 favs now. I loved Kaydoa & Jasmines relationship but they definitely took me on a emotional roller coaster. I went from loving Kaydoa, to hating him, to not liking anybody to loving him again lol. I thought Jasmine was a lost cause for a minute but thank god she got it together. I'm happy Jasmine, Kaydoa, & Kaylah got their happy ending. Oh yea....There were some appearances that I was not expecting, you definitely have to pay attention to all the characters in Nicole's book no matter how big or small their part is cause they're bound to show up again.
Profile Image for Bigmofrombflo.
76 reviews41 followers
May 30, 2015
This is the definition of a good book.

Finally the wait is over. A good standalone that will you your money's worth. This book had me on the tallest rollercoaster. It shows how easy you can get caught up in a side chic relationship and watch your life spin out of control. This book had me laughing, crying and stuck in my feelings. Yes it had some errors but it wouldn't take away from this 5***** read. This Author did her thing I with this I'm about ready to read all her work.
Profile Image for Gina.
673 reviews19 followers
April 10, 2015
OMG !!

Why is this book so good !! This book had me heated at times because jasmine deserves better,and I love kaydoa at the same time .One thing these pet names was crazy lol !! I can't wait for the whole book great job Nicole Jackson
35 reviews
April 8, 2015
Aahhhhhh!!!

Kaydoa and Jasmine yes baby! I can't wait for the rest of this story !!! Oh yeah #fckFarrah #teamjasmine!!! Smdh!
Profile Image for Shakeria Sharie.
672 reviews30 followers
April 13, 2015
This was a great sample. It was as long as a lot of books coming out. Can't wait for the full version. This book kept me hooked.
Profile Image for Bookzamillionpt2cuzilost.
278 reviews10 followers
June 2, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is still one of my favorite Nicole Jackson books.

I’ve reread this book around 10 times now, and every single time it reminds me why it sits so high on my favorites list. The story is emotional, realistic, heartbreaking, and beautiful all at once. Black Reign and Kaydoa’s journey never gets old to me.

What stands out most is how much growth this book shows in Nicole Jackson’s writing. The characters feel real, the emotions hit hard, and the story stays with you long after you’ve finished reading.

Some books are good. Some books are memorable. This is one of those books I find myself coming back to year after year.

10 rereads later and it’s still a million-star read. ❤️📚




She Got It
   1. She Got It (2014)
   2. She Got It 2 (2014)
 
Hold It Down
   The Game Never Changes (2014)
   They Don't Know Me (2015)
   Freeze (2016)
   The Wild Child (2019)
   Just Listen (2026)
 
Can't Trust These Bitches
   1. Can't Trust these Bitches (2014)
   Can't Trust These Bitches: Amir and Zyrie (2015)
   2. Can't Trust These Bitches 2 (2015)
   3. Can't Trust These Bitches 3 (2020)
 
Promiscuous Girl
   1. Promiscuous Girl: Keyasia and Wale (2016)
   2. Promiscuous Girl: Craven and Jazel (2018)
   3. Promiscuous Girl 3 (2020)
 
So Many Tears
   1. So Many Tears (2019)
   2. So Many Tears 2 (2019)
 
Borrowed Love
   1. Borrowed Love (2021)
   2. Borrowed Love 2 (2021)
   We Outside (2021)
   We Outside 2 (2021)
   Foolish (2022)
   Foolish 2 (2022)
 
Take It Down
   1. Take It Down (2022)
   2. Take It Down 2 (2022)
 
Take It Down Spin-Off
   1. His Boy Can Get It (2022)
   2. His Boy Can Get It 2 (2022)
 
No Matter What
   1. Deeper Than Love (2022)
   2. Deeper Than Love 2 (2022)
 
Checkmate (with Jazz Moore)
   Snowed in With You (2023)
 
Interlude
   1. The Interlude (2023)
   2. The Interlude 2 (2023)
   3. The Interlude 3 (2023)
 
Trouble
   1. Trouble (2023)
   2. Trouble 2 (2023)
   3. Trouble 3 (2023)
 
More Than a Crush
   1. More Than a Crush (2023)
   2. More Than a Crush 2 (2023)
 
Three's The Clique
   1. Three's The Clique (2023)
   2. Extreme Toxicity (2025)
 
Doing The Unthinkable
   0. The Disloyal 2 (2024)
   1. Doing The Unthinkable (2024)
   2. Doing The Unthinkable 2 (2024)
   The Disloyal (2024)
 
Novels
   Hold It Down (2014)
   The Way It Is (2014)
   Connected (2014)
   Circumstances (2014)
   Can't Leave It Alone (2015)
   Shooting Blindly in the Dark (2015)
   Even When It's Wrong (2017)
   21 Questions (2017)
   He's for Everybody (2018)
   You Ain't My Type (2018)
   No Matter What (2019)
   Fat Ma (2020)
   Resentment (2021)
   Never Saw Her Coming (2024)
   A Time Was Had (2024)
   The Villain Era (2025)
   When It's Real (2025)
   Before I Let Go (2025) (with Jazz Moore)
   She Owes Him One (2025)
   Stepped (2026)
 
Novellas and Short Stories
   Freaky Tales (2022)
   A Season Called Us (2025)
Profile Image for Lia.
363 reviews9 followers
December 2, 2025
Wow 👏🏾👏🏾This was like a rollercoaster. I can't believe this was written 10 years ago. Usually, when you go back into an author's catalogue the books ain't that great. But with Nicole it was the complete opposite...🤯

Like 10%in I was weary because it was so tacky. The introduction to the main characters almost made me uncomfortable lol and I wanted to stop reading but curiosity made me continue on. There should be trigger warnings because there are some hard subjects touched in in this book. Messing with minors, prostitution, miscarriage, drug abuse etc. It's a hard read.

But it was truly a rollercoaster. I could not stop reading if I wanted to🤣. I felt like I was fully emerged in the world of Jasmine and Kaydoa. The storyline was that captivating.

What an odd love triangle... Farrah had one chapter dedicated to her so we could get an insight into how she perceived things. And she was quite twisted. I still can't wrap my head around her motives. Did she really think things would work out after all that time? 🤔

Kaydoa should've been the villain yet somehow he was portrayed as love sick and selfish. I don't know how to feel about his relationship with Jasmine. A part of me wished she got with Kaydon lol I dunno, all these books I've been reading lately feel like the male characters get away with bs and still get a HEA ending.😒

Jasmine's character was so interesting. We got to see her ups and downs. And most of the story was told through her lens. She truly was wild 🤣 this did not read like a fiction. It felt like a memoir...Again, it reminded me of "coldest winter ever" in the sense that the main character is misguided and lost in life and has to figure it out. Her decisions were questionable but then it wasn't surprising as she was a product of her environment🤷🏾‍♀️. It's so deep😞.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. It was well-written, despite a few typos. It flowed from scene to scene seamlessly. There were no filler scenes so it was engaging because every single scene and character pushed the plot along. I loved it. The spicy scenes were🥵🔥🌶️. And there was SO MUCH going on, it felt like a movie. Just non-stop drama. And you're sitting there like 😮 lol So if you can handle raw unfiltered stories then I highly recommend!
463 reviews4 followers
April 23, 2021
Hummm.... wow! This was a lot

Wow.... it’s been a while that I have read a book with so much going on. This was good, a little bit too much or too real at times, but was still good.
Jasmine”black reign”was just a little it too hood, too gettho for my taste but so honest and down to earth, that at one point I believe that’s the balance that helped this character to stay up.
Kaydoa, man, he was bad. He definitely not the bae I was hoping for. You don’t play with people like that and for that I think he was weak, too weak to be a boss and definitely not fit to have a beauty such as jasmine. He was truly lame and just pathetic. Why couldn’t he choose from the get go instead of feeling “bad” now? Serves you right for all of this unnecessary drama when all along, it was you at fault for everything.... so no sympathy there for you!
Hurt was more my speed as well Keyon who by the way had more bae tendencies than Kaydoa. Monay was perfect so was Red reign, Ryah and even briefly Jewzel. Farrah was pathetic and deranged and Pebbles was a mess.
This story, besides all that deserved this rating because this was so close to the real life that we and millions others are living it as we speak and it was so well crafted that you can see the penmanship in this author is some serious business, no questions ask.
I will be definitely reading this author again even though this was not the exact thing I was expecting specially after reading the reviews...
Profile Image for Kendra Moses.
32 reviews4 followers
October 24, 2023
Ghetto Goodnes

This was a very good read. It was very realistic. The only thing that I can say that I didn’t like about the book was the fact that Farrah went out the way that she did. I honestly wish she could’ve had a happy ending. It’s like she got the short end of the stick when she never did anything wrong. It’s like Kaydoa used her as a safety net, and got mad when she was in her feelings when she had every right to be. I honestly feel like it sometimes I like the black reign but then again sometimes I didn’t because she had no problem sticking around, knowing that she was intruding on a relationship even though it might have already been broken. But I will say in this particular book I’m glad that when Jasmine did. Mess wit Keyon she actually deserved to have some type of happiness. And some of her other books, I noticed that the women would sleep with some other guy for get back and I don’t think this was the case for Jasmine when she slept with Keyon overall wonderful book.
Profile Image for Jgenisis.
Author 2 books8 followers
November 5, 2018
Wow

Honestly when a friend suggested this book to me I didn't know what to think but I dowmloaded it anyway and when I started reading and saw the names I got annoyed...BUT, This book is THE BOMB... Like, it had me all in my feelings. I haven't been leaving reviews lately but I feel compelled to leave a review for this one. Kaydoa and Black Reign (Aka Jasmine) took me on a whirlwind of emotions. I love them together, but honestly I think they were toxic for each other. I'm glad this story had a happy ending but dang, it shouldn't have taken them going through all of that for them to finally realize they should be together. Farrah IRKED. She was so weak but its legit women out here who put up with crap like that. Anyway, this was an AMAZING read and now I have every intention of putting this author's catalog on my reading list. Thank you for sharing this story!
Profile Image for Katrina and her Kindle.
99 reviews2 followers
July 27, 2026
I started out thinking I was going to love this book but then when it seems promising it goes downhill. The Farrah situation lasting the whole book is annoying. No one wants to read a book where the fmc and mmc are at odds or going through drama from beginning to end and sleeping with other people on page. Like where is the growth?

And why does there always have to be so many sources of conflict? Side chick, cheating, prison, back to the main chick, sherm head, back to being a side chick, sleeping with the daddy. Like damn! Nicole makes it very hard to root for one or both people in the relationship cause they’re always so grimy and irredeemable. Like instead of character development they get a baby instead.

And Farrah was the ultimate dummy but really, so was Kaydoa AND Jasmine.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
207 reviews1 follower
May 30, 2022
OMG what a great journey

Jasmine and Kaydoa went thru so many trials and tribulations to be together. Kaydoa treated both women and disrespectful and was both their heart. Kaydoa didn't appreciate her and who she was and what she stood for. Jasmine got so lost in loving a man she lost herself and didn't love herself. She didn't want to deal with the pain of her heart being stomp on.She went to prison and lost time with her daughter. Farrah couldn't handle the rejection of Kaydoa and him loving Jasmine more then her. Farrah was caught up in loving him she committed suicide because he had love for her but he loved Jasmine.
223 reviews3 followers
January 23, 2021
Twisted and dysfunctional but oh so good!

Black Reign enjoyed being the side chick, Farrah relished in victimhood and Kaydoa stayed perpetually in boyhood. Kaydoa was such a weak man unable to choose his destiny. He floated between two selfish women and they called it “Love”. That was one of the most disrespectful, unkind, dysfunctional, chaotic triangle that has ever existed in fiction. Great writing though and entertaining. I enjoyed reading it, and would recommend the book to others.
Profile Image for thebookcritic_.
1,005 reviews68 followers
June 25, 2026
ehhhh

This one was just okay. I didn’t like all the going back and forth. I kinda felt bad for Farrah but at some point she just accepted her fate with Kaydoa. At the end of the day, Jasmine was a side chick and Kaydoa wanted his cake and to eat it too. But at least Jasmine usually kept it real. They also didn’t really have any goals. They was just living in the moment not thinking about the future. I will say the banter and jonesing was A1 in this book. I liked the second half more than the first.

Quite a few grammatical errors. Sandals was misspelled every time.
Profile Image for Shonta.
1,200 reviews6 followers
December 18, 2018
Good Read

I think I'm going to miss Kaydoa & the crew!! Man Kaydoa put both Jasmin and Farrah through it. I'm glad Jasmin got it together in the end. Farrah was crazy for putting up with all Kaydoa mess, sad she couldn't get it together in the end. I like Keyon... I would like a story on him. It was a good read even though a lot if some was repetitive.
Profile Image for Angelia Rhodes.
1,704 reviews1 follower
August 4, 2021
Shoot to the Heart

Let me just start of by saying, I can't stand the way Kaydoa treated Farrah. She was weak true enough but treating her like trash was not cool. Jasmine sweetie you were lost and my heart also broke for you. My My My!! I'm not going to give spoilers, this was a good read.
Profile Image for Shequana .
66 reviews2 followers
July 26, 2024
Whew…that was a ride

This was so good y’all! Man, there were so many times I just knew they wouldn’t make it, and didn’t know if I wanted them to, but love won in the end. No one or nothing could break Jasmine and Kaydoa up, not even the streets.

This was a good hood story, if you’re into that read it.
12 reviews
July 28, 2026
Always entertaining

Nicole Jackson has always been one of my favorite authors, the way she draws us in with her character and plot development always keeps me engaged. As I reread her catalog for a forth or fifth time(don’t judge) she always delivers. No different with the story of Black Reign and Kaydoa.

Keep writing Nicole, I’m still reading and rereading.
11 reviews
March 6, 2019
So good I read it twice!!!

Loved it ... part 2 please!!! The story needed a happy ending .. it had enough drama to be real life and those 2 became my best outta all the series so far!
234 reviews1 follower
December 11, 2019
👏🏾👏🏾

Loved it. Both them crazies almost made me slap them with their mess. Glad everything worked out for them. Kaydoa lucky because what he did was cause to put a bullet in his a** cheek lol. Still I loved them both even with the mess
Displaying 1 - 30 of 117 reviews