Isiah Freeman is the son of a prominent pastor and a star on his school track team. Blessed with good looks, brains, athleticism, and a loving family, his life appears to be perfect. However, everything is not as it seems. Beneath his perfect surface he has been struggling for years with “unnatural” feelings and desires which threaten to crack his happy façade, and shatter his faith. When a seductive newcomer with a troubled past shows up at his church one Sunday, Isiah is suddenly forced to confront and deal with his desires head-on. Will he continue to try to resist and suppress his urges? Or, will he succumb to temptation and finally take a bite of the forbidden fruit? The ramifications of the choice he makes will ultimately turn his “perfect” world upside down and leave his life in complete disarray. Will Isiah be able to weather the storm? From Reginald Write, author of “The Breaking Point,” “Playing with Fire,” and “Teacher's Pet,” comes a tempting and tempestuous new tale of love, lust, and lies!
Reginald Write is a southern boy with a northern edge! Hailing from GA, he currently resides in NY. He is a versatile (bad pun intended) storyteller whose works feature compelling, complex, and sometimes completely crazy characters from all walks of life, who come in all shades and colors. When he's not binge-watching something on Netflix, he's probably busy working on his latest twisty, turny, thought-provoking tale.
The blurb of this book had me intrigued. It was a topic that I could definitely relate to as a black male growing up in a Christian world. I was more than ready to see how the author handled this. For the most part it was done well. Well enough for me to completely trash my own idea for this type of story so that’s more than a good point. The flow was okay even the pacing was alright. But unfortunately, some things were slightly off and I reached a point around 40 percent in, where I had to bow out of reading this book.
Firstly the way Isiah is trying to deny his sexuality and essentially pray the gay away was handled well. As the son of the paster and being watched by most of the congregation, it wasn’t hard to get on board with him firmly believing, although misguided as most religious assumptions are, that Jamal was a test. That resisting him and converting him to Christianity was the reason God had sent him. The struggle is real and felt and something easy to believe.
This book was really eye opening without being too cliche. The plot twist were really entertaining and the story remained real without turning into a soap opera.