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Friends and Lovers #1
At Last
When Brian Keenan, a white business associate, expresses interest in her, Caroline, a talented African-American artist, fights her attraction to him until someone begins stalking her and she needs his help. Original.
455 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
2 people are currently reading
227 people want to read
About the author
Lisa G. Riley
22 books51 followersMulti-published author who loves the end result, but isn't all that crazy about the entire process. I write multi-racial stories across several genres including historical, paranormal, erotic and suspense.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
March 4, 2010
WOW, what a flaming turd of a book. First off, typos! Second, obviously no editing was involved, because this story was so poorly crafted, I didn't make it past the first few pages of the first chapter. Point of views ping-ponged around the room (a flaw I see in a fair amount of romances), scenes would switch to a very different locale within the span of a paragraph break with no transition whatsoever (less seen, but still a predominantly romance-novel flaw). And to top it off, one more glaringly abrupt, ridiculous lust/love-at-first-sight cliche, which is a dismaying staple of most of the romances my poor eyes have been subjected to. What happened to showing chemistry? What happened to finding out how the object of lust ticks before lunging for a kiss in front of the elevators in a corporate building? For that matter, what is the obsession with Fabio men? The white guy is described with dark locks, luscious lips, a super tan, slashing eyebrows, sculpted cheekbones, cleft chin, 6 ft tall.....and oh, a tech whiz.
What?
Did I read that right? Tech whiz Fabio? I'm sorry, I work with plenty of engineers, and went to school surrounded by the same, and while there are a fair number of 20-somethings who do take care of themselves physically, none have ever come across as Superman. And seriously, even Superman had his goofy, innocent everyday face.
How about a hero who looks nice and normal, someone who gets cuter the more you get to know him? Who matches his environment? Who doesn't do ridiculous public acts of affection that are unwarranted and kind of pervy? How about a heroine who isn't bowled over by just good looks?
And how about some quality control?
What?
Did I read that right? Tech whiz Fabio? I'm sorry, I work with plenty of engineers, and went to school surrounded by the same, and while there are a fair number of 20-somethings who do take care of themselves physically, none have ever come across as Superman. And seriously, even Superman had his goofy, innocent everyday face.
How about a hero who looks nice and normal, someone who gets cuter the more you get to know him? Who matches his environment? Who doesn't do ridiculous public acts of affection that are unwarranted and kind of pervy? How about a heroine who isn't bowled over by just good looks?
And how about some quality control?
July 19, 2007
At Last, The End!
This is the first novel I read by Lisa Riley and it was very disappointing. I had such high hopes after reading the great reviews, but the story just didn't work for me. Not to mention the many typos and the different fonts (what was that about?). This has to be the worse IR novel I've ever read. It started off decent, I enjoyed the love at first sight meeting, but it went downhill after that. I became bored with the 'monkey wrench' that kept the couple from getting together for so long. And I got sick of Caroline and her childish antics. She acted like a spoiled, whiney brat at times. I enjoyed Brian's character and thought he was a fool to put up with all her silly, childish and stubborn ways. And I thought their was too much negativity surrounding the whole race issue, especially coming from Caroline. Many times I wanted to put it down and I found myself skipping paragraphs and pages hoping it would get better, but it never did and I just couldn't wait for the story to end...'At Last'!
This is the first novel I read by Lisa Riley and it was very disappointing. I had such high hopes after reading the great reviews, but the story just didn't work for me. Not to mention the many typos and the different fonts (what was that about?). This has to be the worse IR novel I've ever read. It started off decent, I enjoyed the love at first sight meeting, but it went downhill after that. I became bored with the 'monkey wrench' that kept the couple from getting together for so long. And I got sick of Caroline and her childish antics. She acted like a spoiled, whiney brat at times. I enjoyed Brian's character and thought he was a fool to put up with all her silly, childish and stubborn ways. And I thought their was too much negativity surrounding the whole race issue, especially coming from Caroline. Many times I wanted to put it down and I found myself skipping paragraphs and pages hoping it would get better, but it never did and I just couldn't wait for the story to end...'At Last'!
January 14, 2008
I don't know what it was about this book but I found it very unsatisfying. For one thing, the pacing seemed all off. The writer has talent. She actually does know how to write. My problem with the story is it dragged in some (well many) places and then seemed sped up and disjointed in others.
First I thought the relationship between the two main characters started too quickly (they were ready to kiss each other from the moment they met) and then, weirdly, went nowhere. It didn't seem to progress. Yes, they talked about how much they meant to each other and how they really felt like they wanted to spend their lives together but all I could do was ask "well, why?" To me, there wasn't a great build up and therefore the pay-off is just 'meh'.
Since this is an IR romance, I know that the author needs to make a decision of either confronting the issue or ignoring it. In this book, the issue was confronted, but at times I felt as if I were being bludgeoned or lectured at. I don't mind making racial factors a roadblock to a relationship going forward, but I would like for the issues to be raised organically. The author just seemed to throw incidents at the couple to create a plot point for discussion of some characters' uneasiness with IR dating.
Also, the editing of this book was horrid. There'd be whole passages in italics, like someone forgot to close a tag. Also, there'd be weird scene shifts. In one paragraph the couple was at a dinner party and in the very next paragraph they were somewhere completely different a couple of days later. There was no transitioning. Very disorienting.
I don't recommend.
First I thought the relationship between the two main characters started too quickly (they were ready to kiss each other from the moment they met) and then, weirdly, went nowhere. It didn't seem to progress. Yes, they talked about how much they meant to each other and how they really felt like they wanted to spend their lives together but all I could do was ask "well, why?" To me, there wasn't a great build up and therefore the pay-off is just 'meh'.
Since this is an IR romance, I know that the author needs to make a decision of either confronting the issue or ignoring it. In this book, the issue was confronted, but at times I felt as if I were being bludgeoned or lectured at. I don't mind making racial factors a roadblock to a relationship going forward, but I would like for the issues to be raised organically. The author just seemed to throw incidents at the couple to create a plot point for discussion of some characters' uneasiness with IR dating.
Also, the editing of this book was horrid. There'd be whole passages in italics, like someone forgot to close a tag. Also, there'd be weird scene shifts. In one paragraph the couple was at a dinner party and in the very next paragraph they were somewhere completely different a couple of days later. There was no transitioning. Very disorienting.
I don't recommend.
August 13, 2012
I would have LOVED this book if the female lead wasn't sooooo freaking annoying. She was sooo unbelievable. Her annoying ability to always put herself in danger and the fact that the author made it seem like she was perfection and the envy of all women because she was skinny and rich really turned me off. The fact that her character was so stubborn and unwilling to take her safety seriously upset me because her logic was completely unrealistic. I would have liked the book more if the female lead was different. The male lead was amazing though. LOVE HIM! I also didn't like the typical problem of "I'm a Black woman so I couldn't possibly date a White man. Gross!" factor that came along with the book in the beginning that lingered through out the book. In all I would not recommend it if you were looking for a really good read. But if you wanted to kill time then go for it.
May 7, 2012
I loved this book Brian and Caroline's was wonderful and I had to laugh at little Genevevive She was just adorable and funny. I liked the fact that author chose to write about the hardships the couple experenced because of racism. It was a realistic view and made the romance that much sweeter. I cant wait to read the next installment about Tracey and Jack.
January 23, 2009
*****EXCELLENT******
March 13, 2009
A Must Read!!!!! Excellent Plot and characters!!! You can feel the love!!! You can feel the chemistry
August 29, 2009
I really enjoyed this book. I love romantic suspense and this one delivered suspense and great character development.
February 7, 2008
I would rate this book a 4 1/2 star. I just loved the story. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars was because of the editing errors.
The story starts off with Caroline rushing to a 2nd job interview as a art consultant. Where she bumps into Brian who happens to be one of the co-owner of the company she is interviewing with. The attraction they both feel towards one another just leaps off the pages. She has never before dated a white man but her heart is telling her that this man is special. She is fighting to control her feelings but gives her phone number to him but not her name. Not realizing that she will see him in a few minutes.
But that is where the complications just start. Company policy you don't date employees. They both have reservations of dating in the work place. And Caroline is still flipping over the fact that Brian is white.
That doesn't bother Brian. He knows Caroline is the one, he is letting her know it. Being all Alpha about it.
And then there is the crazy woman that works there Ida that used to date Brian and I do mean CRAZY!!!!
There is suspense and a plot. I really enjoyed this story. Looking forward to the next Lisa Riley novel.
The story starts off with Caroline rushing to a 2nd job interview as a art consultant. Where she bumps into Brian who happens to be one of the co-owner of the company she is interviewing with. The attraction they both feel towards one another just leaps off the pages. She has never before dated a white man but her heart is telling her that this man is special. She is fighting to control her feelings but gives her phone number to him but not her name. Not realizing that she will see him in a few minutes.
But that is where the complications just start. Company policy you don't date employees. They both have reservations of dating in the work place. And Caroline is still flipping over the fact that Brian is white.
That doesn't bother Brian. He knows Caroline is the one, he is letting her know it. Being all Alpha about it.
And then there is the crazy woman that works there Ida that used to date Brian and I do mean CRAZY!!!!
There is suspense and a plot. I really enjoyed this story. Looking forward to the next Lisa Riley novel.
September 28, 2009
I enjoyed this book for its romantic qualities. The mystery/intrigue was a little slow, but it did not distract from this sweet romantic story. I read the books out of order and at first I thought I enjoyed the second "Caught Up in th Rapture" more. I must say however, I enjoyed them the same. This is a book if you enjoy sweet romance with just a little mystery sprinkled in.
March 10, 2011
Loved It!!!! I love Brian's character the way he doted over Caroline and always wanted to protect her was so sweet. He was a man of assurance he knew what he wanted and went for it. The main characters in this story were very lovable including Tracy and Jack. The mystery was also off the charts.
January 17, 2014
Started off a little disjointed for me. I think the beginning could have been more developed. But overall a good read. The author left us in limbo a bit so there could be a sequeal that I haven't yet discovered. Looking for it now.
January 22, 2014
Love this story. Read it like 2 times already. I thought it was adorable and well crafted story. A new way to reading it than the norm like the typical storyline and that's perdect for me. I enjoyed it Lisa G. Riley, I wanna read another!!!
January 1, 2017
I read this a long time ago and, although tame in content compared to today's standard, it was if I recall a great read. The characters were genuinely in love a nd feelings do not change. My tastes have b e come somewhat raunchy but I still retain some fondness for t his book.
Read
September 26, 2008Reading an earlier poorly edited copy from 2003. The story would move faster if it weren't for the terrible editing.
April 1, 2009
This was a great story with great plot twists. Caroline and Brian were the perfect couple.
April 23, 2009
I read this awhile ago, It was a good book.
March 28, 2012
So wonderful:)!
Want to read
August 8, 2013The heroine needed a slap too whinny and the hero well
Just keeps pinning for her.. Felt sorry for him
Just keeps pinning for her.. Felt sorry for him
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews