Just Short of Crazy: A Sassy Contemporary Romance About a Lawyer Kicking Butt and Falling in Love

by Nina Foxx

When smart, successful, levelheaded lawyer Alexis Pearson gets blindsided by her faithless fiancé, who disses and dumps her, she decides to change everything . Gone are the trendy dreads in favor of her own soft and natural tresses. She's going to get her body, mind, and spirit in shape with tae kwan do classes -- and maybe kick some butt in the process to work out the aggression brought on by the abandonment . . . and her boss's unsubtle offers to help mend her busted heart. Of course, she never intended for it all to get out of hand -- and she certainly didn't mean to break the elbow of her first-time sparring partner, Remedy Brown. At least she got the attention of this tall, dark, and very handsome nightclub owner with the unfortunate name. And though Alexis is wary about diving recklessly too soon into the relationship fire again, she can't help wondering if sexy, warm-hearted Remedy might be a remedy for what's ailing her. But the man comes with some crazy baggage -- namely Ayzah, his estranged and deranged ex-wife, who's pure, unadulterated 'hood. And suddenly both the personal and professional lives of the "new" Alexis Pearson are about to get a lot wilder . . . and riskier.

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

I'm a storyteller, and my stories manifest themselves in novels, plays, films and fiber. I make things and always have projects going in all of these areas, and sometimes more than one of them intersect. I travel to feed my stories. I teach yoga for conferences, events and online a few times a week. Shivasana is my favorite pose, because, well, who doesn't like to lay down?!

In addition to authoring over 20 narrative publications, I've written three plays, a few films, and have authored sereval Industrial Design Patents. I work a day job in tech--because I love it. I am a frequent speaker at conferences about being A Blerd (Black Girl Nerd), Black in Technology, Women's Health and other topics.

My work has been nominated for several awards, including an NAACP Image Award, A Doctorow Award for Innovative Fiction, and several African American Literary Awards.

I am the founder of The Writing Sisters Summit, a writing and wellness retreat for Women of Color, and am currently an Artist-In-Residence at Brown Soul Productions.
I am originally from Jamaica, New York, but now live in the Seattle Area for most of the year.

Reviews

[Titilayo · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is like lemonade at a church picnic: light refreshing sweet and somewhat tart. where do i begin. unlike most novels with crazy photostock images of black people this story actually has some substance. its not an epic, but it is multi-layered. not just ghetto drama; and it could have totally been that nina foxx not written the story. she has this knack for detailing relationships that makes them leap off the pages and morph into real people. and the fact that she referenced no woman needs a husband seven days a week just made me love her even more.

its a good read. you get sucked into it from page 20 when Ayzah asked Alexis "You one of those proper bitches, huh?" before then its sort of waiting to exhale. when Ms. Thang enters the plot its gets juicy. real quick. the story line is pretty tidy even though things get messy. would have liked to hear some more from Aunt Athena and ghost of boyfriend's past. The son never speaks but he is mentioned multiple times (which i find odd, but it works)it just works. the plot the climax the major and secondary characters the romance the resolution the unfinished business in the end. it all works!

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty decent book (bought it from a bargain books table for five bucks). I liked the main character, Alexis, and the way she handled her business. Remedy and his relationship with Ayzah was irksome, but the author still made it possible for me to care about those characters, especially Ayzah. Reading the back cover lead me to believe that Ayzah would be way nuttier than what she was, but considering the book title I suppose she was just short of crazy (smile). I am curious about the friendship between Alexis and her cousin Paris. Their interactions seemed tense...maybe mean? It made me want to go back and read the book prior to this one, just to see what the deal was with these two. All that to say that this was a nice quick read and I would suggest this book to others.

[Shannan Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. I have some of this author's newer books, and found this one in the library, so I decided to give it a tray. Boy am I glad I did. I don't want to tell you which person is crazy, but they were cray cray for real. It was a great story, and I can't wait to see the play version.

[Yolibear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly good book. I liked it more than I really expected to and will read others by this author. Quick read as well.

[Sheila Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just Short of Crazy didn't have enough CRAZY in it. I didn't understand what (A beat) or (Beat) meant through-out the book. I wanted Ayzah to be more psycho than what she was.