Why? Why? Why! Why do I keep on doing this to myself? I keep on.
So months ago, I put this book on hold at the library because I tried to read some of the Honey B works. They were waaaay to much for me, but I picked up this book anyway. Then let it sit in my vast home library, lurking like the creature that time forgot. Recently, I got an email from the public library in my area. Apparently, I owed like $87,000 in fines because I had never bothered to remember to read this thing and return it. I figured if I have to pay a half million dollars in fines, I might as well get something out of it.
And I did.
A knowledge that I can't keep reading these Honey B novels.
Again, I understand this is considered erotica, but can there be some plot between the threesomes, orgies at the sex clubs, and homoerotic scenes? Can the characters have a distinct voice? Can there be something happening besides the abortions and adultery?
But I don't blame Ms. Morrison, whose works I actually used to like. I blame myself. For not giving up.
What happened? To Ms. Morrison? She was always raunchy, no-nonsense, and real. And I knew that picking up her works. But lately, they have lost their appeal. Listen, as a Christian single gal, I have no business reading a lot of what I read. I understand that I am not the audience she is writing for. I understand that erotica is just that...erotic. But Ms. Morrison used to develop really good stories, great plots, intricate details in her novels. There was humor and suspense and real stories were involved. Each character had a voice. Like Fancy and Jada in her previous works. Enjoyable series and spin-offs came forth out of her mind--like Soulmates Dissipate. I enjoyed She Ain't the One, which she co-wrote with Carl Weber. And regardless of my conflict between my lifestyle and the ones portrayed by her characters, I could still read Ms. Morrison and enjoy her stories.
However...
In these Honey B. series of novels, I have to say that the erotic is now bordering on the chaotic. It's like the characters are flat, disappearing behind crazy sex and violence and confusion. It's dark, leaves you feeling empty, angry, and edgy. Frankly, I had to do a few yoga poses to keep from having a nervous breakdown.
Okay, so I am being dramatic. But I want to know. Is this really what Ms. Morrison is trying to do? Shock us until there is no way left to shock us? If she wants to shock us, I would prefer a strange twist in events or a mystery revealed in a way we couldn't possibly imagine--like she used to. Not just with crazed sex scenes. And believe me, I have seen it all. I am no prude. But even in the genre of erotic, that has to be a story between the sex scenes. And I am not saying that in this novel there was none...all I am saying is that whatever the story is, was hidden or eclipsed by the sex scenes, as in her other Honey B works. The plot was cliched--Husbands who cheat. The characters were described differently, but frankly I couldn't tell the difference between any of their voices or storylines--even the female character, Nikki, could have been any one of the "single husbands."
I will say though that I love the author's "editorials." I always enjoy her messages to her readers, her beauty tips (always holistic/natural) and her attempts at empowering women. I enjoy a lot of the poetry she places at the end of every novel. And I like that she doesn't try to be anyone but herself.
But I do miss Ms. Morrison's natural ability to draw wonderful plots and characters.
I hope she will come back soon.