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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Two stories in one..., April 11, 2005
This review is from: If It Ain't One Thing (Mass Market Paperback)
I really enjoyed this book. Once you begin to read it, most likely you won't want to put it down. The author begins by telling stories of two different people, Porter Washington and Winona Fairchild, with completely different lives but with similar issues. They are both in a major transition period in their lives; most of their battles were internal and somehow the author was able to make them entertaining. By fate, they were able to meet up and the story picked up even more steam. After I read it, I was convinced either the Ms. Robinson knows people such as the ones in the book, or she has the greatest imagination I have ever seen. This is a book where you will make yourself read it from beginning to end just from there being so many twists and turns. So far, I've read two of her books and they have both been top-notch with me.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The more DRAMA the merrier!, March 22, 2005
This review is from: If It Ain't One Thing (Mass Market Paperback)
There was so much going on in this book! A definite MUST READ!
The characters in this book are definitely memorable. There was so much DRAMA going on right from the start I was HOOKED!
There is baby mama drama, baby daddy drama, gay friend drama, the baby ain't mine drama, my family ain't &^%$ drama, adultery, I'm HIV Positive drama, smart mouth kid drama, just so much DRAMA!
Porter Washington is the guy your mother warned you about as a teenager and the guy you had to have as an adult. He is the young, uniformed, tall, dark and handsome man most women dream about. Winona Fairchild, what can I say about her but girl turned her life around drastically. There were so many twists and turns in the book I couldn't put it down because I wanted to know what was going to happen next! They say love is a many slender thing but in this case I just wonder how long the honeymoon is going to last!
I chose this book as our bookclub March selection and it was a great read and discussion. We even had a phone conference with the author which was fantastic!! I'm ready for the sequel (you can send me advanced copy if you like...lol!)
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Modern Day Urban Love Story, March 20, 2005
This review is from: If It Ain't One Thing (Mass Market Paperback)
This novel by writer Cheryl Robinson was previously published as Memories of Yesterday. Cheryl has become a remarkable success story after self publishing her first two novels When I Get Free and Memories of Yesterday. Both received stellar reviews while cultivating an intense fan base for her work.
New American Library recently released her second novel and I can definitely understand why. If It Ain't One Thing is a remarkable story written in a style that will hold your attention chapter after chapter. The author tells the story from the point of view of two main characters; Detroit Firefighter Porter Washington, a fine single brother with plenty of issues and Winona Fairchild, hard working single mother of two with several skeletons in her closet. How Porter and Winona come together and attempt to build a relationship is a story that takes us inside the souls of two people who have had their share of pain and sorrow; disappointment and now yearn to find just the right match..
Vividly drawn; the two characters become people that you care about and want to see survive their challenges in life. This novel is a modern day urban love story that at times is rough and brutal but also depicts tender love and human emotion. Porter is a brother without a cause. His work with the Detroit Fire Department has a lot to do with his older brother's death in a tragic house fire when he was a young boy. Left with their grandmother when their parents' marriage is on shaky ground the two brothers have only each other to sustain them. His brother's tragic death leaves him feeling pretty much alone in the world. It is a situation that leaves him looking for love in all the wrong places. He becomes your average playah with an unfaithful live-in girlfriend; mounting bills he can't pay and a splintered relationship with his parents.
Winona; a Detroit native had relocated to Texas after a traumatic break-up with her son's father. Having disappointed her own father due to the mistakes she made in life; she was made to feel that she could never go home again. After years of feeling insecure and unloved because she saw herself as an ugly duckling; her appearance changed as she got older. Yet; she still feels unattractive in her heart and she continues to make the same mistakes with the wrong kind of men in her life.
She makes a decision to make a major change when she lands a top position with a major corporation in Detroit and leaves Texas to return to her hometown and to mend fences with her judgmental father. She also has plans to finally confront her son's father.
The story is full of both surprise twists and turns and the expected considering the background of the two main characters. I laughed and cried with Porter and Winona as they struggled to find their way towards a future together. This novel should garner a well-deserved wider audience with it's re-release by a major publisher. Robinson has given us a novel that deserves a sequel.
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