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As We Lay: A Novel (Strivers Row)
 
 
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As We Lay: A Novel (Strivers Row) [Paperback]

Darlene Johnson (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)


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Book Description

Strivers Row November 4, 2003
Breck’s mind went to Boston and eased into Eric’s office. She saw him sitting at his desk with his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles....A killer smile stretched wide across his face, revealing perfect white teeth. She heard his laugh and her body began to quiver.
—from As We Lay

Indianapolis architect Breck Lawson has just received the call of her career: Eric Warren, a prominent property manager, has said that he is considering her to design a multicultural center in Boston. A contract with his firm would immediately put Breck in the who’s who of the architectural world. It’s just the break she’s been waiting for. But it soon seems as though Eric Warren offers more than just a lucky business deal.

From the moment they first speak on the phone, Breck and Eric feel a connection. Breck learns all about Eric’s devotion to his wife and son, as well as to his community. And she is able to open up to him about her personal life and romantic problems in a way she would normally never dare to in her competitive, male-dominated professional world. A friendship develops, and eventually turns into something deeper. Believing that her independence is intact, Breck is content to remain “the other woman,” but she still moves to Boston to be closer to Eric. There they form a parallel family, and Breck secretly has his child.

A tragic accident abruptly cuts Breck off from Eric, and she soon learns that the survival of his first child, Darius, and the well-being of Eric’s wife, Gaby, depend entirely on her—and her willingness to reveal the secrets of the life she shares with him. But the truth could destroy her reputation, her business, and the lives of the two families. Breck must decide if she has what it takes to put it all on the line.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Passion and heartbreak challenge an independent Indiana woman in Johnson's (Dream in Color) latest. Breck Lawson, an "attractive, headstrong, twenty-six-year-old African-American" architect, is struggling to keep her new business afloat until she wins a lucrative contract to design a convention center outside Boston. Eric Warren, a partner in the firm that hires her, charms her first over the phone: he's confident, insightful and not threatened by her success-but he's married. They keep their desires in check for a while, but eventually become lovers. The project's success creates new business opportunities, and Breck moves close to Boston with her colleague and confidante, sexy Chi Tanaka, and expands into retail with a small but profitable coffeehouse. Despite close calls, Eric and Breck keep their relationship under wraps until Breck becomes pregnant. The new baby brings happiness and hardship; Eric plays a part-time father to two families. The romance blooms and fades amid heavy-handed prose and speechified dialogue ("I don't think the problem is that I can't love two women. The problem is that I can't have two women," Eric says. "Society doesn't accept it, so that makes me an awful person"). When Breck finally ends the relationship, Eric makes an about-face and decides to leave his wife. Tragedy intervenes, but so close to the end of the novel that only a few dozen pages are devoted to its aftermath. A modern romance-full of great sex and plenty of conflict-Johnson's novel is an autumn beach book: enjoyable if not memorable.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Johnson's second novel (following the best-seller Dream in Color [BKL Je 1 & 15 02]) is a great love story. Breck Lawson has always been an independent woman, opening her own architectural firm in Indianapolis. When she wins a contract to design a community center in Massachusetts, she is on her way to the top of her profession. What she is not prepared for is the chemistry that develops between her and firm co-owner Eric Warren, a successful businessman, devoted husband, and doting father. After acknowledging their true feelings for each other, Breck moves to Boston and begins an affair with Eric that results in the birth of a son. Eric has worked hard to escape the poverty and pain of his youth only to discover that what he was running from was not so bad and what he ran to did not make him happy. Eric finally accepts that he is happiest with Breck, but the women must come to terms with his choices and raise their sons in spite of their pain and disappointment. Lillian Lewis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

  • Paperback: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Villard; 1 edition (November 4, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0375758429
  • ISBN-13: 978-0375758423
  • Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,689,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

22 Reviews
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 (12)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (22 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Is Infidelity worth it ?, December 17, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: As We Lay: A Novel (Strivers Row) (Paperback)
I'm a married woman of 10 yrs. with three kids, so from the start I had already made up my mind that I wasn't going to like reading about a married man cheating on his wife. What married woman wants to read about a married man falling in love with another woman other than his wife. We know infidelity is wrong, but it happens. Most affairs happen when there are problems in a marriage. If people learn to communicate and realy become ONE in their marriage, infidelity will drop. It's sad to say that in most cases in infidelity, I've seen where it has had many marriages stronger, because it was a wake up call. Now in the case of the main male character Eric, even though I felt like he was in love with his mistress as well has his wife, the time he devoted in lieing to his wife to be with his mistress, should have been devoted in communicating with his wife on trying to work out the problems he saw in their marriage. We all make choices in life, weather good for bad, it's the end result that we have to live with. No one is perfect, and good people sometimes make bad choices.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Aint No Shirley Murdock, January 13, 2004
This review is from: As We Lay: A Novel (Strivers Row) (Paperback)
Indianapolis architect, Breck Lawson, steps out of her self-preservationist' shoes to fall in love with a charismatic client, who catapults her career to designing fame. She leaves her hometown, her parents and her past bad relationships behind for Boston. Eric Warren of Warren & Peterson Property Management, her dashing new sweetheart lives there. . But this great catch is no Prince Charming. He's a devoted father and committed husband to a woman, who he has no intentions of divorcing, not even when Breck becomes pregnant with his son. Will Breck listen to her family and friends and let Eric go? Will Eric have second thoughts and leave his wife? Will his wife find out and throw a wrench in their plans, or will the two boys become saving graces for both families?

When I saw the title to this novel, As We Lay, I immediately thought of Shirley Murdock's classic hit song whose title has the same namesake. Both Breck and Eric live their lives with a let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may attitude. Although they both know what they are doing is wrong, they can't tear themselves away from each other long enough to make an ethical decision. Breck's independence and drive has always kept her from surrendering herself to a committed relationship. So, in the beginning of the relationship, she is quite cavalier about Eric's other life. It isn't a threat to her until she bares their son, Jordan. Eric is the best version of Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde that I've seen since the Robert Luis Stevenson classic. Both he and Breck epitomize the human condition, the ability to exist between heaven and hell.

Darlene Johnson is a master at presenting this love triangle in a way that keeps the reader questioning the validity of what happens to Breck and Eric, and the reality that it could happen to anyone of us. Johnson is such a great plot twister. I did not entirely agree with the resolution and ending. She has the writing capability to churn out a more controversial resolution, to haunt us at the end and leave us breathless. I wanted her to step out and floor me like she did in the first turning point and the climax. This ending cheapened all that she worked for in the beginning and the middle, which dropped the piece to something more average than exceptional.

This book is provocative, sexy and a surprise. You will like it and talk about it for months to come. Nice book for a reading club.

Dee Y. Stewart

R.E.A.L. Reviewers

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Be Careful what you wish for, December 4, 2003
By 
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews
This review is from: As We Lay: A Novel (Strivers Row) (Paperback)
AS WE LAY takes a hard look at the price of having an affair with a married man; a price ultimately paid by everyone close to the relationship...

Ms. Johnson tells this story with a uniquely mature look at infidelity, void of the intense drama so prevalent in some
relationship novels. And while this story in no way condones their volatile affair, it certainly gives an unrestricted view of the other side. And it escalates this situation to more than just a clear-cut right or wrong issue. There are lessons to be learned on all sides. Bold, deliberate, and provocatively real, this is a monumental read.

Reviewed by aNN
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Complete review can be found on our website...

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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
breck shot, pan ties
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Eric Warren, Eric Breck, Warren Peterson, Stephen Peterson, Eric Chi, African American, New York, Martini Bar, Breck Chi, Breck Breck, Quentin Breck, Brian Breck, Was Gaby, Arbor Drive, Long Island
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