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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
PG County Continued...., April 29, 2005
Can't Get Enough, Connie Briscoe's follow up to PG County, returns us to the prestigious Silver Lake community and continues where its predecessor ended. It instantly reconnects with Maryland's Prince George County's most memorable cast of characters who, for the most part, are still rich and still restless - a perfect combination for trouble and drama. Barbara, the wife of philandering millionaire Bradford Bentley, has sobered up and now takes her frustrations out in the gym instead of drowning her sorrows in Belvedere vodka. The results are fantastic - she is feeling good and looking even better. When her real-estate colleague, Noah, 15 years her junior openly flirts with her, he awakens feelings and thoughts that even the most faithful of attention-starved housewives cannot ignore. She wrestles with her feelings for both her husband, Bradford, whose womanizing ways led him to ignore and embarrass her for years by openly conducting affairs with younger women, and Noah, a handsome, attentive and sensual being, who is playing for keeps.
A newcomer to Silver Lake, a one "Baroness Veronique," befriends Barbara and plays devil's advocate to the blossoming romance between Barbara and Noah. However, it is revealed much later that this royal newcomer has ulterior motives with an interesting twist near the end of the story. The Baroness is the envy of the neighborhood after building a replica of a French chateau directly across the street from the conniving Jolene, the latest former mistress of Bradford. Jolene is a scantily clad pariah, shunned by most of Silver Lake for her involvement with Bradford. However, public scorn only fuels her desire to win back Patrick, her well-respected and admired ex-husband. She stoops low and uses their daughter Juliette in a ploy to seduce him. Patrick, however, is smitten with good-natured Pearl, the sweetheart of the neighborhood and friend to everyone. When Patrick rejects Jolene, she, in an act of desperation, retaliates against Pearl in such a mean spirited and hurtful manner that startles all of Silver Lake.
There is no peace, even for the "nice guy" as lovable Patrick struggles to raise Lee, his troubled teenaged daughter from a previous relationship. Lee's half-sister, Juliette, adds gasoline to the fire when she starts to exhibit traces of Jolene (evoking a "Mini Me" persona of her man-chasing mother) when she sets her eyes on her Lee's boyfriend.
Reminiscent to a daytime soap opera, the setting is posh. Everyone is beautiful, possesses an American Express Black card, drives luxury cars and wears designer attire. It seems like owning Armani suits, furs, Jimmy Choo shoes and Mikimoto pearls are an unwritten prerequisite for Silver Lake residents. Briscoe masters the storytelling aspects well by devoting alternating chapters to each main character which allows them to develop nicely while building suspense in an entertaining melodramatic offering. She adds solid doses of scandalous behavior, lying, cheating, double-crossing, and scheming to keep the pages turning until the end.
Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO BookClub
Nubian Circle Book Club
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Desperate rich housewives, April 26, 2005
Gucci. Prada. Jimmy Choo. All the right labels adorn the black "new monied" denizens of Silver Lake in Prince George's County, Maryland. For two of these ladies, Barbara Bentley and Jolene Brown, money is of no consequence. They have luxurious homes in the north Silver Lake district, the wealthiest black enclave in the United States. Jolene is newly divorced after a scandalous affair with Barbara's husband, Bradford, the summer before, but Jolene can't let a little social humiliation get her down.
Then there is Pearl Jackson, also divorced, but residing in a less tony townhouse in Silver Lake. Pearl owns her own beauty salon and is the love interest of Patrick Brown, Jolene's ex-husband. Without the financial resources of Barbara and Jolene, Pearl has no problems with priorities. Even though Jolene wants her man back, Pearl is more than enough for Patrick, although his ex-wife cannot fathom the attraction. When a new mansion is built in Silver Lake, the streets are buzzing with curiosity and rife with rumor. A huge gala is planned at the newcomer's estate to welcome virtually all of the tight-knit community. Soon everyone wants to be the best friend of the newly arrived occupant in a virulent outbreak of status-envy.
From expensive hair weaves to designer duds to clandestine affairs, Briscoe whips up a froth of feminine follies, not the least of which involves a handsome hunk with dreads who has to beat the ladies off with a stick, his eyes for one woman only. And she is already married. This is upscale Maryland society at its dishiest and the author knows how to capture a moment and a man, her feisty protagonists fighting for dominance. There's a lesson for all, but especially Barbara, who finds out the hard way that "the devil you know is better than the one you don't".
If there is such a thing as literate chick lit, Connie Briscoe has cornered the market, "Sex and the City" sistah style, with an excess of panache and spirit to carry off the whole crazy romp. It may not be brain surgery, but the difference is obvious: this writer isn't just name-dropping designers du jour and indiscriminate sex, she is a skillful writer with a sense of timing, interesting characterization and believable plot development. Desperate Housewives, eat your hearts out. Luan Gaines/2005.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oh, How the Tables Turn, May 3, 2005
In P.G. County, you couldn't help but feel sorry for Barbara Bentley, but in this book, your cheering for her; In this book, she's gotten sober, sexy and savvy as a part time real estate agent, and a new interest which has turned the tables on her hubby, who know doesn't know what to do; Jolene comes back with a roller coaster of her own; licking her wounds and missing her now the well is dry ex hubby, and plots to get him back from Pearl with no success; And a mysterious countess builds a major mansion in the neighborhood which has everyone guessing her identity; Juicy, racy and bound to keep you turning the pages;
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