Dirty Little Secrets [Paperback]

Joy King (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 2006

Nothing prepares Tyler Blake for the fast-paced living of New York City. A small-town girl from Georgia, she quickly gets caught up in the glamorous entertainment industry.  While pursuing her dream of becoming an actress, Tyler continually gets sidetracked by men who promise to help her and finds herself going from one dysfunctional relationship to another. Just when Tyler finally believes she has found her ideal man, in hip-hop producer Brian McCall, everything begins to go horribly wrong. Trapped in a nightmarish relationship, Tyler is determined not to go down without a fight.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Tyler Blake grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. Her mother left her father for a man who provided them a better life. He treats Tyler like a princess, and she grows up with a warped self-image and an unrealistic view of relationships. When Tyler breaks up with her high-school boyfriend for a more dangerous college student, she sacrifices her self-worth. After graduating from high school, she moves to New York to fulfill her dreams of becoming a movie star and of finding a man who will love her unconditionally. Her first bad relationship is with a famous rapper. Next she becomes involved with a basketball player who is emotionally, mentally, and physically abusive. Her relationship with Brian, a music producer, turns ugly when she fights for custody of their son. After winning her court battle, she walks away with a renewed sense of empowerment. Tyler gets a break at stardom when she meets a famous actor. Tyler finally gets her heart's desire and the reader an absorbing tale. Lillian Lewis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"I was engrossed in the story, and so hungry for the drama, that I had to fight to keep from glancing over at the next page. Not only was this a riveting, sexy tale, but there were many lessons to be learned, page after page.  The saddest thing about Dirty Little Secrets was that it had to end."---Trista Russell, bestselling author of Going Broke and Fly on the Wall
 
"A true roller-coaster ride for the heart and mind…. Honest and real."---Maryann Reid, author of Marry Your Baby Daddy and Use Me or Lose Me

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (May 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031235407X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312354077
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,610 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm Joy Deja King author of the Bitch Series, Stackin' Paper/Trife Life to Lavish Series, and Dirty Little Secrets, Hooker to Housewife, Superstar Series and Rich or Famous. I also wrote Ride Wit' Me and a Children's book, Princess Fever. I'm super excited about the upcoming release of Bitch A New Beginning. Please check my blog http://blog.joykingonline.com for great contest giveaways I'll be having. Also look out for my new video series answering questions from readers about writing and publishing. Visit my website @ www.joydejaking.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I've Got a Secret, What's Yours?, May 30, 2006

By 

Ms Toni "Readinista Extraordinaire" (Midwest - USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Dirty Little Secrets (Paperback)

Everyone has some dirty little secrets. But how would you feel if yours were about to be exposed?

Tyler Blake is in love with the idea of being in love. Starry eyed and naïve, she's looking for her Prince Charming to one day arrive and sweep her off her feet, to see fireworks, for the earth to move. Her fairy tale soon becomes a reoccurring nightmare as she goes from one bad relationship to the next, losing a bit of herself to each man. Can Tyler find the one love that she needs before it's too late? The one love that's she's had the power to possess all the time...self love. Or will she continue on the carousel of dysfunctional relationships placing the wants, needs and welfare of a man above her own?

Dirty Little Secrets is a novel that announces the welcome arrival of a truly fresh new voice. Loosely based on her life, Joy tells a riveting story while exploring the effects of physical and mental abuse. For a young woman, such wrenching experiences must have left a mark and Joy King, in this novel, leaves that mark with the reader.

Reading Dirty Little Secrets I couldn't help but think of Mary J Blige's "My Life" cd.
"How can I love somebody else
If I can't love myself enough to know
When it's time, time to let go...I just wanna be so, so, happy
But the answer lies in me."

And the answer did lie in Tyler Blake as it does in all of us. Sisters, be happy. Love yourself!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Truth, August 10, 2006

By 

Glitterbell a bookworm - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dirty Little Secrets (Paperback)

I saw this book at the library and checked it out. It's gotta be one of the best books I've ever read so I had to purchase a copy for my own personal collection. This book helped me to learn to love myself even more, and never let anyone, no matter how good looking or much money they have to dictate my freedom.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I wonder how true to life..., August 17, 2006

By 

Jason Frost "RubiconReader" (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Dirty Little Secrets (Paperback)

There was just something about this book that I did not like and I think I've figured out what it is... This is like a "self-help" book with a hypocritical main character. Tyler Blake was just completely AND totally screwed up. I wish the author hadn't told us that this was "loosely" based on her life.

That immediately made me wonder how true to life this story was/is. Tyler was a really messed up girl/woman because she kept making stupid decision after stupid decision after stupid decision AFTER stupid decision!! It's like she never learned anything. And she kept making excuses and it really sounded like the author was trying to justify her reason for writing this book that was based "loosely" on her life.

I started to give this book only "2" stars but gave it three because I really might pick this book for my book club. We could easily have a weekend discussion based on the character of Tyler and the men that she chooses to be with. The character/author writing was just filled with so many contradictions that it made reading this book very frustrating! But I guess that is what was meant to be conveyed. Tyler just really pissed me off and I was like "what is this woman going to do next"?

Ah well...