Do You Take This Woman?: A Novel [Hardcover]

RM Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2006

RM Johnson, the Essence bestselling author of Dating Games and The Million Dollar Divorce, once again creates a riveting and enthralling novel that explores the bond between two childhood friends when they both fall in love with the same woman.

Pete and Wayne grew up side by side and have lived their entire lives as best friends -- as brothers. And as brothers, they have always been rivals when it came to women. The fateful night when Carla walks into the bar where Pete and Wayne are having drinks brings Wayne his customary luck with the ladies, and soon enough, Wayne and Carla are engaged. But Wayne's need for one last conquest tempts him into bed with another woman, and the ensuing guilt leads him to confide in his best friend -- a mistake that will haunt the three of them forever.

Jealous of his friend's relationship, Pete tells Carla of Wayne's infidelity and provides more than just a friendly shoulder to cry on. As a result, Carla leaves Wayne and further breaks his heart by accepting Pete's marriage proposal only one year later. Just when old friends seem to be settling down with their choices, old feelings surreptitiously sneak to the surface, and a rift between husband and wife leads Pete astray and drives Carla into the most familiar arms she can find. Finally, guilt, lust, and redemption come together in a heartbreaking and tragic love triangle, and Pete, Wayne, and Carla are forced to face the consequences of decisions that may end up being their last.

Do You Take This Woman? is a sexy blend of friendship and romance that will take you on a startlingly real and emotional roller-coaster ride of betrayal, sex, lies, and ultimately, love.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Love—or as one of the characters in Johnson's latest soap opera calls it, "plain, stupid, make-you-disrespect-the-hell-out-of-yourself love"—makes people do silly things. But even that fails to explain the absurd lengths to which three African-American Chicagoans go in Johnson's disappointing seventh novel (after The Million Dollar Divorce). Magazine editor Carla is neglecting her meek husband, Pete, by meeting Pete's best friend and business partner (and her ex-fiancé), Wayne, on the sly. Nothing steamy happens (she just wants to see if she still "has feelings" for Wayne). When Pete cheats—and confesses his transgression—Carla wants to even the score by stepping out (for real). Pete agrees, but only if he can pick the man. Pete chooses, of course, Wayne. Carla, afraid of falling deeper in love with Wayne, decides she and Wayne will only pretend to do the deed. But once Wayne and Carla are in the hotel room, things heat up. Pete, unable to contain his jealousy, has Wayne arrested for adultery and soon discovers that Carla's pregnant (and, no, she doesn't know by whom), a revelation that sends Pete on a violent tear. A hokey denouement rounds out this flaccid offering. (Aug.)
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About the Author

R.M. Johnson is the author of nine novels, including bestsellers The Harris Family and The Million Dollar Divorce. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Chicago State University. He currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743285190
• ISBN-13: 978-0743285193
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,363,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars RIDICULOUS....BUT A PAGETURNER, NONETHELESS!!!, August 2, 2006

By 

Dana Y. Bowles "DYB" (West Chester, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Do You Take This Woman?: A Novel (Hardcover)

Wayne and Pete have been best friends virtually all of their lives..and brothers, when Pete's drug-addicted mother deserts him, leaving him in the care of Wayne's family. The two grow up as brothers who are best friends...and become successful physicians in their adult life; partners in their orthopedic practice. But lives unravel and worlds begin to fall apart, and it all begins with the beautiful Carla. Both spot her in a nightclub one evening and find her ravishing. She dates both...but ultimately falls for the charismatic Wayne, and the two become engaged. Their life appears to be idyllic...until Wayne tells Pete that he intends to cheat on Carla; to have one last fling before married life begins. Wayne does just that, and Pete tells Carla, who breaks off the engagement. Pete becomes Carla's shoulder to cry on, and eventually the relationship develops into something else...and Pete and Carla marry instead. What follows is a litany of love, lust, betrayal and deception the likes of which this reader had never seen.
Truly a novel with a plot that, if nothing else, is original. If it's drama you're looking for..you will certainly find it here. Although I definitely found the book to be a pageturner, I could not find a single character that I liked (with the possible exception of Laci, Carla's best friend). Is Pete a "good guy borderline doormat"--or a backstabbing opportunist? Is Wayne just an untrustworthy womanizer, or is he truly conflicted? And what of Carla? What kind of woman moves between best friends/brothers?
Interesting, incredible, ridiculous and intriguing.


DYB

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Of All the Women in the World, I Must Have This One, August 16, 2006

By 

Dera R Williams (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Do You Take This Woman?: A Novel (Hardcover)

RM Johnson has again written a drama-filled novel with quirky characters in his latest, Do You Take This Woman? Pete and Carla have been married for over a year and are very happy, but are they really? So why is Carla spending time with Wayne, Pete's best friend and self-proclaimed brother? Pete was taken in by Wayne's upper-middle class family when he was abandoned by his mother at ten years of age. They took him in and treated him like one of the family and Wayne and he became brothers. But as often with real brothers there developed a sibling rivalry, including their pursuit of the same women.

Pete, lacking confidence, saw Carla first but Wayne was the one who got her. Then Wayne messed up and there was Pete with a shoulder to cry on and in the end he got the prize, marriage to Carla. Now a year later, there is trouble in paradise as Carla and Wayne realize they still have feelings for one another. Oh, this is despite Wayne being supposedly in love with and engaged to another woman. The ensuing events sound like something out of a 1950s soap opera. The three, Pete, Wayne and Carla begin a game of cat and mouse, carrying out acts of betrayal, revenge, lies, and harboring secrets; repeating the madness over and over again, going in circles like a merry-go-round, one foolish action after another. The end result was therefore, though predictable, a relief--this mess needed to end.

This novel had a lot of drama for drama's sake with three mid-thirties, educated individuals acting irresponsibly without thought or care to other people's feelings as if they were adolescents. This reviewer was turned off by the actions of these self-absorbed characters with their implausible antics and could care less about any of them or their angst. Yet, there was something compelling me to keep turning the pages as this was a quick read with short chapters ending in suspense and I wanted to know what was going to happen next. However, it is my wish Johnson will return to his roots and give fans of his earlier novels a more gratifying story of which he is more than capable.

Dera Williams
APOOO BookClub
www.apooo.org

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hate it or love it, you are going to want to know the ending...., August 4, 2006

By 

Kimberly Woods "'aka Soulfull of soulfulsyner... (Outside of Chocolate City, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Do You Take This Woman?: A Novel (Hardcover)

Coming into this novel, I was a bit skeptical about the story line. Girl meets Boy. Boy cheats on girl. Boy's best friend tells Girl. Girl ends up marrying Boy's best friend. Boy still has feelings for Girl, but is dating another woman. Boy's best friend feels slighted by the constant absences of Girl, who is secretly seeing Boy again. Boy's best friend has an affair with another woman. Boy's best friend can't deal with the guilt and confesses his sins to Girl. Girl is outraged and wants revenge against Boy's best friend. Girl demands to have her own sexual escapade with another man. Boy's best friend agrees. Confused yet? Hasn't this been done before? Does the book world really need another take on this subject? Well, RM took a winding road less traveled to serve you an interesting read with his seventh novel, Do You Take This Woman? Let's drive right in.

The Pros
I love a book that can head right into the action without wasting any of my precious time. RM succeeded with bringing the drama right from page one. I was immediately pulled into the relationship of Carla and her desperate husband Pete. I loved the how RM wrote his male characters in this book. He treated the relationship of these two best friends, Pete and Wayne; with such intensity that it was sometimes hard to believe that they really were friends. Lastly, we all know cheating isn't glamorous and RM gave me a real sense of the confusion and pain that is brought on by an affair.

The Cons
Quite simply, all the rewinding and fast forwarding of the character flashbacks had my head spinning like a busted cassette tape. It was already hard enough to keep up with who's was in love with who now, but with all the recaps that RM threw in, I constantly had to reread important plot points just to make sure I had the story right. Maybe I'm just slow, but I couldn't stand how the book threw me around and naturally I had to fight back with a few skim-through on a couple pages.

What RM Johnson's novel did to me just wasn't right. I hated the fact that I was up late at night wanting to see what the next chapter held. I hated how I wanted so much for Carla to give up on this wish of sleeping with another man, yet I sympathized with her need for revenge. In fact, I've been there before as a girlfriend scorned by love, but as a wife, I totally disagree with how Carla handled her pain.

In the end, RM Johnson takes you on an overwhelmingly emotional journey that gets right to the center of the question, Do You Take This Woman? The answer brings a shocking finale, for which I doubt you'll ever see coming around the bend.