Customer Reviews

If You Were My Man

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book has a rich environment where the characters are richly formed. The story takes us on a journey where you know the foibles of the main characters. Nathalyia is a dynamo as the owner of the restaurant Fontaine. However, she has no social life. Is there a man that can compete or understand the life she has built for herself? Rafael Dunlap is a man who has come to a cross road in his life. Will he continue to be a love them and leave them kind of man? He is not the typical player by any means. It is just that unknown emotional hurts might stop him from claiming the woman he adores. These are the questions that this story answers. I also loved the interactions of the secondary characters. They are touching and sometimes humorous. Yes, these are the people that help kick our main characters in gear and in some cases get their own happily ever after.

Nathalyia Fontaine only has time for Fontaine, the restaurant left to her by her late husband. So when sexy hostage negotiator Rafael Dunlap sets his eye on her, Rafael doesn't stand a chance. He also doesn't give up very easily. Rafael wears Nathalyia down until he wins her over. Their relationship was going great until something and someone from Nathalyia's past threatens to ruin it all. Nathalyia feels walking away is the only possible solution. That is until Rafael is injured in the line of duty. Nathalyia and Rafael both have to figure out if the love they share is worth fighting for.

If You Were My Man is a wonderful read. Francis Ray is a fantastic author. She has a writing style that is very natural and just flows without having lagging moments. Her characters and plots are always well developed. Ray has a way of making everything come to life. This time is no different!

Reviewed by Tenecia for Urban Reviews

Francis Ray does it again - Here is another feel good story that is almost Disney like in goodness and fantasy - No one does it better that Francis Ray. I enjoyed this story - Ms. Ray really developed the characters, however the plot ws once again too predictable: Two beautiful people, affluent, she is the virgin damsel in distress, he is the alpha male, good family, a bad guy and you have a story.

Honnestly, my favorites in the story were Jake and Clarice, the additional characters. I loved Jake and Clarice's interaction and I am glad they were present in this rather predictable story. Jake and Clarice made the story real.

No one does it beter than Francis Ray: for a 'clean' story that not 'Urban Fiction' and is like a fairy tale - this story is for you. I wanted Nat to be stronger, she had been thru so much - she came across as being too airy, too sheltered to be the successful dynamic business woman.

I have been reading Ms. Ray's books for years - She will always be one of my top favorites - I just wish I were her editor! :)

From the first page, I knew I was going to enjoy this new work of Francis Ray's. I had been waiting for it and it was worth it. I loved the characters and the way she developed them. I loved that she touched on so many different subjects: guilt, love, trust, growth, taking chances, etc. I'm certain it is one I'll read again soon.

I'm an avid reader of Francis Ray books, in fact my favorite one is "I know who holds my Tomorrow" I was so excited to read another book by her, but was very disappointed in the predictablity of this book. It was so "High Schoolish", better yet "elementary". It played out like all the other romance novels I've read. Let's keep It Real!! in this day and age a woman who was married for sevral years is still a virgin, even four years after her husband's death? She kept herself all those years but the first man she allows to kiss her she jumps his bones the first night he comes to her house. Not only that, she becomes pregnant the first time they made love, but is afraid to tell him. There is no woman alive that will be afraid to tell the man that got her pregnant. Then she goes on to fabricate this lame lie and say that itis her dead husband's seed. Remember the husband was supposedly so sick that he could not even make love to her, but yet he could leave seed?

Come On Get Real, Hook, Line and Sinker: this one paragraph is what almost made me put the book down in the beginning-....an exquisite face...high cheekbones, pert nose, pouting lower lip....her incredible knees??and legs that were shapely and endless. This description fits almost every woman in a romance novel. Can we at least have women that actually fits the description of black women. The majority of us do not have legs that go on forever. What is a pert nose? pouting lips?, incredible knees?? I've never seen a women of the sort. Oh don't forget the hair, why is the hair always pinned up and the man can't wait to let it run through his fngers or spread over his pillow.

Like I said before I was really disappointed in this book, I've read better from Francis Ray. I hope her books get better. Plus, she brought in characters from her perevious books, but she took too long to introduce this book. I had to go back and remember who Brianna was. I will continue to read her books, but I do hope they get better than this one.

Rafael Dunlap is a successful hostage negotiator with the Myrtle Beach police department. He has the reputation of being a lady's man; however, he's yet to meet one he's willing to give his heart to. While on an outing at a local seafood restaurant with coworkers, he has the pleasure of meeting the owner, Natalyia Fontaine. He insists on asking her out on a date; when she turns him down he's determined to get her to change her mind. In his determination, he learns lessons in love he never knew existed.

Natalyia Fontaine is the owner of Fontaine's, a seafood restaurant that is a favorite to residents of Myrtle Beach. She inherited the restaurant years earlier after her husband passed away. Her number one priority always is and will be to ensure the restaurant's success. While making her usual nightly rounds with patrons she meets Rafael Dunlap who proceeds to ask her out. When she refuses, the last thing she expects is his persistence. She soon realizes that resisting his charm is more difficult than she first imagined and thatshe too is in for lessons in love she never knew existed.

Natalyia and Rafael's story is told with passion, elegance and grace by Ms. Ray. I enjoyed the updates on other characters from the series and the introduction of a couple new characters. I hope Ms. Ray will introduce us to another fascinating series as she concludes the Invincible Women's series with IF I WERE YOUR MAN.

Reviewed by Jaime L. Lincoln
of The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers

I anxiously waited for this new novel from author Francis Ray and was not disappointed. The story flowed nicely giving you a look inside the lives of several characters who had personal struggles with self image, family, love and relationships. Throughout the book you got brief references and updates about some of Ms. Ray's characters from other books. This story was another example that love conquers all and a reminder that sometimes you have to love some family members from a distance. Looking forward to the upcoming release of the Taggart/Falcon series.

Avid Reader
Tia

If You Were My Man...simply WONDERFUL...I LOVE the Dunlap Men...and the women ain't too bad either...LOL...once I got some uninterrupted time the story just flowed across the pages....couldn't put it down...and the secondary cast of characters as usual is quite COLORFUL...and I'm so glad Theresa gets her just desserts...she is a REAL piece of work...and I ABSOLUTELY enjoyed Clarice and Jake...they were too CUTE and HILARIOUS...once AGAIN Mrs. Ray crafts an ENGAGING fairy-tale-like HEA...so, now that all the Dunlap brothers are married or paired up...any ideas who or what's next for the Invincible Women series...I HOPE this isn't the end of this series.

I was so ready to read Rafael Dunlap's story and I was not disappointed! As always Francis Ray wrote another great story with a lot of love, romance, drama and family love. We found out more about his family and why Rapael was afraid of love. I love that she included the rest of the Dunlap family from her previous novels and kept us up to date on them.

Francis Ray is a masterful storyteller. I could not wait to get this book and once I got it, I was not disappointed. The love story of Nathalyia Fontaine and Rafael Dunlap is classic and I was pulled right into their love story. The second love story of Clarice and Jake was a surprise, but very heartwarming. This story reinforces to us romantics at heart, that love can happen anywhere and at anytime! I'm look forward to Ms. Ray's next story.

---------------EbonyReader4Life