Customer Reviews

Keepin' It Real

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Television producer Natasha Ward has come up with a new idea for a reality show that will rock the nation. Citing the statistics for black male to black female ratio to her superiors, she suggests having five fantastic black women and ten men of all races, with impeccable financial, social and educational backgrounds, on a Caribbean cruise for 10 weeks. The women would decide every week which man is voted off for not living up to their standards of the perfect man. At the end of the cruise, the remaining man would chose which of the five women he would like to spend his life with.

Trouble brews before the show even begins when a fantastic brother, Tyrell Ramsey, catches Natasha's eye during the selection period. Tyrell has auditioned because he could use the $25,000 he will receive if he is selected to enhance his budding record company. Natasha, who has become irritable and bored with the process of interviewing arrogant men, is floored when Tyrell subtly shows his attraction for her.

With the romantic settings, sexy music and hot bodies, everything that can go wrong, does. From the very beginning, these superb specimens of the human race show preferences. This is not supposed to happen and they are certainly not supposed to pair off because any sexual impropriety means automatic expulsion. Natasha and her crew are inundated with out-of-control lovers and angry people who feel rejected when their love interest shows interest in someone else. To top things off, Natasha has her own issues as the attraction she and Tyrell feel grows.

Esdaile has written an exquisite romance about love on the high seas. She is a master at ferreting out human strengths and frailties. Her characters ring true and behave in the manner of everyday people everywhere. She has taken a television reality show and made it far more real than any we see on local stations. I would not hesitate to recommend this book for those who love a romantic story with a twist.

Reviewed by alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Cute, light tale of a successful, gorgeous---albeit single--woman named Natasha. A television producer in the land of the beautiful (L.A.), Natasha has a brainstorm in a meeting of suits--an African-American reality show in which a slew of gorgeous men and women are pitted against in each other..to see who emerges victorious, and dating. Unexpectedly, the corporate heads love the idea, and Natasha is forced to actually make it come to fruition. And come to fruition it does; ratings soar, and the show is a hit. What Natasha does NOT account for nor expect is the gorgeous Tyrell, one of the show's contestants---or the sparks that fly between them. Tyrell is hoping to win the contest and the money involved to finance his up-and-coming music label. But he sees in Natasha everything he has ever hoped to find in a woman.....; can he persevere? Can he focus on the contest to wind the money and finance is dreams....or will he risk it all to take a chance on an even bigger dream....Natasha?

Cute bit of chick-lit in a genre that the author obviously uses to unwind after her much more intense and compelling vampire huntress series. An OK read...but I know the author is capable of much better material.


DYB

Natasha and her upwardly mobile girlfriends have faced the uphill battle of finding an acceptable mate with similar goals and successes. Caught off guard in a production meeting, Natasha proposed a reality show dating game in which women such as herself get the chance to meet carefully prescreened, successful men. She proposes a cruise as the site of interaction and is surprised and thrilled when her concept is accepted. Thinking she'll orchestrate in from a distance, Natasha is both shocked and a bit put off that she's expected to hand select contestants and participate in the cruise as producer.

Though a bit overwhelmed, she is excited at the chance to shine as a producer and thinks she'll be able to take a hands off approach until one contestant Tyrrell Randall takes her breath away. Tyrell, an up and coming owner of a record company, decides to use his years of experience wooing women to compete on the show all in hopes of winning the money that he desperately needs to leave his day job and really get his record company on the map. He doesn't expect such an immediate and visceral reaction to the show's producer.

This book follows the production of Natasha's show and allows us to watch and see whether Natasha and Tyrell will be able to keep their minds and hands off of each other and on their prospective tasks of producing an amazing show for Natasha and winning the grand prize and perhaps the affections of one of the beautiful female contestants for Tyrrell.

This is a cute story that includes the shenanigans of Natasha's coworkers and the other contestants on the show. It is an energetic and delightful read - something I've come to expect from Author Leslie Esdaile.

Yet another hot novel, I believe this was a follow-up of "Sister Got Game". Esdaile just keeps it coming, she never disappoints. Love it! An easy read as well.

Not a fan of the title. But it happens. Big fan of Leslie Esdaile. the book was okay. But it didn't hit the spot for me like her books normally do. This one left something to be desired. It started off good. but along the way it lost me with the main character's bs of explanations. The whole game of it kind of dropped for me. I think maybe because I'm not a fan of reality tv. So this book kind of reiterated that whole thing of why I don't like reality tv. And it wasn't very believable for me.

I understand it's fiction. But this just didn't hit it for me.

This was a really good easy read, gave you a little insight on what goes on with these reality shows and that producers have a heart too. Plus very romantic, it was a great book.

This was my first time reading anything by Leslie Esdaile Banks so I wasn't sure what to expect. She immediately takes you head first into the story without much fanfare and introduces you to the Natasha and Tyrell.
One thing that I appreciated about the story was that she kept it moving. The characters were believable and we all have friends who act like Camille and Jorgette whether they have thir backgrounds or not.

The reality show? Oh my goodness! BET or TV ONE need to pick up the concept and run with it! It was delightful and very realistic. I found myself getting into it as much as the storyline itself. It sparked a conversation with some friends about what we would have done given those same circumstances. Excellent concept. Great detail. A lot of thought went into that.

Another thing I appreciated about the story was that I didn't have it all figured out in the end. Some tales are predicatble which make reading the final pages more of a courtesy than a necessity. In this case, I knew one thing would happen but how, why and what would happen to everyone else was a total surprise. I found myself picking up the novel and reading when I was supposed to be writing myself! LOL

If this is indicative of her work, I look forward to reading more from this author! :-)