Love Don't Live Here Anymore [Hardcover]

Denene Millner (Author), Nick Chiles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 2002

Randy Murphy and Mikki Chance-Murphy are a contemporary couple whose marital bond is tested by the demands of their emerging professional lives. He is an ad executive who has temporarily relocated to Paris to pursue a prestigious account. She is a fashion designer living in Brooklyn, trying to move her struggling bridal boutique into the black.

Unfolding in alternating chapters from each of their points of view, Love Don't Live Here Anymore tells the story of what happens to a marriage when infidelity and distance-both physical and emotional-enter the equation. As Mikki finds herself powerfully drawn to her husband's best friend, it will take some major shaking up-not to mention faith, understanding, and lots of love-to put the pieces of their marriage back together. If it's not too late.

A novel about the choices that shape our lives and relationships, this is a moving and captivating addition to contemporary African-American fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The husband-and-wife team who penned the successful What Brothers Think, What Sistahs Know nonfiction series take their interpersonal skills to a different level in this entertaining first novel. Using a he said/she said approach to chronicle the affectionate dueling of advertising exec Randy Murphy and his wife, Mikki, a successful wedding-dress designer, the writing duo examines a contemporary African-American marriage. The challenge of juggling hot careers with lukewarm personal lives takes center stage when Randy is given the chance of a lifetime to do a three-month business stint in Paris. Mikki, steeped in her own business, keeps the home fires burning, but going it solo while her husband is on the other side of the Atlantic is not her idea of a good marriage. Temptation and frustration inevitably lead to adultery, and though the scenarios are not new Randy has an office affair; Mikki cheats with her husband's best friend the authors' use of alternating viewpoints helps to keep things interesting. The plot is generally weighed down by overwriting, and some scenes such as when Mikki's personal problems become fodder for her readers' group to analyze could have been jettisoned altogether. But apart from some goofy observations (a faithful husband is "like a long-surviving deer"; a relationship unravels "like a ball of catnip-laced yarn at the claws of my nutty, mischievous cats"), the authors offer an insightful look at modern marriage. Agent, Victoria Saunders. (Mar.)Forecast: The sassy jacket should woo readers, particularly those already charmed by the nonfiction successes of Millner and Chiles.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This husband-and-wife team again tackles the complex issues that couples face, but they broaden their successful theme of exposing the male and female perspective now in a powerful fiction debut. Mekhi Chance and Randy Murphy are struggling with their marriage. They encounter even more challenges when Randy leaves Brooklyn for a three-month job assignment in Paris. Mekhi's disappointment over Randy's decision to relocate causes her to harbor resentment. While she struggles to advance her own bridal shop, she also feels abandoned and unsafe. Randy focuses only on the opportunity and his future financial benefits and career advancement. As much as they love one another, insecurity about the status of their relationship causes them both to make poor choices. Unfortunately, it is not until they are truly alone and challenged by total strangers that they are able to see their relationship from the other's perspective. Mekhi and Randy realize before their relationship is beyond repair that it is worth fighting for. Millner and Chiles' first novel is written with humor, compassion, and honesty. Lillian Lewis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 324 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (February 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525946411
• ISBN-13: 978-0525946410
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,609,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You Abandoned Me, June 12, 2002

By 

Dera R Williams (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love Don't Live Here Anymore (Hardcover)

Love Don't Live Here Anymore. We have heard the song of woe and pain. Another man, another woman feels they have been abandoned in their relationship. This novel captures the essence of a love and marriage gone sour and the path that has brought it to this point.

Husband and wife authors Milner and Chiles, who are known for their nonfiction- he said/she said books on love and relationships, employ the same technique in their first novel. We hear from Randy first, who is in Paris as an advertising executive. He left his disgruntled wife Mekki, a dress designer, back home lonely, frustrated, and dissatisfied. Meanwhile Mekki finds solace in the arms of Marcus, Randy's best friend. A trip to Paris to try to repair the damage that has already been done proves to be disastrous. Can this marriage be saved?

I loved the writing, style and the voices of Randy and Mekki. We got to see their less than perfect personas. All of their fears, dreams, and fantasies were revealed. I didn't always like these characters. In fact, I spent a great deal of time cursing Mekki under my breath. Randy is an overachiever yet he has insecurities and sensitivities that most men will not admit to. I often wondered how these two got together in the first place (he wants children, she does not) because it seemed there was little communication to begin with. A secondary story line involving Mekki's parents' crumbling long time marriage is also a lesson about how precarious and vulnerable our relationships can be.

For me this was a mature read though the protagonists were in their late 20s, early 30s. It methodically detailed a message that was conveyed throughout the novel. Most couples do not put enough time and energy into making a marriage work (divorce statistics prove that). I enjoyed the glimpses of Paris and the differences in work ethics of the French and the Americans as well as the office politics. The one blight for me was Marcus and his reasons for stabbing his best friend in the back. I felt his character was underdeveloped because I had to make assumptions as to why. I gave this book a 4.5 rating but because of this detail I didn't feel comfortable rounding it up to a 5 for this review.

Dera Williams
APOOO Book Club

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Same Soup different Crackers, June 5, 2002

By 

"subtlewarrior" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Don't Live Here Anymore (Hardcover)

Most popular Black fiction revolves around relationships and the their inherent drama. I complained about having to read this book the moment it was chosen but I confess it was better than I anticipated.

The book unfolds in an alternate narrative between the Husband and the wife, who open the book physically separated and growing further apart by the word. I will spare you the gory details of their relationship and its dilemmas, but I will say that I found the characters rather predictable and shallow. It is obvious that the authors are quite in tune with the emotional turmoil of a dissolving marriage. It would be remarkable if one author could expose the inner workings of both the male and female mind, but considering this is a book written by a married couple, it is merely acceptable. I believe it will be entertaining and even a bit informative to those struggling in dysfunctional marriages, considering they are honest enough to accept both sides of a complex story.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I said, You said, April 25, 2002

By 

Readers Paradise "Book Club" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Love Don't Live Here Anymore (Hardcover)

This was a very different read for me. While reading I felt like I was torn between two friends. Throughtout the book we read two points of views representing the Murphys' marriage. Initially the style was hard for me, but after a while I began to look forward to how they each felt regarding the same situation.

Randy Murphy was working hard at gaining a six-figure salary. In order to become one ot the top Ad Exec making that kind of money his job took him out of the country for months at a time. A fact his wife Mekhi found hard to live with and understand.

As the saying goes "When the mice is away the cats will play" and play is what they both did. An unexpected turn of events forces Randy and Mekhi to almost see a mirror image of themselves in their marriage.

This book is written for anyone who might've forgotten the true meaning of communication and the pain silent agreements can cause. I plan to pick up future books by this husband and wife duo.