Customer Reviews

Love Frustration: A Novel

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Love Frustration is an appropriate title for RM Johnson's most recent novel. Who wouldn't be frustrated when he or she must deal with tough choices regarding their relationship? Do we or don't we get married? Should I take him back? Is this love strong enough to endure all the heartache and pain? These questions and many more are answered in this relationship novel that includes not only the main character Jayson Adams and his fiancée Faith, but also Jayson's best friend, a female, named Asha, someone whom he wants to keep in his life against Faith's protests.

Many plots twists and turns will keep the reader flipping through the pages of this novel. There are tons of steamy sensual scenes, breezy sharp dialogue, wonderful humor, eloquent writing, drama, and an unexpected climax - all the requirements needed for an engaging read. Lovers and friends will find lots to digest and discuss with RM Johnson's Love Frustration.

Where do I start with this book? First of all, this book read like a movie. R.M. Johnson's writing puts you right there on the front seat of the movie. You can visualize everything.

I like how he broke this novel up into characters. First, you have Jayson. He's what you consider a good man. Jayson is in love with a woman name Faith. At the beginning I liked Faith. I thought she was a nice woman that deserved a good man like Jayson until her best friend Karen shed some light on her. Karen had a small part in this book, but it was well worth it. I slowly began to hate Faith for the things she did to Jayson. Your mouth will literally drop once you find out her dirty secrets she has been keeping from Jayson. Faith is scandalous with a capital S!

Then you have Asha, Jayson's best friend that Faith despies. Asha and Jayson use to be in a relationship. Things didn't work out so they became friends.....best friends. But little Miss Asha isn't too innocent herself. She has been keeping something from Jayson that will change the way he looks at her and what he thinks of her forever. This secret will have a major impact on Asha's life. Jayson was so upset about Asha's secret that he threw her out of of her apartment which happens to be the building he owns.

Love Frustration is full of SECRETS, LIES, LOVE, BETRAYAL and MORE SECRETS! I enjoyed this book from the firts page to the last. Boy, was it GOOD! I recommned this book to all book lovers and to those who have an addiction for good books. This one is it.

Ummmm....R.M. Johnson when is the next one coming out???! In the meantime while you are writing another bestseller I'll go and purchase the other two books that you wrote....The Harris Men & The Harris Family. You get five stars for this book no doubt. On my way to add you to my favorite author's list. You are up there with the best!!!

P.S. You had me on the edge of my seat in the last three chapters! WHEW! (I can finally exhale now!)

Greatly impressed by his skill of brilliantly depicting true to life characters in The Harris Men and The Harris Family, Mister Johnson came back on the scene and flipped the script in a major way with Love Frustration. This novel is sure to be a favorite in all the reading groups. A story so beautifully told, characters so true to life, a page turner to the very end. To mention any detail of this novel would be a great disservice for all of who have yet to get their hands on this one. To my fellow readers I implore to you that this one is a must read!! Mister Johnson is in the ranks of E. Lynn Harris, Omar Tyree, and Eric Jerome Dickey, nonetheless he maintains a unique voice, an individual with a great talent for story telling. Entertaining, dramatic, and comedic. Love frustration will have you hooked from the very first sentence.

Would it be rather shameless of me to say that I am now an official RM Johnson groupie? I am claiming the title. To all my fellow Amazonians, Love Frustration is a brilliantly told story that will quench that need for a REAL GOOD BOOK thirst!

In this latest novel by RM Johnson, frustration is just one of the many problems these characters face. The story centers around Jayson and his fiancé and soon-to-be wife, Faith and his best friend and former lover, Asha. When Jayson's friendship with Asha threatens his relationship with Faith, he is forced to make a decision. Will it be the right one? What are the consequences?

I was so wrapped up in these characters that I felt as if I were in the room witnessing their emotions firsthand. The aspect I found most refreshing was the inner turmoil of Asha. I could feel her angst as she struggled with her sexuality. This was my first time reading about a woman in this situation and it was expertly done. The relationship between the characters was flawed as were the people. This did not make them bad, just human.

This novel shows us that love does not always start off on solid ground. Sometimes it may make you cry. However, it can still prevail in the end.

Like The Harris Men and The Harris Family, I felt like I was on an amusement park ride while reading Love Frustration. Nervous at the beginning, thrilled during the ride and sad when it was over. So, when Johnson's next novel hits the stores, you can bet I will be first in line to buy a ticket.

Reviewed by Nicole
APOOO Book Club

The main characther in this book finds out that his girlfriend is cheating on him, and he set out for revenge. I don't understand how he wanted her back after all she put him through but that's how things are this day and time. I didn't like this book as much as I like the authors other books.

This book was sort of a disappointment to me based on the other books that I have read by the author. The storyline was very unrealistic. There is no way that the book should've ended the way it did with Jayson and Faith's relationship. If so, Jayson is very weak. I really didnt enjoy it, but I love the author so maybe the next book I read from him will be better!

I just finished Love Frustrations and I thought it was excellent! This is the first novel by RM Johnson that I have had the pleasure of reading, but I am definitely going to back track and read his other works! From the well developed characters to the well written dialogue, this book is absolutely EXCELLENT. I have read some of the reviews here and just like my review there isn't enough we can say to give this book justice! I think some of the reviewers give up too much of the story, but the book is so unpredictable you won't want to put it down! I couldn't!

To give a little background, I've read Harris Men and Harris Family. I am familiar with the writer's style. Both were readable and fairly enjoyable. From what I read on the back covers, I felt that maybe the author was exorcising family demons, so I gave him a pass for some less than totally believable stuff. Some of the conversations *seemed* like they could exist in real family dynamics.

Love Frustration, however, I could not give the same pass. I was very surprised. This book was ridiculous on so many levels. Don't let the hardback cover fool you. First off, the characters were one, maybe two-dimensional. Jayson, the male lead, is getting married to Faith....supposedly he's in love w/Faith. Yet, within the first couple of pages, he FULLY describes his best friend Asha. FULLY DESCRIBES. So imagine me waiting to get a visual of Faith.....Still waiting. Asha is a bone of contention in Faith and Jayson's relationship. Faith sees Asha as a hindrance to their relationship. Asha asserts herself in Jayson's life, since "she's known him longer." Jayson, is of course, oblivious and even though Faith asks him to end the friendship, he lies to her, and doesn't. So Miss Asha throws it in Faith's face. So Faith is hurt by this, and believes that what she's felt all along is true---Jayson is cheating with his best friend. So Karen (Faith's BFF), who hates Asha and Jayson, tries to make amends w/Jayson since he's marrying her BFF and gives him a hotel room key. It's a wedding party or something...but when he gets there, he sees Faith with another man. Stunned and hurt, Jayson sleeps w/Asha and thinks that they are on their way to starting up their relationship again. Faith, turns out, was not in the midst of a one-nighter. The guy, Gary, is her married lover, and she's been using Jayson to try to get Gary to leave his family and marry her. **DO YOU SEE THE SPRINGER QUALITIES IN THIS YET?** Anyway, so to cover herself, Faith flips it and blames Jayson stating that she just wanted him to see how it felt to be cheated on. But meanwhile, she's steaming b/c Karen sold her out. So to finish up, Jayson finds out that Faith lied to him, devises a plan of revenge (using Gary and a video), succeeds (sort of) and he and Faith work to repair their relationship. After repairing the damage, they decide to put the wedding back on, but in the last 3 or 4 pages, Jayson stops himself calling Faith all sorts of stuff. Faith clues him in to the fact that she knows he set her up, but b/c of Gary's betrayal...she knew he would never commit to her. She discovered that she's loved Jayson all along and wanted to work it out no matter how long it took. Jayson, of course, now wears the cap of a dunce, and realizes that despite his actions, she wanted to marry him anyway. And just like any other happily ever after, he calls to her, she comes back. All that was missing was the obligatory run into each others arms.

Whew, OK. Synopsis over. Now my review. I never bought that he was in love w/Faith. It just wasn't well developed. I prefer when writers don't make me take their word for it. A book doesn't have to have 500 pages to have developed characters. RM made Faith seem unreasonable for questioning Asha and Jayson's friendship. You know, the Bible says that a man leaves his mother and father and cleaves to his wife. I'm pretty sure that principle applies to friends too! I have guy friends that I've known WAY longer than their wives/girlfriends, but you know what? It's called RESPECT for the relationship. I've even had one friend's gal pal say some questionable stuff, but you know what? I didn't go GUTTER like these women did. Just horrible. The whole Gary thing was just ridiculous beyond belief. Nasty too. I did not like Asha as a character. She added zippo to the story, and all the pages reserved for her drama were undeserving.

The best thing about the ending is that Faith and Jayson got married, thus sparing others from misery. Although, this author seems to like writing sequels...so who knows? Library rental, indeed.

This is the 1st book I've read by this author. It was definitely entertaining and held my attention. I didn't enjoy the ending but I guess it was realistic considering the emotions involved in the complex relationships the author takes you through. Asha and Jayson are well developed characters but the author leaves you wanting to know more about Jayson's past to better understand why his self esteem was so low. The character Faith needs to be better developed because there is relatively no background development for her. This book leaves the doors wide open for a sequel which I'm sure Johnsom MUST have in the works. Overall, I'd recommend the book to friends for a entertaining read.

Love frustration is one of my favorite novels but just a breeze compared to dating games. Johnson does it again in this great novel. Its not your average story. Things are up and things are down and things are hot <<real hot>> and things get cold. The only thing i hated about this book was the ending. It was very rushed and not thought out. It didnt sum up anything and it dissapointed me. Makes me wonder is there going to be a sequel??