Customer Reviews

Many Shades of Gray (Indigo)

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

 

 

You find out you really don't and that's a good thing. I've read quite A few of this authors books and this is by far one of he best works in my opinion. I was becoming a bit bored with romance novels because they started to look alike but not this time.
At first I hated the hero and the heroine but man did that change because this story made me actually cheer for these two misfits who really deserved each other.
You know how there are those books where the characters make you so mad that you just want to ring their necks and render them unconscious well this is that couple.
The more you read the more you wanted to just slap some sense into them but you just couldn't put the book down. Like a massive train wreck you just couldn't look away. Then toss in the bitter ex and family secrets and all hell just breaks lose. But you still can't put the book down. Because you have to know how it's going to end and sleeping just isn't an option for the overly curious. So read the book scream then read it some more.

First, I want to say I do like Dyanne Davis, she is a very creative writer and usually has interesting characters in her stories that you really can relate to but in "Many Shades of Gray" I really had some problems with the lead character's.

This story is about Janice an African American woman a star on the rise to becoming a major novelist thanks to the cleverness,diligence and business expertise of her publisher and lover Simon. These two in the begining leave me void of their chemistry, at one point I was wondering why they were together or even trying to salvage their relationship. They spend a great deal of time playing these neurotic emotional games with each other and it really gets exhausting just reading their encounters. Enter Janice's ex-lover Tommy, who also happens to be in the book business but is holding a huge grudge against Janice because of a terminated pregnancy, a secert she has kept from Simon. Though Simon is familiar with this past relationship and still wants very much to marry Janice he is incredibly insecure about their love because he feels Janice harbours some deeper feelings for Tommy. So he decieds to test her
feelings until she admits to loving him, and this was really exhausting.

This book is 441 pages and it takes Janice nearly 300 of those pages to tell Simon she loves him, not to mention reveal what happened between she and Tommy that has left this unfinished, emotinally unresolved business between them. I have a hard time believing in this century people get this caught up about unwanted pregnancy. I know people have baggage going into relationships but these characters "suitcases" were just too big, and it really disrupted the flow of this story for me.

I think Ms.Davis let these character's spend too much time dwelling on stuff that that they couldn't change, nor were responsible for. The characters were so drowned in such unrealistic crazy making that their appeal was lost to me. For example, Simon is consumed with worry and acts accordingly, because he fears that Janice will hate him and leave if she ever discovers his family wealth comes off the backs off slaves that were once owned by his ancestors. I think in this day and age we all know that people of color helped build the wealth of this nation and have never benefited from the fruits of their labor but it is ridiculous to expect a supposed insightful writer like Janice to hold this against a man whom she claims to love and who has tried to do good with his money once he learned the history of his family wealth. It was even more ridiculous to me that Tommy was actually using this information he discovers to drive a wedge between Janice and Simon.

It would have been much more interesting if Simon had indeed discovered, since it was eluded to in the book,that his right-hand and father figure, Harold was is real father. Clearly, Simon suffered from his parent's relationship indiscretions so it was understandable that he would have issues but it would have been a great way for Simon to evolve and become a better man learning that his real father is indeed the man he has grown to love, trust and respect.

I think the ending of this story was weak and not at all what I have come to expect from Ms.Davis. However, I was relieved when this story ended because the aggrevation of the characters was finally over. I rated this book three stars because I struggled to totally not dislike the characters, and I didn't totally hate the book. I wanted to be understanding of these character's and their issues but Ms.Davis really strecthed my patience with the reasoning, rationale and behavior of these character's. I will say that a turn of events near the end of this story does bring Simon and Janice past all this nonsense, but I think it was even a struggle for Ms. Davis to get her two main characters out of the box they were in so the story could end on a postive note.
If you are new reader to Dyanne Davis this is not a good first book, try reading "Two Sides to Every Story" or any of her earlier releases, then come back to this one. Lastly, for those of you that are swayed by the cover when purchasing a book, note that Indigo Love Spectrum Publishing never seem to get the covers right... the "Many Shades of Gray" cover are no visual clue for the characters, I find this annoying but have decided not to rely on cover art to help me decide to make a purchase, especially with Indigo...I sometimes wonder if their cover artist ever read the book or at least get a summary description of the main characters.

I really did not like this book and it took a lot for me to finish. I try to finish every book I read and this book was one of the hardest to read. I was tired of the main characters fighting and the silly games. It was not beleivable. I know the book is fiction but sometimes reading a book you can see it happening. I can't see it happening to no one.

Off the top, I L-O-V-E Dyanne Davis as an author. I've read other material by her and the stories were believable, interesting, and I've made them part of my reading library. HOWEVER, this book was horrible in my opinion. I'm looking at the other reviews and am wondering if we all read the same book??? I was EXCITED when the roll-out date for "Many Shades of Gray" came; couldn't wait to get my hands on it. And from the FIRST chapter I was put off.

What sane person, in a LOVING relationship, would treat the person that they're about to marry in the way that either of the lead characters did? How many times would the average, NORMAL person allow someone to belittle them, call them out publically, or, allow their mate to say repetitiously that they've basically "bought" them before dumping that person???

In the most respectful way possible I say that this book was a complete waste of my time and money! I won't say to others reading this review to NOT purchase it because Ms. Davis is an incredible author who deserves the support. However, when I read these reviews I look/hope for HONESTY in them, and that's what I'm attempting to give in turn with this. Although I understand everything is subjective, that this is simply my point of view, and there are people giving it 5 stars (which baffles me!), I honestly wouldn't recommend this to anyone else, buy it for someone, or even GIVE it away. The only thing that kept me from throwing it in the garbage was my respect for Ms. Davis, and the fact that I have other works by her.

Janice is an author and Simon is her publisher. The two have been in a three-year relationship that seems to have hit a roadblock because neither of them can bring themselves to say the three words that would take their relationship to the next level.

I enjoyed this book because I thought the stubborness of the two characters was real. It was annoying as all heck watching their secrets unfold and watching them get close, then pull back, but in the end it I took a deep breath and smiled at how they finally worked things out.

The pacing of the book was good and I liked that the the story was always about Janice and Simon without veering too much into other characters. This book is different from some of Davis' other work, but different in a good way.

MANY SHADES OF GRAY by Dyanne Davis is a love story featuring black author Janice Lace, and white billionaire publisher, Simon Kohl. They have been seeing each other for three years and neither has said the words "I love you," to the other. Both are frightened to say them and declare their relationship a matter of convenience. Janice has a secret that prevents her from uttering the words, even though she does love Simon. Simon is also keeping secrets about his past from Janice. When Simon asks Janice to marry him, she agrees and he plans a banquet to make the announcement. Simon announces their engagement and also his plans to help floundering black books stores. He gives a check for a million dollars to Tommy Stone, a black man determined to keep the bookstores open. Janice walks out of the banquet, angry because Tommy is a part of her past and she feels that Simon did this on purpose. Will the secrets these two hold finally surface and will their love be able to withstand the trauma?

Dyanne Davis has penned an explosive novel filled with hot love, suspense and an incredible amount of tension. The characters leapt off the page and into my consciousness and I could feel their pain. I also found myself wanting to yell at both of them for their incredible stubbornness and their inability to let go and let love in. It was a page-turner from the very beginning. It did get a bit drawn out toward the end, but that did not stop me from wanting to know how this tempestuous love story was going to end. It is certainly a book worth reading.

Reviewed by Alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

I love Dyanne Davis and was looking forward to this book. However, when I started reading it I immediately disliked the hero or heroine. It was hard for me to relate to them or understand how they could possibly love one another based on the way they treated each other. Unlike her other novels, this book did not wrap me in and I found myself rushing to the end just to see what happened. Regardless of my feelings about this book, I am still a big fan and look forward to reading future novels by Dyanne Davis.

If you like sugar and spice in your romance stories then this book is not for you. If you don't mind reading about well written realism about two mixed up, screwed up people then read this story. No one in this book is nice, they need Jesus and a shrink in that order-LOL! It's like watching a car crash, horribly fascinating but its so well written you can't put it down.
This is a testimony to Ms Davis skills as a writer that she managed to make this book worth reading even tho the main characters are as sick as Hades- neither has the maturity for an adult relationship, both allowing their dysfunctional pasts to dictate their present and future and both playing sick mind games with each other. They would not know love if it kicked them in the ass! Well worth the money!

A lot of readers won't like Janice or Simon at first, but they will grow on you. You wouldn't want them to live next door to you, but if they did, I guarantee you'd be peeping out the window to see what they were up to. I can see why other readers might not have had the patience or fondness for the book, but it really is worth reading because of the setting, the author's hand at dialogue, and the way the story sort of taunts the reader.

We live in world now where almost everyone in every relationship plays games. Whether they feel it is necessary to keep their mate or necessary to maintain control, games are being played in every corner of the globe. Now I don't condone this type of behavior, but to read about it in such a humorous light, I must say...Wow!
Read it, read it again, put it down, and read it again.
Maybe next time games will play second fiddle to the truth.
Mary Jo and Simon...I hope you live happily ever after in our imaginations!
Dyanne Davis...keep them coming...
Living it up in H-town!!!