Nappily Married: A Novel [Paperback]

Trisha R. Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 7, 2007

Venus Johnston debuted with brazen personality and spirited humor in Nappily Ever After as she searched for the holy grail of marriage. Blessed with a beautiful baby daughter and a husband who is a former rap star with his own multi-million-dollar clothing company, her long journey to find love has finally come to fruition. But life as a stay-at-home wife and mother is hardly the end of the rainbow. In fact she's ready to do anything to jump start the career she's put on the back burner for the last two years.

 

Against her good sense and her husband's wishes, she applies for a high profile PR job to help save a struggling city hospital manned by none other than her former boyfriend,  Dr. Clint Fairchild, the very one and same who dumped her and married long-silky haired bombshell, Kandi Treboe. Venus soon finds out the two women are vying for the same job. This time competition between she and her old nemesis turns into a battle Venus is determined to win by any means necessary.

 

With an unhappy hubby at home, a nanny who's becoming mommy in her child's eyes, while forming an uncomfortably close relationship with her husband, and a deviant at work sabotaging the hospital, Venus may have taken on much more than she can handle.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Thomas's nicely-turned sequel to Nappily Ever After opens with Venus Johnston at a beauty salon, throwing around hundred dollar bills and requesting that her natural hair be straightened immediately. It's Venus's desperate reaction to catching her rich, handsome husband, ex-rapper and successful businessman Jake, in flagrante with his assistant. But Venus blames herself, and soon tells the other salon patrons the backstory. Despite a full life with Jake and daughter Mya (whom Jake accepts as his despite unclear paternity) Venus takes a public relations job at a troubled community hospital, which eats up her time and puts her in daily contact with ex-lover Dr. Clint Fairchild. What follows are enough misunderstandings for a daytime soap, and Thomas keeps the action flowing with short chapters, well-orchestrated subplots, steamy sex and root-forable characters.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Venus Johnston is back, this time as wife to rapper turned entrepreneur Jake Parson and mother to Mya. Fed up with the stay-at-home mom routine, she is considering her next move when she crosses paths with Clint Fairchild, the one who got away. Clint is now a pediatrician at Jackson Memorial, the local hospital that serves the underprivileged. His invitation—and challenge—to Venus to help the failing hospital in its public relations efforts revives Venus' spirit of ambition, not to mention her continued attraction to her ex. But Clint's wife, Kandi Treboe, who spirited him away from her, also works at the hospital and is competing for the same job. On the home front, her husband isn't thrilled about the idea of her working so closely with Clint. To top it off, a saboteur is apparently behind the declining fortunes and image of the hospital. Fans will enjoy this latest installment of Venus' adventures and the pressures that send her back to the salon to ponder the state of her hair. Bush, Vanessa

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (August 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312361300
• ISBN-13: 978-0312361303
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,078,134 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Trisha R. Thomas speaks to the insurmountable beauty standards set for young girls, following them into adulthood, and how it continually effects their lives as women. She's been a guest analyst on CNN's Paula Zahn and Headline News. Her sixth novel in the series,Un-Nappily In Love continues with the spirited character, Venus Johnston, who bucks the status quo and starts living for the beauty within herself, instead of what's on the outside. Her debut novel Nappily Ever After will soon be a film starring Oscar winner Halle Berry. Publisher's Weekly offers praise for her series, "...it's her wry humor that keeps this delightful series blooming."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nappily Married-But in Search of Satisfaction, August 13, 2007

By 

Coulee Eidos "4YaSoul" (NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nappily Married: A Novel (Paperback)

Nappily Married, by Trisha R. Thomas, brings back Venus Johnston-Parson with the latest drama going on in her life. The book begins with a salon scene in which Venus is about to make a big transition to rid herself of the thick, natural mane she sports to a relaxer. Everyone in the salon is about to have a fit and asks her why she wants to do something like that and so begins the story.

Venus is now "nappily" married to her rich husband Jake, who was a one-hit rap wonder that turned his fortune into a multimillion dollar fashion empire. On top of that, they have a beautiful daughter, Mya, for whom Venus decided to stay home and care for as a full-time mom and wife. Lately, staying home playing wife and mother has not been cutting it for Venus and after a serious car accident and ending up in the hospital, she runs across her ex-fiancé Clint Fairchild unexpectedly. He tells her of an opening at the hospital and she contemplates leaving her at-home status to apply for it which starts a cyclone of events in her life.

Jake hires an old childhood friend, Trisha, to be their nanny and she begins to get close seemingly TOO close to Jake and Mya, and Venus begins to feel left out. Trouble is also brewing at the hospital. They are being sabotaged on the inside and the media is relentless with its reporting of it. The hospital is now faced with being closed and added to that drama is Venus is now in competition with Clint Fairchild's wife, Kandi Treboe, for the coveted PR position. On top of that, Jake is dealing with personal issues and insecurity concerning his wife working with her ex and also internal trouble with his fashion empire. He mostly keeps this to himself and shuts Venus out.

Will Venus survive this cyclone of events? Was it worth leaving her comfortable at-home status in search of satisfaction and fulfillment? Will this put her marriage and her life in jeopardy of staying "nappily married?" And what will become of her chopping off her thick, healthy hair? Is that to be a transition to literally making her life smoother and straighter?

This book was a very good read. It had quite a few twists and turns and went "everywhere" at times, but the story kept moving and all tied in together very well at the end. I highly recommend it and it is a welcome addition to the Nappily Series.

Reviewed by Coulee Eidos
APOOO BookClub

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I wish there were more books like this!, September 5, 2007

By 

Kharabella "Kharabella" (Somewhere in the midwest . . .) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nappily Married: A Novel (Paperback)

I read the first NAPPILY book because I indentified with the character's first major act of freedom -- cutting of the long, relaxed hair. As a professional black women, people look at the decision to go relaxer-free and think that you are out of your mind. But that was just a part of her complicated story about a professional black woman looking for and trying to believe in love.

I admit that I almost gave up before I even got to page 100. The idea of a grown woman competing with the rival(Kandi) who stole for ex (Clint), and for a job that she really does not need (hospital PR), really tried my patience. I thought to myself, "Why doesn't Venus peddle her skills somewhere else?" By 170, I actually put the book down!

But the last few chapters won me over again. The best thing about NAPPILY is that none of the books present a fairy tale. Venus learns that love, like black women and hair, is complex and requires bravery, patience, understanding, and forgiveness. The marriage was really tested, but they loved each other enough to get past the hurt and pride. NAPPILY MARRIED really had some twists and turns that really surprised me, and I am glad I followed through. For me, it has been the best book of the series.

And I can't cheer loudly enough for a book with a black heroine who has education, ambition, and good sense!! Go Venus!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Loved the Nappily Series!, October 3, 2007

By 

Book Lover "Tracy" (Owings Mills, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nappily Married: A Novel (Paperback)

I absolutely LOVED the Nappily series of books. I was in the bookstore a few weeks ago and picked up "Nappily Married." I could not put the book down and finished reading it in 2 days. I am an avid reader but I had not yet read "Nappily Ever After."

I immediately started looking for the book because I HAD to find out how the story of Venus, Clint, Airic, and Jake started out.

As I approached the end of the book, I realized that there was a 2nd book in the series, "Would I Lie to You."

I loved all three books, but "Would I Lie To You" was my favorite because I absolutely loved Jake's character. Venus is a character I think many women will connect with because they have been in her situation or felt the way that she does about hair, men, life, family, or workplace issues.

Excellent story and character development. Add this series to your must read list.