Customer Reviews

No Commitment Required (Indigo: Sensuous Love Stories)

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Yvonne is a successful entrepeneur with a life full of friends, work, and girls to mentor. But Yvonne's success has come at a high cost--not the phsyical anguish evidenced by scars from a terrible car wreck in her childhood, but the emotional trauma of being the only member of her family to survive that wreck. She has locked part of her heart away for good--or so she thinks, until she meets a sexy business consultant named Michael.

Michael thinks he has locked his heart away, too. After being used and discarded by his beloved ex-wife to whom he tried to give everything, Michael adopts a shallow playboy image as a defensive measure. No emotional entanglements, just a little fun then cut and run. He promises that no woman will ever have an advantage over him again. Fortunately for the reader, such promises of the heart are made to be broken.

When Michael fills in for a friend who was to collect Yvonne at the airport, immediate sparks fly between the two. Michael introduces Yvonne to physical love, accepting her scars and helping her to see beyond them. Yvonne allows Michael to relax and be himself without fear of rejection or manipulation. She frustrates him, though, when she won't let him into her private pain as he let her into his.

They both battle their fear of caring too much for another human being, finding they can't turn away from the warmth they find in each other's arms. A no-strings affair seems the perfect solution. Except that, soon, it isn't nearly enough. And Yvonne and Michael have to fight not only the demons of the past but the jealous spectres of the present--if they are brave enough to embrace the future.

The plot flows almost seamlessly and the author's use of language is wonderful. Sentences are well-crafted, words well-placed, to deliver maximum impact. And page after page, they do deliver. I have rarely felt as connected to characters and situations as I did those in this novel.

Glass also does an excellent job of avoiding cliches and stereotypes. There are no white parents horrified at the prospect of biracial grandchildren and no black sister-girls warning about "the only thing a white man wants." There are, however, excellent portrayals of three-dimensional people with valid concerns and honest reactions.

One of the book's strengths is that Glass's focus never veers from the romance into the land of social soapbox. Race is dealt with as one issue in a relationship, just like whether to have kids, where to live, the ex who won't go away, or religious differences. It never becomes the defining factor, which makes for a very realistic read.

From the opening airplane scene, the reader has a distinct sense of these characters as living, loving human beings, and delving into their psyches proves a fascinating exercise. We feel their joy, their trepidation and their triumph, and we finally close the back cover having made new friends.

What a pleasure it is to find a new author with Seressia Glass's talent!

Seressia Glass makes her debut and is a big hit!

Michael Benjamin is doing a favor for his friend Jeff Maxwell by picking up his sister-friend Yvonne Mitchelson. Michael didn't know that Yvonne was AA and beautiful beyond words.

Yvonne Mitchelson is the owner of several lingerie boutiques. She is not ready for charm and utterly maleness of Michael. She is warned by a good friend that Michael is a modern-day cassanova and to stay away from him. Yvonne just couldn't help herself. She gets to know the real Michael.

This story is good and I didn't feel it was about race. It was a good story about two people who find each other. Each person has their tragedy and triumphs. They fit so well. There are secrets shared, loves won and lost.

Ms. Glass did a surperb job in making the characters main and secondary jump off the page. I didn't see Michael Benjamin as a white man, but a man. Great Job Ms. Glass!

Excellent book.
Well written.
Relationship is wonderfully developed.
Emotional.
Plot unfolds in tightly contructed layers.
Great main and secondary support characters.
The characters' actions are logical and plausible.
Off the hook chemistry between the two romantic leads.
Seriously hot love scenes.

Big recommendation!

The interracial story is well done. The characters are believable as are the plot and pace of the story. Yvonne is a black entrepeneur and Michael is a white business consultant. As they take Yvonne's company to new heights, so does their passion and their need for each other spirals explosively. Both have scars - emotional; Yvonne has physical scars, too. Even though they decide that commitment is not a requirement of their relationship, they both seek (unconsciously) the very commitment they have shunned. Through the conflict and the sometimes not-too-subtle attitudes of their friends, the romance is always there.

When I first started reading this book, I felt that everything was a little too formulaic. It has the successful black business woman who's Miss Independent and looks like Tyra Banks, etc. She meets the white guy in a business suit who basically says 'Hey I'm not racist my best friend is black'...etc. The first chapter honestly made me want to just write this book off as just another "interracial book."
But wait! Read on. I'm telling you the book got spicy! It was hot! I had to go repent.....anyway, the way the relationship forms between the couple is spectacular. Plus Yvonne's history was so gripping, once it was uncovered, that it completely made up for the beginning of the book. I almost cried. I did cry. I'm about to cry now...where the hell is my tissue box....?
Now towards the end Ms. Glass lost me. After everything Yvonne and Michael had been through she listened to that dummy "friend" of hers. I felt like both of the characters were WEAK! It's like the author is saying that black men can excercise the power to break up that kind of relationship or put it back together whenever they choose. But whatever; I'm not the judge. After that the book captured my heart again. *sigh*
Overall there is a connection with this book that I cannot deny. It's a must read. Then when you're ready to move to college level go pick up The Time of Our Singing.

Truly a must read for the avid IR reader. This book showcased the relationship between Yvonne a successful black businesswoman and Michael a white business consultant. These two have some very heavy emotional baggage which leads them to believe that it would easier and less messy to be in a relationship that requires no commitment. However they both learn that commitment is the one thing that they do want. In order to make such a commitment they will have to confront their demons regarding their fears of becoming close with another individual due to their painful past.


By the way the love scenes between these two are HOT!!!!!! What I found somewhat different with this interracial storyline versus some others was that race was not issue for those around them; there were no disapproving friends and family members which was somewhat refreshing. I will be looking forward to this author future literary works.

The crafting of this novel was done so well that you can almost believe it was a personal experience. Seressia Glass has captured the essence of her character's hearts and has transferred their thoughts and feelings to her readers.

Two strangers meet and instantly sizzle. NO COMMITMENT REQUIRED tells their story - sensuality is hot - emotions are so strong readers will need a box of kleenex handy - submerged pain and grief come to the surface to be dealt with - and a love so strong it conquers insurmountable odds brings about a satisfying conclusion. Ms. Glass pushes buttons in her debut to take the challenge of a controversial issue, but she does it in style as she tells a beautiful love story filled with romantic moments to fulfill a reader's fantasy. I highly recommend this read.

Carol C in GA

this is a lovely book. No Commitment Required is a well rounded book; it has love and self-conflict. Seressia Glass did a wonderful job creating a book that's is was very enjoyable. This book didn't focus so much on the race issue, that other books do. this book focuses on Yvonne's inter-conflict about lossing her twin sister and parents in a horrible car accident; and her being able to overcome feelings of guilt with the help of a loving man.

I decided to order this book after reading reviews here on amazon.com and I felt my money was well spent, I read it in 2 days and now I'm going to order the sequel

I was captivated and intrigued from the first page. Michael is georgeous,smart and a player do to being hurt in the past.
Yvonne is also very smart but very emotionally alone due to the tragedies that she's endured.
There are some really interesting characters in this book as well. Jeff is one of them. He is Michael and Yvonne's best friend and has never introduced the two.
They meet by chance and the sparks fly from there.I really enjoyed reading this love story. It kept my interest from beginning to end. If you are a collector, this is one you'll want to buy.