Customer Reviews

Shades of Jade: A Novel (Strivers Row)

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Usually when I order or buy a book I always read maybe two or three pages then come back to it later. With this book I started at 9:30 that night and by 3:15 that morning I was finished!!! Shades Of Jade was a good book!!!!!! I kept saying to myself I'll just read this chapter and put it down. I couldn't put this book down until page 245 which is the last page!

Shades Of Jade is about a woman (Marissa) that only dates married men for her own personal reasons. Her best friend Charmaine dislikes her lifestyle and constantly warns her that: ONE OF THESE DAYS YOU'RE GONNA MESS WITH THE WRONG WOMAN'S HUSBAND! Marissa ignores her best friend until she starts receiving threatening phone calls, hang ups and disturbing letters. By Chapter four I thought I knew who the stalker was, but as the plot thicken I wasn't sure. When I finally find out who it was I was totally SUPRISED! In a million of years I would have never guess the stalker..........NEVER!

Gloria, you did a EXCELLENT job on writing this book! This book is full of DRAMA, LIES AND SUSPENSE! This book will keep you turning the pages until you are finished! I HIGHLY recommend this book to everyone you will be in for a suprise by the end!
This book deserves more than five stars just for the ending......
My mouth is still opened from who the stalker was!!!!!!!!

GO GET THIS ONE YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPONITED!!!

Do not start Shades of Jade unless you can afford to read this book in one sitting and don't have any other pressing obligations today. Shades of Jade is a thrilling and suspenseful novel and is a Must Read for anyone who's looking for a good mystery novel by new author Gloria Mallette. Who's trying to kill Marissa a woman who has a passion for married men and is dating four of them at the same time. I especially liked that the characters were well developed and that the plot twist and turns were realistic and added depth to the storyline. Shades of Jade is a page-turner that will take you on a suspenseful and thrilling ride and a book that will have you biting your nails as you quickly turn the pages trying to figure out who the stalker/wanna be killer is...and this was not an easy task or obvious. If you're looking for a good whodunit pick up Shades of Jade today. You won't be disappointed but you will be shocked and surprised by the outcome and the ending...yes just the way a good mystery novel should leave you.

Whew! I started reading Shades of Jade this morning, and I finished it this evening. I could not close this novel, until I read the last word on the very last page; and even then, I still wanted more! With a palpitating heart and sweaty fingers, I sat on the edge of my sofa anticipating the outcome of this stellar story.

Shades of Jade is an intense thriller laced with romance. Marissa is a beautiful, vivacious, successful women whose got it going on, except that she's got an attraction for married men. She lives this life void of remorse, responsibility, or guilt until a narcissistic stalker threatens her life, stopping at nothing short of her heinous death.

Gloria Mallette does a magnificent job of luring readers into this penchant story brimming with scorching deception and magnetizing romance. The characters are vividly developed, colorful, and alive. The story zips along like an AWOL raft on white water.

Intermingling with the suspense is an arduous subplot that will leave you even more anxious than the mystery at hand. Intrigued, curious, and stimulated you'll turn each page wracking your brain trying to figure out the mystery, while simultaneously cheering the romance that threatens to rupture. You'll never be able to guess the outcome, so just block off an abundance of time, deal with your anxiety, and flow through the pages of Shades of Jade until your curiosity is squelched.

Shades of Jade is a great suspenseful novel. Once I started reading, I couldn't put the book down until the last page.

Marissa has a passion for married men. She has been warned several times but she refuses to listen to the threats. Who wants her dead? Who is the stalker? You'll be on pins and needles trying to figure this one out.

This one shouldn't be missed. I highly recommend this novel. Best wishes to Gloria. Be Blessed!

What a book. SHADES OF JADE is a very realistic novel about Marissa, a successful woman who has everything she could possibly dream of. She is the type who likes to mess with other women's men. Her best friend Charmaine always beats her over the head, every so ofter warning her that "one of these days, you're going to mess with the WRONG woman's man".
Charmaine even tries to hook Marissa up with her fiance's friend Levi, an absolute sweetheart who falls for Marissa, despite her contemptuous attitude towards him.
Marissa begins receiving crank calls that quickly turn into threats towards her life, and before we know it we're caught up in a story that rapidly turns into a thriller. Boy was Charmaine right! But it may be too late.
I found myself trying to turn the pages so fast that I was literally skipping over words.
There were many parts of the book scared me, because I know that this could happen to ANYONE who acts without thinking about the lives they may ruin. The end was such a SHOCK!!!!!!!!!!!

To the women out there like Marissa: Read SHADES OF JADE and TRUST, you will think twice before messing with someone else's man.

Shades of Jade is a novel of passion, deceit and suspense.

Marissa is a beautiful woman with a penchant for married men. She has several men that she is seeing at the same time, without the men knowing about each other. Marissa also has another secret--she is being stalked by someone. Who is this person? You will be shocked to find out the answer. This book will have you up all night, trying to figure out the stalkers identity.

This is a great debut novel from Gloria Mallette. I highly recommend this one. Continued success and blessings to Gloria Mallette. Peace!!

This book was EXCELLENT. It's a mystery, with a little (unlikely) romance thrown into the mix. Marissa really got on my nerves at the beginning of the book, with four relationships she's juggling, and her disinterest in any man that actually is available. But, boy did I start to feel for her when the stalker started coming after her with a vengeance. As the other reviewer of this book mentioned, I could not put the book down, I just had to find out who wanted Marissa dead so badly. I thought the potential killer was everybody EXCEPT who it really was! Mallette did an excellent job of holding my interest, keeping me in suspense, and giving a crazy twist to the relationship/dating/marriage game. I was very impressed, and I highly recommend this book.

This is one of the worst written books I've ever read. On page one I knew I was in trouble, but I forced myself to read to the end, hoping the author could redeem herself.

The premise is excellent--woman who only dates married men finds herself harrassed and stalked--and the ending has a twist I never saw coming. Too bad the writing couldn't pull it off. Unskilled and unimaginative, I felt like I was reading a story written by a 9th grader. The writing was choppy and boring, and the dialogue was flat, many times bordering on the inane ("Oh, Levi!" Marissa exclaimed, bringing her hand to her chest. . . .) Too many trite expressions were used.

Good fiction writers show what's happening, not tell, and this book lacks the showing. We are told that Levi and Marissa fall in love, not shown. I wasn't convinced, especially since they fell in love in one or two days' time. Brandon, the gay friend, was stereotypical, and the author did a poor job of smoothly underscoring the dangers of HIV and other STDs. It came off preachy, like a public service announcement in the middle of a work of fiction.

The book also lacked the ability to push you to the next chapter. The end of one chapter would be so boring, I didn't feel compelled via the writing/tension to continue to the next. Some chapters also seemed to end in odd places, which prevented an easy flow of the storyline.

Also, after the surprise revelation of the "stalker," the resulting dialogue between Marissa, Brandon and Levi seemed more like a psychology symposium. But by then, the build up to the climax was so poor, it really didn't matter. I found myself skimming a lot of this book--anything to get to the end.

Again, great premise, but poor writing. I would love to see what more capable writers, such as Bebe Moore Campbell or even Terri McMillan, could have done with this story.

Shades of jades

Now at first I couldn't get into this book. I thought about putting it down many times. Because at first I had stereotyped it. But it turned out to be very eventful, intriguing and suspenseful. The threats were very scarey. I related to them especially since I'm single and live alone. I was wondering what was really going on, when he/she became so bold and to go to her private secluded apartment and leave notes and do all sort of damage to her car. I thought to myself, wow! I was on pins and needles trying to figure out what was going on. So many times I thought going to the end and reading the book backwards but I didn't want to miss anything. Marissa character is what can I say, totally off the hook. Yes she was remorseful and felt guilt; after all she felt it not her fault that their women couldn't do what she did for them. Her desire and passion for married men was a mystery to me. But still who would want to hurt her. But when I found out it was her friends lover, I nearly flipped my wig. I was so outdone I did not know what to do. I can only imagine (though I've never experienced it and hopefully never will) how her girlfriend must have felt knowing her fiance is gay. The man who she is about to marry. Wow!!!!! And then for her and her friend to argue over her lifestyle wasn't uncommon. It's a books you must read you won't be able to put it down. I read this book in three days. There were parts I had gotten to when I found myself up past midnight not wanting to put it down. And having to get up for work the next day at 5:30 was beginning to take it's toll on me, but I couldn't put it down. I loved it. Make me wonder though if she would ever settle down and get married. She really had a lot to offer as a person. Excellent, exciting and heart jerking dialogue. I loved it.

I'm not usually a fan of mystery/suspense novels, but when I read the back cover of this book I thought I'd give it a try. I'm so glad that I did! "Shades of Jade" is a well-written, suspenseful story. Marissa is a thirty-something, successful single woman who prides herself on selectively dating only professional, moneyed, married men. Although her best friend tries to get Marissa to see the error of her ways, the real wake call begins when Marissa starts to receive threatening phone calls, letters and...well, you'll have to read it to find out....

If you're a fan of light mystery, you'll more than likely enjoy this book. And even if you aren't, give it a try anyway. I think you'll find Gloria Malette a talented storyteller.