Customer Reviews

She Had It Coming (Thorndike African-American)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

WAS IT VALERIE OR DELORES OR BOTH? I LOVE THE HUMOR MARY DESCRIBES HER CHARACTERS WITH. SHE DOES THIS IN EVERY BOOK AND IT'S SOMETHING I LOOK FORWARD TOO. HOWEVER, THE STORY LINE WAS A GOOD ONE BUT TOO DRAWN OUT. IT SHOUDL'VE JUST TOLD US WHY DELORES FELT SHE OWED FLYOD HER TOTAL DEVOTION THEN GOT ON WITH THE PLOT. WE SHOULDN'T HAD TO GO THROUGH THEIR CHILDHOOD AND MR ZEKE'S DEATH. IT COULD'VE BEEN IN THE STORY BUT AS A MEMORY OR A SECRET NOT A FULL BLOW BY BLOW ISSUE.

I DON'T FEEL THAT THERE WAS ANY CLOSURE WITH THIS BOOK. WHAT HAPPENED WITH MOANING LISA, PAUL, FLYOD AND DID VALERIE DECIDE TO KEEP THAT MUCH OF A SECRET ABOUT DELORE'S INVOVLMENT IN THE MURDER? I FIND THAT HARD TO BELIEVE SINCE SHE SUNG LIKE A CANARY WHEN SHE LEARNED OF HER MAN'S DECIET. BEING THE FRIEND SHE CLAIMED TO BE SHE SHOULD'VE SAW WHO WAS REALLY AT FAULT EVEN IF AFTER THE FACT. I HATE THERE WAS NO MORE INTERACTION WITH DELORES AND FLYOD AFTER ALL SHE DID FOR HIM TO KEEP HIS SPIRITS LIFTED WHILE IN JAIL IT SEEMS AS IF HE WOULD'VE GOT OVER HIMSELF ADN AT LEAST FORGAVE HERT AND RESUMED A FRIENDSHIP SINCE LOYALTY WAS SO IMPORTANT TO HIM. I DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND WHY PAUL MARRIED DELORES OR HIS POINT IN THE BOOK.

THE STORY WAS ENTERTAINING BUT RUSHED AND LEFT A LOT OF UNANSWERED QUESTIONS. I GIVE THIS BOOK 3 STARS ONLY BECAUSE I KNOW MARY IS A BETTER WRITER THAN THIS AND HER LAST FEW BOOKS HAVE ALL BEEN LACKING THE APPEAL OF THE UPPER ROOM, LAY MY BURDENS DOWN, GOD DON'T LIKE UGLY ETC. MARY NEED TO GO BACK AND RE-READ THOSE BOOKS TO GET HER MOJO BACK BECAUSE FROM RED LIGHT UNTIL NOW HER STORIES HAVE ALL SEEMED THROWN TOGETHER.

Mary Monroe writes a book like no one else can!!! I love reading her work. I find myself laughing out loud at the descriptions she gives that are so vivid I can picture what she is describing. The descriptions about Noble, Moanin' Lisa and Glodine had me near tears!!!
In this novel you meet Dolores Reese a young woman who grew up in foster care. Valerie is Delores' best friend, and Valerie and her entire family (including the elderly grandfather Paw Paw !!) suffer the wrath of her psycho step father Mr. Zeke. Valerie will do whatever it takes to ensure that her family is protected. Dolores ends up involved in Valerie's family drama, although she is an unwilling participant. Meanwhile, Dolores falls in love with another foster child, Floyd Watson, a neighbor from down the street, and they vow to be together, until an innocent Floyd winds up in jail..for life!
Dolores tries to move on with her life while her one true love is locked up, but finds it hard to do so. Dolores eventually moves on gets a great job on a cruise line, and marries Paul Dunne while keeping Floyd as a deep dark secret. Eventually Dolores marries Floyd out of pity thinking he will never be released!! Shockingly,Floyd is released when new evidence turns up and this sends Dolores' life into a complete state of turmoil. With Valerie's help, Dolores is sure she can pull off the ultimate secret, having two husbands!!! Only some secrets won't stay a secret for long...
This book is well written, the story is filled with surprises and the characters will seem so real. This book was so good I am sad to see it end!! Can't wait for the next novel from Ms.Monroe, I know it will not dissapoint!!!

From the first chapter, I could tell this was not the Mary Monroe whose work I look forward to reading. The book is hard to read. The sentences are clunky. The details are convoluted. I gave up halfway through and tried to just enjoy the plot, but even that was hard to do.
The book also has too many remnants of her past work.
Two friends concealing a murder. A girl and the love of her youth interacting in adulthood.
I was sadly not able to enjoy this book at all.

I have not read a Mary Monroe book in quite some time. I could kick myself because she writes eloquently. I could not have chosen a better book to come off my unofficial Monroe fast. She Had It Coming had me feeling as though I was reading a docudrama. It is a good thing Monroe writes fiction because these characters really would have made headline news. Like the news would have caught my eye, my mind locked onto this story. I wanted to know exactly what was going on. The book opened with such a shocking piece of news that it caused my mouth to immediately form the word `what?'

When a book starts with drama or even the climax, we, the readers, need to be fed the details of what happened leading up to where the mess began. In She Had It Coming, Dolores Reese grows up in a wonderful foster home. On the street that she is living, she meets Floyd Watson, who also happens to be a foster child. Through that connection, they have a bond that will last through some trying times. Floyd and Dolores vow to marry one another one day and have children; giving to them what they lacked, the love of two parents. However, when a life-altering situation takes Floyd away, Dolores is faced with still being there for him while she tries to maintain the life she had always wanted.

While Floyd deals with his issues, Dolores meets Paul Dunne, the man who sweeps her off her feet. He makes it so difficult for her to keep her promise to Floyd of them one day becoming man and wife. Dolores thought she had it all worked out until another change in her reality happens. Will it be Floyd or Paul? Or, will Dolores go running out of both their lives?

I loved these characters. They were developed perfectly. The plot was exciting and refreshing. The entire book was fast-paced, mouth-hanging open, and good writing. She Had It Coming is a book that I recommend to new and old fans of Mary Monroe. They will not be disappointed at all.

Jennifer Coissiere
APOOO BookClub

When Dolores Reese met Floyd Watson, she knew that he was the one for her. Dolores promised that she would stick by Floyd's side no matter what. Because of a bad decision, Floyd is sent to prison for life. Dolores visits Floyd and keeps her promise to do his time with him forever. But when Dolores meets and marries Paul, she thinks that she can still continue visiting Floyd without revealing that she is now a married woman. Dolores enlists the help of her best friend Valerie to help with this deception. Dolores soon finds out that playing this dangerous game can have devastating consequences.

She Had It Coming is an entertaining novel by Mary Monroe. Monroe once again brings an intriguing novel with an "out of the ordinary" plot. From the very first page, you will see that Dolores is not the only flawed character in this book. Some of the actions of the characters in this story are so unbelievable and outrageous that you will be laughing out loud. Monroe also did a good job of showing the consequences of living this kind of life. Although living a double life is dubious, you may find yourself rooting for Dolores to get out of this situation unscathed. She Had It Coming is full of all the drama and humor that Mary Monroe is known for.

Reviewed by Radiah Hubbert for Urban Reviews

MARY MONROE DOES IT AGAIN. "SHE HAD IT COMING" HAD ME COMING AND GOING! I LAUGHED SO HARD AND THEN FELT PAIN SO TRUE I HAD TO WALK AWAY AT TIMES. LO IS A GOOD PERSON AND SOMEWHAT OF A "PEOPLE-PLEASER". IN HER ATTEMPT AT PLEASING EVERYONE (INCLUDING HERSELF) SHE GETS INTO A JAM THAT IS FULL OF CRAZY TWISTS AND TURNS. THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE TRUE MARY MONROE FANS KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.

I ADVISE...NO, I DEMAND...EVERYONE TO RUN OUT AND PURCHASE THIS BOOK. YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED.

BARBARA GROVNER
AUTHOR OF "EVEN NUMBERS"
AND "WE BELONG TOGETHER"

I have loved Mary Monroe's books from the beginning. My favorite Mary Monroe book is The Upper Room".

Deliver me from Evil was a very boring book or a book with a really slow start so that I could not finish. Nonetheless, She had it coming was exciting from the beginning. The main characters are Valerie, and LoReese (Dolores) who are best friends. Delores is a foster child and Valerie is her best friend who has an extremely abusive step-father. Whom she kills. As they become older Delores marries two men. One whom she loved growing up but he went to prison and the other she met on her job.

It's a very funny and descriptive book with a very huge lesson being learned.

Enjoy...

SHE HAD IT COMING by Mary Monroe is the story of a foster child, Delores Reese, who has been passed from home to home until an older woman and her husband take her in. While she is living with them, she meets the boy across the street, Floyd, who is also a foster child, so they have a lot in common. Delores is discouraged from being with Floyd because so many people think he is nothing but a thug.

Delores does date Floyd and then he is accused of rape and murder. While everyone else says `I told you so', Delores believes in his innocence. When Floyd gets life, he urges her to go on with her life, but she is still interested in him and visits him regularly in prison. Meanwhile, she meets Paul, who seems to be just the person she needs. What will she do with two men in her life? Paul asks her to marry him, in spite of his snooty family looking down on her because of her status in life. Should she? What about Floyd?

Her best friend, Valerie, who has a violent step-father, has her own issues. She and Delores share a secret that should bind them for life. Will it?

Mary Monroe has written a novel of love and suspense, that sports a great deal of tension. You find yourself telling the characters what to do, knowing they probably won't and of course they don't. They always seem to take the hard road. It makes for interesting reading and a great deal of angst as their lives unfold. It is well worth reading.

Reviewed by Alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers

I am so disappointed in this book. It read like the author was under pressure from the publisher to put something out. There were too many plots going on and didn't really relate to the other. How could Valerie's issues with her stepfather be tied in to Dolores' inability to just say no? After reading Gonna Lay Down My Burdens and God Don't Like Ugly, I expected a lot more than a bunch of plotlines just thrown together.

I am a real fan of Mary Monroe, but She Had It Coming took too long to get to the point. The star character Delores sounded like a biography of Mary Monroe, a sex crazed woman who was jealous of her friend Valerie. She could get the men, but her better looking friend Valerie, (who had the perfect job, looks and all except for the fact she killed her father and buried him in the back yard) during the opening couldn't get a man. Unbelievable, and wishful thinking don't make for a great book. Didn't like the star character, Delores one bit. She was orphaned and she hooked up with Floyd who was orphaned. When he goes to jail (for a rape he does not commit) and unloyal Delores hooks up with Paul. She marries both guys and becomes a polygamist and then she meets a third guy. I lost interest completely at this point and laid the book on my coffee table and went and had dinner. With each chapter thereafter I waited for something of substance and got nothing. Disappointed because I have read other books by Mary and she did not dissapoint. Glad I got this one from the library and didn't lose money. She Had it Coming is probably one of the most laborious reads ever. I waited for that Monroe spark to rear and only stayed the course because I know Mary Monroe could do better; but, it never did get better. Maybe next time Mary.