Tastes Like Chicken: A Novel (Files, Lolita) [Hardcover]

Lolita Files (Author)

Book Description

Series: Files, Lolita | Publication Date: May 4, 2004

It's the return of the sistahs! Tastes Like Chicken is Lolita Files's much anticipated continuing story of the lives of Misty Fine and Reesy Snowden, the dynamic heroines of the bestselling novels Scenes from a Sistah and Getting to the Good Part. With steamy thrills and disastrous infidelities, Lolita's latest is a tale of two women who find themselves poised at life's crossroads with everything to lose but their friendship.

What's a girl to do when she finds out her man's been feeding her lies? When readers last saw them, Misty had just married her dream man, Rick Hodges, and was off on a fabulous honeymoon. On an equally hopeful note, a pregnant and newly engaged Reesy was riding off into the sunset with her fiancé -- reformed ladies' man Dandre Hilliard. But it isn't long before the men start misbehaving again, and in Tastes Like Chicken, they get what's coming to them.

Reesy gets the shock of her life on her wedding day, when a vengeful stranger delivers an ugly surprise that gives her serious doubts about the man she loves. Reesy doesn't stick around to hear more bad news -- she hightails it to California, leaving her old life and her fiancé behind. Dandre is fast on her heels trying to prove the legitimacy of his feelings, but those California girls prove to be a dangerous distraction, and Reesy herself finds some racy excitement in the heady world of L.A. casting calls and nightclub scenes.

Meanwhile, back on the East Coast, family and friends of both women are wrestling with their own relationship problems. A seductive interloper threatens to upset Reesy's parents' marriage, and Misty and Rick get a surprise of their own, which forces Misty to confront some shocking truths about the man she married. With her best friend on the other side of the country, Misty can only hope that she doesn't have to face the future alone.

As fans of these savvy, sexy women know, not much can keep Reesy and Misty from their ultimate dream of "having it all." Filled with the humor and personal drama that made her first books national bestsellers, Lolita Files's Tastes Like Chicken takes the sistahs -- and readers -- on their wildest ride yet.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sizzling high drama unfolds as Files revisits the lives and loves of two African-American best girlfriends previously featured in Scenes from a Sistah and Getting to the Good Part. The fairy tale nuptials of Teresa "Reesy" Snowden and reformed skirt-chaser Dandre Hilliard turn nightmarish when photographs of Dandre in flagrante delicto with a couple of hot ladies are discovered under the pews. Chaos ensues, and pregnant, distraught Reesy suffers a fall down the church steps that results in a miscarriage. Reesy's best friend, Armistice "Misty" Fine, newly married herself, tries to offer support. But she's distraught that she's recently become pregnant despite all efforts at prevention. Reesy makes a fresh start by relocating to Southern California to jump-start her acting career. Desperate Dandre soon follows and reclaims ownership of his dad's beach house, which his party-girl cousins, Zoe and Chloe, have occupied and turned into a "hoe haven." Several heartfelt bids for forgiveness, including a boxful of puppies, soften Reesy, but she's still skeptical. Her acting career wobbles thanks to a sleazy "movie producer," while back in New York, Misty uncovers the truth about her pregnancy. As if this isn't complicated enough, Reesy's outspoken mother and Dandre's father continue a clandestine long-distance extramarital indulgence that's suddenly not so secret anymore. A Files-style cinematic climax that's both outrageous and funny tapers to an alternately joyful and bittersweet conclusion. A vivid supporting cast and aggressively street-smart dialogue put this hyperactive, immensely enjoyable yarn over the top. Files fans will be panting for more.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Featured in the successful Scenes from a Sistah (1997) and its sequel, Getting to the Good Part (1999), Reesy Snowden and Misty Fine are back! The Manhattan lifestyle has been good for them. Both have finally found the loving men they have so desperately been looking for. Misty and Rick are married, and Rick is using some unconventional methods to convince Misty to start a family. Reesy and Dandre Hilliard are practically at the altar when his philandering days finally catch up to him. A former lover disrupts the wedding and sends Reesy reeling from the embarrassment and loss. She confides in Misty about her decision to travel cross-country to Los Angeles, where she immediately jumps into the scene and meets some interesting characters. Dandre is determined to regain his place in Reesy's life and follows her there. Through entirely unrelated events, they both befriend L.A. comic Sleezy. His involvement in their reconciliation is funny and genuine. Files has brought Reesy and Misty back in a light tale filled with life's chaos. Lillian Lewis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (May 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743245253
• ISBN-13: 978-0743245258
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,885,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining but empty, May 31, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Tastes Like Chicken: A Novel (Files, Lolita) (Hardcover)

I'm writing this as I'm finishing the book, so if my thoughts are all over the place, blame it on what I just read. Funny? This book??? I laughed ONCE--at the fried chicken audition. Before I say anything else I must say this book was quite engaging--as all are of Files' books--but once again she needs to work on her ending. Just like "Gettin' to the Good Part," the ending leaves a WHOLE helluva lot to be desired. What is it with Lolita Files and flimsy endings? But I digress--before the end comes the story, and the story (complete with totally ridiculous, utterly transparent plugs for books written by Files' two best friends) is, well, silly to the point of pointLESS. Files stays remarkably true to her main characters though: bad decisions are Reesy's perpetual trademark and Misty is just as dingy as ever. In her defense, Lolita Files displays her remarkable skill with keeping the reader hooked to the point that we're helpless to get off the ride even if we anticipate how badly she'll leave us hanging. I agree with the other reviewers in that Files was WRONG for leaving the loose ends dangling on Tyrone and Tyrene and that situation, and I thought the "chase to Cali and avoid" mess was retarded as hell too. I also don't know what the 'Tastes Like Chicken' title is about; however, I didn't BORROW THIS BOOK FROM THE LIBRARY because the title sounded appealing 'cause it didn't, but because it was by Lolita Files, an author whom I truly believe is not living up to her potential. Lolita has the skills to be a truly great author if she would just embrace the fact that she was not born to emulate EJD with the drama and find her own "TRUE" shine, as Tonya Marie Evans would say. Okay, if anybody found any lesson whatsoever in this story, please tell me what it was 'cause I missed it. What's funny is how in each of Lolita's books her characters move around just like she did--from Florida to New York to Cali, but she is SO good at inserting landmarks. I was on that street with her in front of the Manhattan Beach Marriott next to the movie theater!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Did not connect with this one!, July 18, 2004

By 

L. Roberson "LZRoberson" (Georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tastes Like Chicken: A Novel (Files, Lolita) (Hardcover)

I'm a big fan of Ms. Files and have read and enjoyed all of her previous novels. However, in "Tastes Like Chicken", I couldn't connect with the characters. The storyline was somewhat silly.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tastes Like Chicken, June 15, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Tastes Like Chicken: A Novel (Files, Lolita) (Hardcover)

This book was not horrible, but it was in no way very good. I would recommend borrowing it from a friend versus purchasing it on your own.

The author appeared to have dragged through the beginning and then ended the ending to abruptly, which is when the book actually got to the good part.