The Ties That Bind [Paperback]

Electa Rome Parks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 5, 2004

Here's a straight-up novel about men and women, sex and betrayal, and playing the fool for love. Mia is a hopeless romantic who dreams of getting married and settling down with the man who could make that dream come true. Brice has his own ideas about love. He wants a woman willing to surrender everything and he thinks he's found her in Mia. Then again, so has Christian, who likes love to last just as long as the night takes. Now he's met an angel with the power to turn him around. Unfortunately she's married to his best friend.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

When two childhood buddies, Brice and Christian, fall for the same girl, their friendship is tested. On a military leave, Brice returns home to Georgia and meets a college student, Mia. After only 30 days, they fall in love and marry. It isn't until their return to North Carolina that Mia really gets to know her husband, who believes that because he wears the pants, Mia should abide by his rules. Because Brice is a Marine recruiter and travels frequently, he encourages his best friend to spend time with Mia in his absence. She is so in love that she accepts her husband's authority until he becomes violent. In Christian's role as friend and babysitter, he realizes that he is also in love with Mia. To stay true to his friendship with Brice, he remains steadfast yet supportive of Mia. When Christian is forced to choose between Brice's friendship and Mia's safety, he chooses Mia. This effective novel shows that the ties that bind are painful for all three individuals, and each has to live with his or her actions and choices. Lillian Lewis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Swoops with grace to eloquently tell a poignant and touching story. . .that is the essence of well crafted fiction." -- Timmothy McCann - Best selling author of Until, Always and Forever.

The Ties That Bind is an excellent debut novel with cutting-edge dialogue, intriguing characters, and a spicy storyline. . . -- Zane, National Bestselling Author of Addicted, Shame on it All, and The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: NAL Trade (October 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451213211
• ISBN-13: 978-0451213211
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,414,500 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

After successfully self-publishing her debut novels, The Ties That Bind and Loose Ends, New American Library, a division of Penguin Group, bought the rights. Electa signed a three-book deal with New American Library. All three books were immediately chosen as Black Expressions Book Club main selections and embraced as Books of the Month by book clubs across the country. Dubbed a "book club favorite," avid readers have embraced Electa's true to life characters that tackle prevalent and heavy hitting issues.

Since then Electa has become a best-selling author of several mainstream and erotic novels, Almost Doesn't Count, Ladies' Night Out, These Are My Confessions (anthology), Diary of a Stalker, True Confessions and The Stalker Chronicles(dropping 2-1-12)with Penguin Group, HarperCollins and Kensington. Electa has been a frequent guest on radio shows, has been nominated for many industry awards and has been interviewed by newspapers and several national magazines.

Electa is currently following her passion and working on her next novel.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mia, Brice and Christian equals D-R-A-M-A!, November 29, 2001

By 

"divalicious" (ATL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ties That Bind (Paperback)

This novel was good from the first page to the last. I love the characters Mrs. Parks choose to use to tell this story.

You have Mia a beautiful young woman who dreams of having a black knight in shining armor which turns out to be Brice. Brice is controlling, possessive and very jealous. I know hate is a strong word to use, but I truly hated this man for what he put Mia through. He treated her like his child rather than his wife! Then you have Christian his best friend and adopted brother who adds more drama to this story than a little! In my opinion Brice never deserved a woman like Mia. She was too good for him. He treated her like NOTHING and she treated him like EVERYTHING.

This story has became one of my favorites and is a MUST READ! It really open my eyes to a world I have never experienced. The Ties That Bind will have you turning page after page to see what happens next and the characters will stay with you long after you have finished the book.

Go get this one you will not be disappointed!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Ties That Bind, May 19, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ties That Bind (Paperback)

Electa Rome Parks' debut novel deals with the relationships of three well-developed characters - Mia, Brice and Christian. It is a realistic story of marriage and friendship gone awry. After a brief courtship, Mia and Brice marry and Mia's life is dramatically altered.

THE TIES THAT BIND shows how each individual's backgrounds influenced how they interacted with each other. The novel, also, examines how childhood relationships with parents and friends can shape our relationships as adults.

The scenes are very descriptive. Mrs. Parks seemed to have put each character under a microscope so one can actually feel the intenseness of Brice's anger, Mia's fear and Christian's indifference about the whole matter. That is, until he
(Christian) finds he has fallen in love with his best friend's wife.

Our group, the Obsidian Book Club, found the book interesting and we recommend it highly. We hope that Mrs. Parks will continue to develop these characters. We are curious about what will happen to them. Also, we wonder what would happen if Brice met someone who has the same aspirations he has. - OBSIDIAN BOOK CLUB MEMBERS

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars He said what, she did what. Oh, Drama!, September 24, 2001

By 

Robin Leaks (Savannah, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ties That Bind (Paperback)

I always try to support new African-American authors who are publishing their works. So when I heard abouth The Ties That Bind, I decided to give Electa Rome Parks a try. To say the least, I wasn't disappointed. Mia, Christian and Brice pull you into the story immediately. It's like coming home to friends. You get to know their joys and pains. The author, Electa Rome Parks, does an excellent job of taking readers into these characters lives and minds. Brice is a trip, Mia needs to grow up and Christian is torn. Yet, we root for them to be happy. If you're looking for a good read, a page-turner, sensual scenes, then look no further. I'm anxiously awaiting the next one. Kudos on a job well done.