7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Be what you are and live the life, March 14, 2004
Allowing society to dictate how you live can bring needless and painful suffering to yourself and your loved ones. Sometimes it's better to get off the fence and be yourself rather than spend a lifetime trying to pretend by living on the down low. In UNDERCOVER, Laurinda D. Brown brings to us two stories about living under the disguise of being heterosexual and the turmoil it can cause.
Iysha Desmereaux marries Nathaniel Chamberlain Alexander although she has a few qualms just before the ceremony. Because of her religious convictions, her marriage vows are sacred and she looks the other way when things don't quite add up. Having married on the rebound, this marriage for Nathaniel is a cover up for his true self.
Amil Blake Lindsay is in an unfulfilling relationship with Emanuel "Manny" Lindsay and has been for many years. Manny spends so much time chasing his financial dreams; he doesn't really notice the widening chasm between them. She develops roaming eyes and tastes on the internet when she meets Chris Desmereaux, a lesbian living her life openly. Their surprising face-to-face meeting and ultimate liaison has some particularly unsavory consequences for both of them.
Although billed as the sequel to Fire & Brimstone, this novel does stand on its own. Brown does an excellent job of showing the end result of living secret lives. She does it with humor, drama and education; an unbeatable combination. At first, this book turned me off, but the drama hooked me. As the storyline developed, my interest increased and I kept turning the pages as I was pulled into the lives of this colorful cast of characters. This was just the type of story that brings home the lessons about having unprotected sex, living in the "closet", living with the truth and living in ignorance as well as the impact of AIDS. This book serves as a wakeup call for both the homosexual and heterosexual communities.
Reviewed by Brenda M. Lisbon
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
IT FINALLY HAPPENED, October 24, 2005
This review is from: Undercover (Paperback)
I am very impressed. EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT. I loved every page of the book. I have been waiting so long for a good author to come out with a book that included the lives of real LESBIANS and "not the made for TV Lesbians". The story line was so believeable I thought maybe she knew a couple of my friends. Being a lesbian myself I am delighted to have this book on the selves so that the Hetrosexual world can see that being Bi affects for than just one person.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Discover Undercover--4.5 Stars, October 5, 2005
This review is from: Undercover (Paperback)
I wanted to give UNDERCOVER 5 stars. I really did.
After all, she is the author of Fire & Brimstone, a great lesbian novel for today's generation. The drama that ensured in that book was simply off the chain! Chris and Gayle kept it real.
Undercover is another story. This sequel of sorts continues with Chris, with even more drama this time, and has enough characters and twists to keep your attention. Yet what kept it from being a 5-star review was simply the timeline of the plot. There were times the plot jumps from one year to another with any transition to know what was going on. Some parts were cohesive, others came out of place.
But despite that, I still resumed my infatuation with Chris, the intelligent, determined woman confident in her sexuality. She reintroduces old friends like Rudy and Gayle, with whom Chris finally makes peace with, while presenting new faces, like Amil and Nathaniel.
This time around, Chris has gotten herself involved in an online affair with Amil, a doctor engaged to a successful entrepreneur. The ladies began with a friendship that turned into something more even without having met. Chris has a feeling it'll never work, as her instincts warn her that Amil will never leave Manney and the comfortable life they've made. Only in a chance business meeting do they finally see each other face to face--and the fireworks begin.
Iyesha, Chris' sister, has problems of her own. Lil sis is married to Nathaniel, a former drag queen who gave up the life after his lover Patrick leaves him for the Lord. The two become friends after his glorious heyday (or gayday), slowly falling into a relationship. In the beginning of their marriage, Nathaniel has convinced himself to become a heterosexual, faithful husband. He tries to be what Iyesha wants for a while. Pretty soon, though, he's back to his former life (on the down low), and their marriage is never the same.
Every character's life intertwines in this enjoyable novel about love and self-acceptance. Chris definitely has come a long way from the chaos of Fire & Brimstone.
Well done, Ms. Brown!
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