You're All I Need [Mass Market Paperback]

Karen White-Owens (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2010

Karen White-Owens’s compelling tale of love, loyalty, and the law, spans the continents as an irresistible Frenchman turns the life of an ambitious young woman upside down…

Making it as a hotshot legal eagle takes smarts, savvy—and acceptance to a prestigious law school. That’s exactly what independent beauty Tia Edwards has when she’s hit with a thunderbolt on her way up the professional ladder—a request from her boss to help Christophe Jensen, a charismatic new attorney from France, feel right at home…

Sparks fly when the two first meet, yet both are wary of taking things to the next level. But when Tia catches her man with someone else, she lets her connection with Christophe heat up. Happier than she’s ever been, complications arise when Christophe is summoned back to France. Suddenly, the best time of Tia’s life starts falling apart, as she’s forced to choose between her family and her future—with a man whose home is on the other side of the ocean...

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Passive characters and a lack of conflict make this interracial contemporary romance a slow, dull read. African-American administrative assistant Tia Edwards is surprised to find herself attracted to a white man: sexy French attorney Christophe Jenkins. When Tia's boyfriend cheats on her, Chris demonstrates his growing affection for Tia by following her to her parents' house after work, setting up a bit of racial tension that never goes anywhere. Much of the relationship development is glossed over ("They'd grown closer... Chris had become a great friend") in favor of mundane details and side tracks, such as the wedding of characters from 2009's I Can Make You Love Me. The only real conflict appears when Tia decides to follow Chris back to France. The ending sidelines the ostensible heroine and hero for a summary resolution via a sitcom-like conversation between Tia's sister and mother. This lackluster romance is one to miss.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: Dafina; 1 edition (October 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758229607
• ISBN-13: 978-0758229601
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #465,217 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Karen White Owens is a lifelong resident of Detroit Michigan. She earned a bachelor's degree in sociology and master of library and information science from Wayne State University. In addition to writing, she is an adult reference librarian at the Mount Clemens Public Library.

Ms. Owens is the author of eight romance novels and two novellas. Her 2004 novel, Circles of Love received a 4-1/2 Gold review from Romantic Times Book Club, the highest honor an author can receive and was nominated Best Multicultural Novel for 2004. Love Changes Everything received 4-1/2 stars Romantic Times Book Club and top pick for November 2005. Her next novel, I Can Make You Love Me will be released October 6, 2009

Currently she works as a part time instructor at Wayne State University's Interdisciplinary Studies Program, teaching writing communications skills to undergraduate students. At Wayne County Community College District, she teaches Introduction to Library Science. Gary her husband of twenty years is her biggest fan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Give Me a Break!, November 29, 2010

By 

Book Worm (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You're All I Need (Mass Market Paperback)

O.k. Love the cover. I'd give it 5 Stars for that alone. Also, the plot was pretty good. 4 Stars. I LOVED the whole blond-haired Frenchmen thing. He could woo me any day in French and in France! I loved how he spoke the language to his woman at times. Unfortunately, it goes downhill from there.

Good plot, but Boring. Boring. Boring plot development. Tia was a grown behind woman (a very successful career woman, mind you), who needed to be delivered from her overbearing, controlling mother. I mean REALLY?! There were parts in the story where I was literally rolling my eyes (GAG!). I skipped much of the family dialogue, which mostly boiled down to "You're Black, Tia. Christophe is White." (Flip a few pages.) You're Black, Tia. Christophe is White. (Flip a few MORE pages). "Christophe is White, Tia. You're Black. No child of mine is dating a White man!" (Did I mention that Tia was a grown behind career woman?)

I grew tired of the whole Black/White thing. Duuuh! It's an IR romance for crying out loud! Get on with the story! I HATE it when an IR author wastes so much time on race and racism. I know that racism and ignorance in America exists, but good grief! I'm reading your IR romance for a temporary escape. So please spare me the details on why my great, great, great grandpa Joe is rolling over in his grave because his granddaughter is dating a White man.

Also, Tia's grandmother and mother had me tripping. They carried on so ignorantly at times concerning Tia's beau that I skipped much of what they said.

Check it out at a local library, if I had absolutely nothing else to read on a rainy weekend on the planet Mars? Maaaaaaaybe. Buy it? Not!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Classic story without a twist, October 11, 2010

By 

Danielle - See all my reviews

This review is from: You're All I Need (Mass Market Paperback)

Tia Edwards works in the legal department of a French automotive company. She has completed her bachelor's degree and has plans to go to law school. Her long-term beau, Darnell, thinks that school and her job has taken up too much of her time. Tia's and Darnell relationship becomes more difficult when Chris Jensen is transferred to Tia's office from France and Tia helps Chris adjust to his new life in Detroit.

I really enjoyed Chris. He was compassionate, nurturing and a thoughtful man. Tia was relatable. She was ambitious and devoted to her family. I also like how the author dealt with the interracial dating subject. The matriarch of the family dislike of Chris and Tia's relationship was very transparent. Her reaction to the couple was realistic(not saying it was right). There are still people, especially older people, who still feels this way. Tia's mother, Jackie, also disliked Tia's Chris relationship. But Tia mother Jackie disapproval was more so about losing her daughter than Chris being white.

The plot is classic; protagonist must choose between family and love. Although the plot is classic, You're All I Need, does not add anything new and doesn't stand out among the countless tales out there.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting story of love, October 4, 2010

By 

Blue Girl "Avid Reader" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You're All I Need (Kindle Edition)

This is my first book from this author and I enjoyed the story about a handsome French man and a beautiful Black woman. The only bad part is that she spends to much time with parts of the story that doesn't add to the story. Each chapter had to much fluff, was she trying to add words to meet a quota? Stick to the basis and it works.