Cup of Love has now gotten that spot in my heart as my favorite novel. Franklin White's, author of the National Best-seller Fed Up with the Fanny, already out does himself with his second novel. The story he writes is so full of different sub-plots with interesting, true-to-life characters you can relate to or remind you of someone you know. Then the way he weaves and bundles all the different sub-plots together is just amazing! With all that and and all the twist and turns, I could not put this book down! I kept wanting to know what would happen next and when I found out, something totally different would happen leaving me clamoring for more. This is really unusual for me, though because I usually read books with the genres of mystery, suspense, or horror.....but this book stood out to me for some reason. I just saw it and picked it up and knew I had to read it, and I'm so glad I did.
Characters
Vance
Vance, the main character in the story, is in his thirties and just can't handle his lurking lust. You'd think after cheating on his girlfriend of under ten years, the beautiful Artise, two times he would get his act together- but nooo, he gets caught again for the third time. He doesn't know why he does it, because he loves her, but his freaky self gets the best of him. He really loves her, but he just doesn't know what to do...not until one day he a surprise inheritance from Stubbs, his elderly friend. He takes this as a sign to finally pop up the big question...
Artise
Vance's girlfriend, lover, friend, and companion is the all around Christian-girl-next-door type of woman. Nice, sweet, and loves Vance, but when she finds out that Vance did her wrong once again, she just doesn't know what to do. She feels that she can't leave him because they've been together
for so long now and she loves him. This, added with her problems with her mother, leads to another unexpected event...
Ethan
Ethan, Vance's best friend, knows less about commitment than Vance does. He messes around with the local WWKs (Women With Kids) thinking that they need some loving too until one night something went horribly wrong. A couple years ago he used to have his prominent flame, Tassha, in his life until he packed his bags and flew down south to Atlanta. But now he's back in Columbus, Ohio and soon his whole outlook on life is going to change...
Tassha
Artise's best friend and Ethan's ex-fiance'e, Tassha has seen all the hardships Vance took Artise through. She hasn't had the best of pasts with her love life either, which involved Ethan leaving her after he asked her to marry him. So now she is dating a prominent politician with an age gap between them. She feels she is finally over Ethan, but then he shows up back in town...
The story of these young black couples gets more and more complicated from here with many more characters coming into the story. Sex, lies, scandal, blackmail, death, fights, and arson find their way into their lives and twisting results. the way the story flows from character to character, scene to scene, and event to event is just amazing. This book has a great representation of black men, showing what we can do with love. One reviewer of the novel says it "will help restore the reputation of Black men." It also shows how the Love of God can effect a person and what they do. All you need to do is let Him in your life and He will direct your way. I have to admit, though, Ethan was my favorite character because he went through the most change in the story. But I don't want to reveal anything else about the story because it's good not to know what to expect and be surprised.
The book (paperback) costs $13, but I picked it up at Sam's for about $9. So, if you're thinking about getting this novel, please do. You wont regret getting it. It will leave you feeling warm inside and wanting even more.
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