Thug Lovin'

this book is realllllllly gooooooood this is a loveable book ahhaha!! i love this book

All I can say about the story is "don't do this at home". Apparently, this is book 4 of a series and I have not read the previous 3. Tasha and Trae have moved from the hood in New York to glitzy California to start a new life, but their dangerous past finds them and threatens their new family. Even though I don't particularly like the morals of the characters, they are well-developed and the action in the story is a real page turner. There is a fair amount of sex, violence and bad language throughout so if you can get past that, you will find a take on a life that is beyond this reviewer's comprehension. ( )

THUG LOVIN’ by Wahida Clark is a tale full of seduction and change. I have not read any of Clark’s previous books, so I can’t give my opinion on how this book compares to the others or how it follows the previous storyline. However, for a couple that seemed to be much loved (Tasha and Trae), there seems to be quite a few reasons not to love them in this book. I can’t come out and tell you whether I recommend it or not yet; it’s not that clear-cut. You’ll probably have to hear my opinions and use them to formulate your own.

Tasha and Trae and the power couple from Clark’s previous books. In THUG LOVIN’ we find them in a new place, living in upscale Los Angeles. Life is slightly different for them as they are now out of the crazy drama of New York and playing a new game. THUG LOVIN’ follows their story as they work to discover who they are as individuals and reevaluate who they are as a couple.

As I mentioned, I have not read any of Clark’s previous work. If I had, I might already be a fan of the series and might look on THUG LOVIN’ with a fond eye. However, I’m not already a fan and after reading this book, I’m not sure that I would be able to visit any of her other books and become a fan.

There were some really good parts in THUG LOVIN’. The characters were developed well and the story was certainly full of drama. If you like a book that is going to get your heart racing and pages flipping so you can figure out what happens next, I think you might find some serious enjoyment out of THUG LOVIN’. Clark throws in enough twists and turns to keep the reader engaged and really, you don’t know what’s going to happen until the moment that it does. Making a story anything but predictable is what creates a great book in my opinion - that and tension. Whoa buddy does THUG LOVIN’ have some tension! Each page is filled with it, pulling like a tight rubber band. There were actually a few times where I winced, waiting for the tension to snap, but it didn’t happen. Great writing there.

Now for the reasons that I don’t know if I will become a Clark fan. I am not a huge fan of “foul” language. I’ll use it when I stub my toe and frankly it doesn’t really bother me to hear it spoken around me, but there’s a limit. There was just so much in THUG LOVIN’ that I felt it distracted from the story. Now, that’s my opinion. Maybe I’m discovering my inner prude, who knows. Other people might not have a single issue with the language. Decide for yourself whether language bothers you or not and ignore this section if it doesn’t.

Also, I was not a huge fan of the characters. I don’t mind if characters become jerks in the books, but if they are a main character then I usually look for some sort of redeeming quality. I had a really hard time doing that with THUG LOVIN’ and eventually gave up. Perhaps that was Clark’s plan, to throw a wrench into the love story of Tasha and Trae. Whatever the reason, I had a hard time connecting with the characters in the story and that kept it from coming to life for me.

Fair warning time: There are adult themes and adult scenes within the pages of THUG LOVIN’. They are graphic and I would give them a sensuality rating of 4.5.

So, overall I would say that this book is great for people that don’t get too involved with the characters, love drama, and don’t mind some graphic language and love scenes. I thought I fit into those categories, but perhaps not precisely enough to fall in love with Clark. Remember though – I wasn’t totally thrilled with THUG LOVIN’ but someone else might have been. If it sounds interesting, I highly encourage you to give it a shot. Come back and tell me what you loved about it when you do! ( )