Gloria Mallette

Synopsis:
The brutal murder of two women in New York City has Detective Frank Keifer looking for a vicious killer.

Sassy Davenport, a successful African American romance novelist is intrigued when gorgeous architect Norris Yoshito comes to her book signing. When Norris asks Sassy on a date, she agrees to meet him. The sudden romance surprises them both with its intensity.

But when Norris's suddenly a suspect in Detective Frank Keifer's murder investigations, Sassy is thrown into doubt.

Norris show more appears to have two personalities. The kind and generous man who Sassy is falling in love with. And the violent man that suddenly appears on her doorstep - jealous and angry. Sassy has to figure out which is his true face at great risk to herself.

Review:

Smart, caring, and successful African American romance novelist, it's easy to root for Sassy Davenport. The mystery of Norris Yoshito is carefully crafted successfully heightens the tension in the book. One of book's strengths is that Gloria Mallette's characters come from different cultural backgrounds and are authentically painted. It's not often that the romantic leads are African American and/or of mixed race. But the best part is the writing! As a fast paced thriller full of twists and turns, Sassy is an enjoyable escape. show less

Tandi Crawford has had enough. Her emotional plate is full, and her drama cup runneth over. Ever since her husband Jared’s affair she has felt unloved, and her fifteen-year marriage has plunged into a downward spiral. Jared is a classic workaholic, working 24/7 to ensure the success of his law firm and to maintain the family’s upscale lifestyle. His efforts, however, leave Tandi to raise their eleven-year-old son virtually alone and to balance a part-time real estate career. Tired of the show more loneliness and non-existent affection, Tandi finally walks out. She wants a divorce.
Although she’s vowed never to return to her father’s home, his house is exactly where she ends up. Her father, Glynn “Sporty” Belson, is a spiteful old man, and Tandi has always wondered why he seems particularly mean toward her. As a single parent, he raised Tandi and her brother, Glynn, after their mother died, but he treated the siblings differently. While he loved his son, he seemed to hate his daughter, and Tandi is determined to know why.
While trying to figure things out, drama unfolds. She runs into the man who has been the star in many of her fantasies--Brent, her old boyfriend from high school. At last she gets the opportunity to play out the dreams she’s had. But is a relationship with Brent what she really wants? Is Brent her knight in shining armor, or a knight with issues of his own?
Speaking of fantasies, Tandi’s best friend, Evonne, has her own daydreams. Unfortunately, they include Tandi’s husband. With Tandi living at Sporty’s house, Evonne decides to make her dreams a reality. She throws herself at Jared, and after a few cocktails, you know the rest. To make matters worse, Sporty has a stroke, and Tandi is forced to care for him until a health aide is found who can deal with his rude candor. Almost miraculously, a soft-spoken aide is not only able to handle Sporty but also has answers to many of Tandi’s questions.
Gloria Mallette has a knack for portraying dysfunctional relationships and delving into the human psyche. She writes authentic dialogue that exudes raw emotion. That talent is not lost in DISTANT LOVER. What starts out as a woeful tale of infidelity quickly turns to much more. Although too many situations seem to happen by coincidence, it does not detract from the story. Mallette digs into her literary bag of tricks and pulls out a climatic ending that is sure to leave readers stunned. This is a touching story of self-discovery with a dash of betrayal and a splash of romance. I highly recommend it. show less

Romance and Thriller Rolled Into One
Sassy Davenport is a successful romance novelist who lives her romantic fantasies through the books she writes. While conducting a book signing her world is turned upside down when Norris Yoshito walks up with a bag of books for her to sign. Not only is he good looking, but he is polite and mannerly. Sassy agrees to deliever the signed books to him in the restaurant across the street. Predictably they start seeing each other. We know this is how most show more romance novels go. This book is different. The prologue starts off with Norris' assistant being brutally murdered. She can't understand while she is slowly dying, why Norris, whom she has secretly been dating, is the one killing her. At this point I began to wonder why the author would give up the killer before chapter one had begun unless she wanted to terrify the reader with gruesome details of other murders that would culminate in the killers capture. I was so glad that I was so off base.

Sassy and Norris develop a relationship whereby they fall in love. To add to this new confusion, Sassy's cousin is dying of aids and want nothing to do with his son or the mother of his son who happens to be one of Sassy's friends. Once again in steps the charming Norris to bring everyone together.
Sassy has become confused by his Jekyll and Hyde personality. It scares her to see his dark side. Norris convinces her it was not him but someone who looked like him.
From this point on things get bizare. More people associated with Norris are murdered and Sassy wants to defend him from the cop who is bent on sending him to jail. His refusal to tell what he knows to the cops has her scared and confused. If he were innocent he would surely defend himself and yet there is no way he would have killed those people. When Sassy finds herself the next victim of the killer all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

This is a definate must read. The twists and turns are so quick you don't see them coming at you. It kept me on my toes the entire time. About the time I thought that I had it figured out something else was thrown into my path.

I guess it would be important to say at this point that I don't usually read romance novels. I don't like all of the mushy, fluffy stuff. I will definately check out more of Gloria Mallette's books. I also have a list of friends I know will love this book. It will definately be recommended.

Sassy by Gloria Mallette
312 pages
Gemini Press

Romance, Thriller, murder, illness, family show less

This book starts out with a terrifying moment of a woman getting stabbed by a cold blooded mad man named Norris. The suspense continues to build when we see Norris with a completely different personality. Is he mad or isn’t he? Sassy thinks he is the one, but events start to happen which cause her to doubt herself. Sassy has enough on her plate trying to write her next novel and dealing with her brother’s illness, but Norris seems so caring and genuine…

You will be hooked from the show more first terrifying chapter to the final confrontation. I loved the characters and the plot, but I thought the author could have come up with a more catchy name. I don’t feel it was about Sassy in its entirety.

Thank you to Ms. Mallette and her publicist for sharing her book with me to review. show less