Love in a Carry-on Bag by Sadeqa Johnson is a fabulous debut novel.

Erica Shaw is an up & coming star at a publishing company. She has a lot of issues from her childhood that she is dealing with as well as a needy mother that is always in trouble some form and asking for money. She is a tough girl that is holding it all together & trying to keep her life on track.

Warren Prince is a business man by day and a musician by night. He also has a lot going on that he is dealing with. Like the very sudden wedding of his father.

Erica & Warren have been in a long distance relationship for a while. Things are going great until work starts to interfere with their personal life. Erica is unable to be with Warren when he needs her the most. There is a woman in Warren's office that is out to steal him away from Erica.

I really enjoyed Love in a Carry-on Bag and look forward to reading more by Sadeqa Johnson. She did a fabulous job on her debut novel! ( )

I won this book from the First Reads giveaway on Goodreads in exchange for a honest review.

Love in a Carry-on Bag is about a feisty, intelligent and hard working African-American woman who rises in the ranks of her publishing company and at the same time tries to maintain a long distance relationship with the love of her life, Warren Prince who almost unfairly seems to have it all-- good looks, charm, brains for computing which secure him a great job, and amazing talent on the trumpet. This book is about their struggle to be together but also to stand as individuals in their own worlds.

This book is a different novel than I generally read. But I'm glad I did. The ease and swing to the words reminds me of Their Eyes were Watching God. There are many great things about this novel. The prose is beautiful-- I could almost sway to the music of Warren's trumpet. Every page bursts with color, song, smell, and texture. This was more than just a typical romance novel, and I liked that about it.

While Erica and Warren are mostly likeable characters, I admit I was uncomfortable with most of the physical fight scenes (most of which were initiated by Erica); because of them, I had a hard time rooting for this couple. *SLIGHT SPOILER* I also disliked the fact that Warren deliberately at the end does not tell Erica the entire truth, which again makes me think that they will have a tough time if they can't be completely honest with one another.

That said, Johnson has written an enjoyable and many times beautiful book. ( )