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Overview
Charisse Tyson is about to say “I do” . . .
But could the smart, sassy, curvaceous bride-to-be, who’s more than paid her dues with a string of worthless ex-lovers, have good reason for second thoughts? What if her fiancé, Kevin Douglass—the gorgeous FBI agent who rescued her from a con artist boyfriend and promptly swept her off her feet—turns out to be like all the others? Rissey’s worst nightmare comes true when, one week from their wedding day, they hit a major bump in the road—a baby bump, that is. Kevin reveals that a one-time liaison with his former FBI partner produced a lot more than a one-night stand.
Thrown into a tailspin, Rissey turns to her beloved top-shelf vodka and her best friend Lamar, who makes no secret of his desire to replace Kevin. With her own family in upheaval when the father Rissey has never known enters her life and Kevin desperately trying to make things right, time is running out . . . will she and Kevin survive the drama and make it down the wedding aisle?
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781451616590 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Pocket Books |
| Publication date: | 01/31/2012 |
| Sold by: | SIMON & SCHUSTER |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 304 |
| File size: | 3 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Prologue
I had knocked Charisse’s ass out. She was snoring like a security guard on the midnight shift. Unfortunately, sleep did not come as easily for me. I still felt anxious with the wedding only one week away. Couldn’t shake the feeling something might go wrong and I wouldn’t get my queen down the aisle, as crazy as she’d been acting—at least not without a shotgun and a case of Grey Goose. I could see the love in her eyes 99 percent of the time, but that 1 percent—her thinly veiled fear—might prove more than even I could overcome.
Hmph, maybe I should’ve told her.
Some of my anxiety might’ve emanated from my own guilt, as much as her fear. The one-night stand was nothing. Happened before Charisse and I even thought about getting together. She wouldn’t care, would she? Not now. Not knowing how much I love her.
I tossed the remote control on the bed and scanned the nightstand for something to read. I’d left the latest issue of Jet magazine in the bathroom and feared my weak noodle legs might fail me. Puttin’ Charisse out always drained me. So, I grabbed an issue of Zaina Humphrey’s magazine—Charisse’s second bible—and flipped through the pages.
I yawned repeatedly as I flipped through, wondering why women bought these stupid magazines. Clothes. Perfume ads. Shoes. More clothes. Who cares? Zaina needed to get a “Z” beauty, some phat centerfold bikini model. That’s how you get men to read these things.
Nearly ready to give up and go get my first choice, I noticed an article that caught my eye, only because Charisse had drawn a letter X across the page from corner to corner. “Daddyless Girls: Women Who Grow Up Without Fathers and How They Cope.” I read the article with microscopic intensity. Some words leapt off the page . . . “sense of abandonment . . . feels unworthy” . . . “low self-esteem . . . attracted to emotionally unavailable men (like the absentee dad)” . . . “trust issues, even in healthy relationships . . . fear of commitment.”
I understood going into this relationship that Charisse was coming in with some emotional baggage. After all, she’d nearly been raped as a teenager. And the cousin she regarded as a brother stood by and let her get attacked. But until reading the article, I had no idea how her rocky, all-but-nonexistent relationship with her father had probably impacted her too. Whatever she said or didn’t say about him, her father’s absence still bothered her. Otherwise why would she even bother marking across this particular article?
Anytime I dared to mention the man’s name, especially as the wedding approached, her entire demeanor soured, her words turned to acid, but her eyes were filled with hurt. She’d been harboring some serious hate.
My father died from lung cancer, but I couldn’t imagine growing up without him in my life. His presence had meant the difference between my growing up to become any old kind of man, and a good man, even though we often bumped heads. Since my father passed away, I’d have given my own life to have him back for a day, just one day, to tell him I loved him once again. Someday, Charisse would regret letting the rift between her and her father fester for so long. I wanted to help them heal their relationship. I was determined to find a way.
© 2012 K. L. Brady
What People are Saying About This
It’s a Comedy of Errors for the hip-hop generation, as misunderstandings and trickery separate lovers meant to be together but sabotaged by well-meaning friends, jealous ex-lovers, and the destructive secrets of their proud and misguided families. Brady (The Bum Magnet) reprises her sassy, headstrong, successful realtor heroine Charisse, now getting ready to tie the knot with savvy G-man Kevin. But first, the couple will have to face down the myriad roadblocks hurled their way: Charisse’s trust issues, triggered by a bad marriage, her long-missing father, and brothers she never knew she had; a sneaky lover-in-waiting; Charisse’s secretive mom; and Kevin’s conniving baby mama and the love child they share. Charisse jumps to one wrong conclusion after another—offering a proclamation that gives this book its title—in the outlandish, comic, and charming tradition of the Bard himself. Brady updates an old theme for a new audience and finds a thoroughly modern tale of grown-up love, the endurance of friendship, and the strains—and comfort—of family.
- Publisher's Weekly
“Brady draws readers in immediately from the prologue and propels them straight through the drama, humor and the various twists and turns that will leave you exhausted but satisfied at the end of the novel. Charisse is not your typical heroine and that may be the strongest part of the story.”
4 Star Review
- Romantic Times