LOVE GRIND BY SHELLY ELLIS
She’s used to baring it all . . . but baring her heart is a whole different story
Down on her luck and broke, Jennifer Dudley long ago traded dancing in the chorus line for swinging from a stripper pole to make ends meet. She’s hoping an offer to come back home and teach dance at her old performance academy will be the opportunity she needs to fix her life. When she moves in with and falls for a software developer with brains, a boyish smile, and muscles, she decides she might be well on her way to a second chance at success—and love.
But her X-rated past may come back to haunt her, compromising her newfound happiness and hurting the ones she loves the most.
But her X-rated past may come back to haunt her, compromising her newfound happiness and hurting the ones she loves the most.
Excerpt
Jennifer walked through the front door, shutting and locking
it behind her. She smiled when Horatio rose from his doggie bed and trotted
across the living room toward her.
“Hey, big guy!” she gushed as she rubbed the boxer’s head
and he licked her hand in greeting. “Did you have a good day?”
He panted and barked in reply.
“Yeah, I’ll hang out with you. Had a change of plans this
evening but that’s OK. We’ll just watch some TV and eat nachos, huh?” she said
to him. “Just let me get out of this leotard and tights.” She then strolled to
the stairs.
Jennifer could hear the thumping base of R&B music
playing on the floor above. It sounded like it was coming from Blair’s bedroom.
She jogged up the stairs, tugged the strap of her dance bag over her head, and
turned to walk down the hall toward her bedroom, but halted in her steps when
she saw Blair stroll out the upstairs bathroom they shared, sending out a cloud
of billowing steam into the hall in his wake.
Her mouth fell open in shock when she saw him.
Blair was butt naked, save for the towel he was using to
wipe down his neck and face as he sprayed on deodorant and hummed absently
along with the song that was playing on his stereo. As he walked, she got a
delectable view of all that maple-colored physique in profile—from his toned
arms to his tight ass to his muscular thighs. When Blair turned to walk toward
his bedroom, she got a full frontal view. Though she should’ve looked away, she
didn’t. Her eyes couldn’t help but travel the path of dark hair that led down
his chest to his happy trail, ending at his manhood—and she almost choked.
“Oh . . . oh my,” she whispered.
Who knew computer nerds packed that much equipment?
Hearing her, Blair finally realized he wasn’t alone
upstairs. He lowered the towel from his face. Their eyes met and for a few
agonizing seconds they both stood in the hall, paralyzed, staring at one
another like deer caught in oncoming headlights. Finally, he dropped the towel
to his crotch.
“Shit! Shit, I’m so sorry,” he said.
“No! Don’t apologize! It’s my fault!” She held up her hands.
“You didn’t know I was home. And I didn’t . . . I mean . . . I mean . . . I
should’ve—”
“I’m gonna . . . uh . . . go put some clothes on now,” he
said, lowering his eyes and stepping around her.
All that manly nakedness was only inches away from her now
and she felt the overwhelming urge to reach out and touch it, but Jennifer
nobly held back. Instead, she closed her eyes and went flat against the hallway
wall as he jogged past her to his bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.
Jennifer cracked one eye open, then another. She stood in
the hall, dumbfounded, unable to erase the memory of what she’d just seen.
“Oh, my,” she whispered again, laughing a little, still in
shock. “Whoa!”
Although I loved all three books in the series, this one might have been my favorite. Jennifer Dudley comes back to the academy after things were not working out in Las Vegas. She meets computer programmer Blair Sanders, a hunky computer programmer. (At least that's the description I got from the story 😄). Things seem to go good, until Jennifer's past comes back that could put everything in jeopardy. Not only were all the characters authentic, including the children, You were able to see growth from Jennifer and Blair. Not to mention some of the interactions between Jennifer and Blair were HILARIOUS. Shocked me several times. A fitting end to this short novella series. Maybe we'll see some of the characters in future books?
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ABOUT SHELLY ELLIS
Shelly Ellis is a NAACP Image Award-nominated women's fiction/romance author and creator of the Gibbons Gold Digger and Chesterton Scandal series. Her fiction writing career began when she became one of four finalists in a First-Time Writers Contest when she was 19 years old. The prize was a publishing contract and having her first short-story romance appear in an anthology. She has since published ten novels and was a finalist for 2015 NAACP Image Award in the Literary Fiction Category, a three-time finalist for the African American Literary Award in the romance category (2012, 2016, and 2017), and a finalist for the 2015 RT Reviewers' Choice Award in Multicultural Romance category.
She is married and lives in Prince George's County, Maryland with her husband and their daughter. Visit her at her web site www.shellyellisbooks.com.
She is married and lives in Prince George's County, Maryland with her husband and their daughter. Visit her at her web site www.shellyellisbooks.com.
CONNECT WITH SHELLY ELLIS
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Other Books in the Series
On Pointe (Book 1)
https://amzn.to/2I9X8zV
https://amzn.to/2I9X8zV
I felt it would be prudent to review the first two books in the series also, since you will meet characters in book 3 that were in books one and 2. Book 1 centers around Ms, Yvonne the founder of the Maclane Academy of the Performing Arts and her daughter, Bina. Bina ends up reluctantly hiring former student Maurice AKA Mo, now a 22 year old dance choreographer who ends up coming to help. Maurice has his own reasons for coming back to help, and not necessarily because of the financial situation of the school. Not only did i love the relationship between Maurice and Bina, I loved that it also touched on gentrification, and the language of the characters fit.
Book 2 centers around Monique Newmann, now known as singer Monique Starr. After a failed publicity stunt to boost record sales, Monique comes back to the Center to help not only the center, but hopefully her career. Monique runs into her old former bad boy boyfriend, Justin and they both have to wonder if sparks are still there. I also enjoyed that there was mention of another favorite series of mine, The Branch Avenue Boy's Series in this story. There were several times I didn't like Justin because he seemed to not want to listen, but I enjoyed watching his growth in this book. And I enjoyed watching Monique's growth as well. And like the previous story, it included a cliffhanger, for the next book in the series. Normally I don't like them, but I didn't mind since I was able to plow through all 3 books in the series without waiting.
#LoveGrind #ShellyEllis #HonMagPR
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