The Million Dollar Deception

Title: The Million Dollar Deception 3 / 5
Author: RM Johnson
2008
Began Reading: 6/22/2009
Ended Reading: 6/29/2009

Format: CD






In RM Johnson’s latest installment of divorce chronicles, he resurrects Nate, Monica and Louis. Remember Nate was the millionaire who paid a man to become his wife’s lover. Nate wanted to catch Monica in the bad girl clause of the prenup. He then couldn’t handle the fact Monica and Louis began to fall in love. Since Nate was such an alpha male, he had to win, by getting Monica back.

What a silly premise, but I guess it makes for a very dramatic book. The wife was so delusional and silly I had a hard time in being sympathetic to her character. I kept wondering what woman could be this clueless? Who would not know she is being played like a fiddle by both men in her life. Nate was so disingenuous and Louis was just so stereotypically stupid.

While in the middle of reading this book I kept thinking about what fiction is there that is written about Black women that shows us in a better light. Fiction that does not down play our intelligence and shows that Black women are capable of being loved by a man on our level.

The heroine was a millionaire that owned her own business her lover was a ne’er do well that had a child by a drug addict. The silly woman even paid for her own engagement ring. The boyfriend, Louis, did not a have job. Home boy was like a lot of Black men who have grandiose dreams, but no way of achieving them. The boyfriend owned part of a business that was not well thought out and could not be able to bring in the kind of income she would be used to.

Then there was the ex husband Nate, who was such a miserable; human being that he would resort to adopting a child to manipulate Monica back into his life, you know, only to ruin her because the one time she had a stroke of genius was to take money during their divorce. He could not stand the thought of being bested, thus the hare brained scheme was hatched to ruin her.

Louis, the boyfriend was nowhere on her financial level, but I believe mentally his little girl Laila was far and ahead both of them.

It is true BW’s fiction can be a mental drain. In Million Dollar Deception the characters were wealthy, however it still did not stem the fact that Black behavior is still dysfunctional. It seems in most BW fiction on every strata of income the people are still dysfunctional. It makes me wonder how they can even become wealthy. They may as well be in the lowliest ghetto. I do like to read stories that have a redeeming value to Black life. I believe that is why just about every book Beverly Jenkins, superstar historical writer extraordinaire, writes, I read.

However, that is not to say that sometimes I really don’t mind reading stories like Gorilla Black, the next book on the blog to be reviewed. I am an adult and can tell the difference between reality and fiction. But as a former librarian I can tell you many BW cannot discern the difference. They believe Triple Crown stories are rooted in fact. They believe this is what a real relationship can be like. Many BW do not travel. Or see enough positive relationships to know things can be better. They don’t understand there is a bigger world outside their little patch of earth.