NEVER TOO LATE TO LOVE

Monica Jackson

1-58314-107-3

BET/Arabesque

June 2000

(5) Wayne Jordan

Contemporary Romance

PLOT SYNOPSIS: 

REVIEW: 

During the past twenty years, I’ve read hundreds of romances.  There are those that made me laugh; those that made me cry, and then there are those rare books that have such an profound impact that they affect the way I view the world and the complexities of human nature.  NEVER TOO LATE TO LOVE is one of those very special books.

With NEVER TOO LATE TO LOVE, Monica Jackson has placed herself in that class of writers who are more that simple writers, but a creative genius.  With THE LOOK OF LOVE, Ms. Jackson’s work moved in a new, and to me, interesting direction.  In it I saw a greater maturity in style, a probing complexity in characterization, and a focus on issues that affect us as human beings.  NEVER TO LATE TO LOVE, too, embraces each of these elements, but Ms. Jackson does it even better.

The early chapters of NEVER TOO LAVE TO LOVE are hot stuff.  Sex between Jason and Tiffany, two mature lovers, is hot, and sweaty.  It’s as if the hero and heroine can’t get enough of each other.  But this is a deliberate plot device that Ms. Jackson uses to emphasize the weakness of a relationship that is overwhelmed by sex, where the two lovers are so consumed by their lovemaking they don’t have time to talk.  It is only when Tiffany and Jason are confronted by tragedy that they are unable to handle, they realize that the only way love can grow is by getting to know each other.

Important to this realization is Jason’s discovery that Tiffany is a recovering alcoholic, a secret that she has hidden from him.  The theme of alcoholism is not handled with gentle, cautious hands.  Ms. Jackson takes us first into the horrible past of a abused woman by giving us brief glimpses of Tiffany’s marriage, and then we see how easily it is to begin drinking again when her grandson dies in a accident caused by her son, Dante, who is also an alcoholic.

NEVER TOO LATE TO LOVE is a harsh, realistic look at serious issues that affect families, and relationships.  Despite this, Ms. Jackson never becomes melodramatic.  Neither does the romance become overshadowed by the focus on alcoholism in the latter half of the book.  Instead, Ms. Jackson takes the reader into the lives of two individuals who learn what true love is.

Along with all these elements, Ms. Jackson takes us down memory lane to revisit with characters for her previous books, and stimulate our interest in her next story about Tiffany’s daughter Jenny due next year.

NEVER TOO LATE TO LOVE is Ms. Jackson at her very best.  She has proved that she is one of the best writers of the African-American romance.

wayne@romanceincolor.net (1st June 2000)