Playing For Keeps

August 31, 2015
Mello hits all the right notes with her second Sultry Southern Nights contemporary (after Playing with Fire), featuring a smart heroine, a sensual hero, witty repartee, and complex family dynamics. Entrepreneur Malcolm Cobb owns several successful businesses and is raising his teenage twins, Claudia and Cleo. When he meets gorgeous Priscilla Jameson, their playful banter, natural chemistry, and immediate comfort soon has them acting out of character. Malcolm wants Cilla to meet his daughters, a no-no since his painful divorce from a woman who’s still addicted to drugs. Cilla appreciates Malcolm’s gentlemanly charm and honesty and lets him into her usually guarded life. A chance run-in between Cilla and Cleo uncovers a disturbing situation that will challenge all involved, with Malcolm’s ex-wife at the center. As Cilla becomes a welcome addition to Cobb family activities, the couple’s emotional bonds and sensual connection grow in parallel. Diverse secondary characters remind readers that a relationship is rooted in family and community. Mello sensitively explores the difficult issues of child abuse and toxic parents, cushioning the unflinching examination of harsh topics with plenty of sweet kindness and love.

November 1, 2015

Architect, jazz-club proprietor, and single dad falls for an equally ambitious woman who has a "no kids" rule for her suitors, a rule she soon begins to reconsider. ("African American Fiction and More," ow.ly/Tjt0Z)

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2015
Mello's positive family and second-chance themes are welcome in African American and all contemporary-romance stories. In the latest installment in her Sultry Southern Nights series, single-dad Malcolm manages two businesses plus his 13-year-old twin daughters while maintaining his hard-won sobriety. He is delighted to meet Cilla at a coffee shop, and a friendship grows, along with mutual attraction. His ex-wife's drug addiction endangers his family more than once, and Cilla fights at his side to protect them. Twins Cleo and Claudia are refreshingly normal instead of stereotypical teens. Character Romeo, from Mello's Playing with Fire (2015), returns as Malcolm's club business partner and friend to give advice and help. Smart, up-front women are Mello's characteristic heroines, while plenty of chemistry between them and their heroes makes for strong, highly enjoyable romance reading. Dimensional characters move beyond mistakes in relatable, realistic ways from this skilled writer. Fans of Lisa Kleypas' contemporaries may also enjoy Mello.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)