Janice Said...Book Review of Up At The College

A Review of the Novel: Up at the College

By J.L. Ingle, Reviewer

Novelist Michele Andrea Bowen really took me waaayyy back with her new novel Up at the College. I attended an HBCU for four years and anyone who has had that experience along with me can tell you that there is always some serious politics and high drama happening on campus.

Michele’s heroine, Yvonne Fountain Copeland, is thrust right into the thick of both the politics and the drama when her scandalous, adulterous husband decides he doesn’t like being married anymore and forces her and their two daughters, to move out of her beautifully decorated home in Richmond, and Yvonne back into the world of employment.

Yvonne moves back to her hometown of Durham and lands a job at HBCU Evangeline T. Marshall University, or Eva T., as it is affectionately called by the local residents. She is back among her loving family, who feels it is time for Yvonne to get out there and find herself a new man. Enter Curtis Parker, the Head Basketball Coach for Eva T. and the finest man Yvonne has seen in a long time.

Now Eva T. has drama, not confined to the Drama department, in the shape of a shapely Femme Fatale, that beautiful new Gym with the huge parking lot and those two assistant basketball coaches who are exhibiting what can definitely be call ‘questionable character’. Add in the drop dead gorgeous, attorney who also has her eye on Coach Parker and you have enough drama and excitement to keep you turning those pages to see just what happens next!

Now Yvonne knows from experience that the Lord has her back, and when there is trouble with her new job at Eva T. she has plenty of backup and prayers coming from family, friends and the members of Jubilee Temple. With a combination like that you have got to be looking at a win/win situation.

Up at the College will touch all of your emotions and you will fall in love with Yvonne and her friends and family. You will see the power of prayer and how it can be a catalyst for the workings of the Lord.

What more can you ask when you are blessed to curl up on the weekend with a truly good book like Up at the College.

Janice Said... Book Review for the Exorsistah

Starting with this entry, Urban Christian Fiction will begin to post book reviews by Janice Ingle of J. Ingle Reviews. Welcome Janice, glad to be partnering with you.

This is what "Janice Said" about Exorsistah by Claudia Mair Burney:

Ms. Burney has introduced us to Emme, a young sister who has survived the perils of the foster care system only to step straight into the ominous world of demon possession and at the same time is ambushed by the precariousness of young loves first bite. Now Emme is used to seeing demons and knows that by using the Word of the Lord she can keep them off of her. But on her first day of freedom she meets a young, fine Blacktino brother who is not only kind but can also feel the demons she can see!

Their first encounter is with a dude who is obviously up to no good. Emme can see that big ugly demon hanging onto, and trailing behind him and that fine Blacktino brother can feel it. Between the two of them they have on the full Armor of God and by fiercely welding the Sword of the Spirit they take that big demon down!

Now her Blacktino wants to feed her, buy her Prada and introduce her to his exorcist papa. Emme is down with the first two but she is real leery about number three until she finds out her very best friend, Jamilla, is the one who needs exorcising. What’s a girl to do?

The Exorsistah is a great read for young adults and all readers. Ms. Burney not only gives our younger readers insight on young love but she also eases in lessons on abstinence and restraint. She takes us on a journey into the similarities of our different faiths and shows us that as children of God we can all work together in unity when it comes to doing His work.

This is the kind of book that is entertaining, informative and a great read. Thank you Ms. Burney!

J. L. Ingle, Reviewer