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A review by inkerly
The Real Thing by J.J. Murray
4.0
I LOVE THIS BOOK!
4.5 stars
This book started out as a little bit of a slow burn for me, but turned out to be amazing, erotic, enticing, tear-jerking, and heartfelt at the same time. Christiana Artis is a New York journalist trying to get the scoop on former Italian heavyweight Dante Lattanza, while Dante tries to win back his ex wife’s affections in the fight of his life. These two are the perfect joyride and I appreciate the care that went into making this a true interracial romance and not just some cheap cliche.
The book isn’t perfect but on a scale of sultry to steamy it’s FREAKIN MOUTHWATERING AND I COULDNT PUT DOWN THE LAST 100 pages. Nevertheless, some things that would’ve made this book even BETTER:
1.) the Cover: I noticed that this cover is similar to the covers of his other books though there seems to be no relation to those books as sequels/prequels. A shame! The guy on the book cover does NOT look like the described Dante: Italian, buff, or hairy! If there are other updated cover versions they should take this into account
2.) not sure if it was just me, but Christiana had a very “not like other girls” mean streak about her in the first couple dozen pages. She talks down about her job at Personality magazine, about the celebrities she interviews, and when she gets to Dante’s ex wife——oh no. This was the biggest “flaw” in this book that I was disappointed in. It would’ve been nice if Dante’s ex wife was just depicted as a woman who "drifted apart" emotionally from Dante but she was literally villainized as this “witch” character for no clear reason. Christiana really doubles down on the internalized sexism, insulting her for her stick physique, “uppity” attitude, "high maintenance" lifestyle, and more. The list goes on. Which surprised me because Christiana seemed to have been written as a good feminist character to admire -- she's the granddaughter of a heavyweight, enjoys boxing, and isn't afraid to speak her truth. So seeing her put another woman down because of her feelings for another man was just...ugh. I just felt weird knowing that I was supposed to have utmost disgust for Evelyn in order to root for Christiana and Dante. But I think that both women can coexist in Dante’s life and be on good terms! She’ll always be the mother of his first-born, after all.
3.) If there’s an X-rated version of this book solely dedicated to Christiana and Dante’s...”workout sessions”...let me know. Like SERIOUSLY. Hook a sister up. Cause damn.
That’s all I have to say about this book. Do I think if written in 2020 it’d be an instant bestseller in IR with (hopefully) more feminist undertones? Definitely!
I so can’t wait to read more of this author.
4.5 stars
This book started out as a little bit of a slow burn for me, but turned out to be amazing, erotic, enticing, tear-jerking, and heartfelt at the same time. Christiana Artis is a New York journalist trying to get the scoop on former Italian heavyweight Dante Lattanza, while Dante tries to win back his ex wife’s affections in the fight of his life. These two are the perfect joyride and I appreciate the care that went into making this a true interracial romance and not just some cheap cliche.
The book isn’t perfect but on a scale of sultry to steamy it’s FREAKIN MOUTHWATERING AND I COULDNT PUT DOWN THE LAST 100 pages. Nevertheless, some things that would’ve made this book even BETTER:
1.) the Cover: I noticed that this cover is similar to the covers of his other books though there seems to be no relation to those books as sequels/prequels. A shame! The guy on the book cover does NOT look like the described Dante: Italian, buff, or hairy! If there are other updated cover versions they should take this into account
2.) not sure if it was just me, but Christiana had a very “not like other girls” mean streak about her in the first couple dozen pages. She talks down about her job at Personality magazine, about the celebrities she interviews, and when she gets to Dante’s ex wife——oh no. This was the biggest “flaw” in this book that I was disappointed in. It would’ve been nice if Dante’s ex wife was just depicted as a woman who "drifted apart" emotionally from Dante but she was literally villainized as this “witch” character for no clear reason. Christiana really doubles down on the internalized sexism, insulting her for her stick physique, “uppity” attitude, "high maintenance" lifestyle, and more. The list goes on. Which surprised me because Christiana seemed to have been written as a good feminist character to admire -- she's the granddaughter of a heavyweight, enjoys boxing, and isn't afraid to speak her truth. So seeing her put another woman down because of her feelings for another man was just...ugh. I just felt weird knowing that I was supposed to have utmost disgust for Evelyn in order to root for Christiana and Dante. But I think that both women can coexist in Dante’s life and be on good terms! She’ll always be the mother of his first-born, after all.
3.) If there’s an X-rated version of this book solely dedicated to Christiana and Dante’s...”workout sessions”...let me know. Like SERIOUSLY. Hook a sister up. Cause damn.
That’s all I have to say about this book. Do I think if written in 2020 it’d be an instant bestseller in IR with (hopefully) more feminist undertones? Definitely!
I so can’t wait to read more of this author.