You Don’t Want to Get Married

The Prairies Book Review

Honest and moving…

Kellam’s latest is a bittersweet story of a young woman who moves to a different city to escape the chaos of her dwindling romance. Jasmine has everything going for her: she has the looks, the support of family and her best friend, and brilliant career prospects with her Master’s Degree in Information Technology completed. But on the relationship front, things are not so great. She’s in love with Denzel, a divorced father of two, for whom the family always comes first. Sensing her love life is not going anywhere, Jasmine accepts a job offer in Virginia and moves there, leaving Massachusetts behind. But Denzel has no intention to let her go. Kellam’s prose, though lacks the fineness of a veteran author, her engrossing storytelling easily draws the reader into Jasmine’s story. Kellam paints a convincing picture of the dilemma most women with self-esteem issues face. She ably depicts issues related to self-esteem and identity through Jasmine’s story, whose inability to take a stand for herself hampers her own chance at happiness. This is a page-turner.

Readers’ Favorite

You Don’t Want to Get Married by Latesha Kellam is a thought provoking and engaging read. It’s an alternative romance novel that sheds light on the many mistakes that people make in relationships because they fear loneliness. The characters are relatable, and the plot is realistic, as we see in today’s world. I went through different emotions while reading this book; the first of which was anger at Jasmine. Often, we see the red flags, but keep making excuses for the shortcomings of other people. Sometimes we are plagued with the Messiah complex, thinking we can change the people in our lives. Unfortunately, we may drown with them if we’re not careful. I appreciate Latesha’s approach to this sensitive topic through her enthralling writing style and character development. I loved this book and can’t wait to read more from her.

The Match Disaster

The Prairies Book Review

An unassuming, intriguing read…
After a bad marriage and a disappointing dating experience, the unnamed protagonist of Kellam’s novel, a single mother, tries a new dating site and finds her Mr. Right. The things look promising, but the years go by without any concrete progress in their relationship. Ignoring the warning signals throughout the relationship was not the only mistake the protagonist made: she settled for less when she knew she deserved to be treated better. Will she learn to value her self-worth before it gets too late? Written in the first-person narrative, Kellam beautifully conveys her protagonist’s harrowing emotional journey: too nice to take a stand for herself, she immediately becomes the target of her lover’s altering mood swings and petty insults. In an unpretentious tone, Kellam shows what the main protagonist, who tells the story in her voice, likes and admires about the new man in her life. The slow, tantalizing shift in their relationship, as she comes to recognize the significance of her lover’s occasional tempers is both believable and convincing. The book’s theme is fascinating, and the way Kellam executes the plot (the story told in the protagonist’ voice, making it ridiculously simple), makes the reader turn pages fast. While Kellam’s unassuming prose slips occasionally into commonplace and somewhat dull observations, the storyline stays intriguing enough to keep the reader invested. This engrossing book makes for an illuminating, intimate look at the relationship struggles a woman faces in an emotionally abusive relationship. Lovers of women’s fiction will be rewarded.

ILoveUniqueBooks.com

The Match Disaster is more or less like a memoir written in story form—albeit a very emotional one. It captured the realities of modern day dating and how challenging it could be trying to find true love and happiness in a partner.

Still smartening from her broken marriage, Lacey couldn’t believe her luck when she eventually came across a handsome guy she met on a dating site. Just like Lacey, he too was a divorcee with children.

Lacey was deeply religious and believed so much in her faith, but she couldn’t help falling in love with him despite a voice that kept warning her to take things easy as well as several red flags along the way. Not to be deterred, Lacey threw everything into the ring, in an effort to make the relationship work.

The book is relatively small but is embedded with lots of life’s lessons on where to draw the curtain as well as things that should or should not be tolerated in a partner, especially when we desire to live with our dignity unscathed.

What Lacey passed through is easily relatable by many women out there who have been handed the short end of the stick. However, they too can find the courage to stand for themselves just like Lacey!