The Ultimate Betrayal

I received an ARC from Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley.  Opinions are my own.

Drama in the Black Family continues in Kimberla Lawson Roby's new book, The Ultimate Betrayal, which is out TODAY!  This book focuses on Alicia, Curtis' oldest daughter, and her best friend Melanie.

Alicia is engaged to Phillip, her first husband.  They broke up years ago because of Alicia's addiction to shopping and her affair with Levi, a drug dealer.  Levi's been locked up for a few years and now he's out of prison. And wants Alicia back.  Will she stay faithful to Phillip or will the Black genes kick in and cause her to be unfaithful again?

Melanie has a weight problem. Or so she thinks. She's the ideal weight for her height, but constantly thinks that she's fat.  Will her weight problems cause her to loose her marriage and her life?  And what's up with the money that her husband Brad keeps taking out of the bank account?

If you are a fan of Kimberla's previous books, you will not be disappointed.  There are some twists and turns in this book that you will enjoy. But I am going to go on a little rant about the ending of one of the story lines without (hopefully) giving it away.

SOMETHING REALLY BAD happens to one of the main characters in this book.  The ending left me feeling like I just watched the end of a Tyler Perry movie, where someone does something bad and even something worst happens to them (if you have seen Temptation, you know what I'm talking about).  Did this person do something bad? Yes.  Did they deserve what they got at the end of the book? NO. I understand there are consequences for your actions, but I don't agree that they should be that drastic and that's God's way of punishing you.

On the other hand, I have been getting bad vibes from another character in this book since The Best of Everything.  I remember talking to a friend about this character after The Best of Everything was released and she said though that the character was nice. I totally disagreed with her.  There was always something fishy about that character.  Looks like this character's true colors come out in this book and I was right all along!

Like I said before, if you are a fan of the dealings of the Black Family, this book is for you!  If you are in South Carolina (or nearby), Kimberla will be at the Sandhills Books-A-Million in Columbia this Thursday at 6:30 p.m.  I won't be able to go due to work obligations, but I hope that a big crowd shows up (after seeing Eric Jerome Dickey there a few weeks ago, I don't think that's going to be a problem).  Happy Reading!