Review: Best of Friends

REVIEW: I always look forward to new authors with anticipation. Not

because I’m tired of the established more experienced authors, but because

a new author means a new voice, a new style, the possibility of discovering a

fresh exiting talent to add to the wealth of other writers who already exist.

When I finally closed BEST OF FRIENDS, I felt that leisurely content at

having read something that was more than good.

Ms. Dunbar has with her debut novel made a significant impact on the

world of the African American romance. BEST OF FRIENDS is a delightful

surprise, a fresh and alluring look at the best friend theme, and a book that

sizzles with sexual tension and passion.

One of the book’s most satisfying aspects is the wonderful hero. Ms. Dunbar

skillfully allows us into the soul of a man who is faced with loving a woman

who is intent on being just friends; a woman he has comforted through

crisis after crisis, even after she is jilted by her fiancée. But Ramón is unable

to win what he wants most in life – Mariah’s love. Mariah feels that to allow

intimacy between the two of them will threaten their friendship; a friendship

she does not want to lose. Ramón wants more that the platonic love Mariah

wants to offer.

Ms. Dunbar is at her best when she delves into the minds of her character

exposing their internal conflicts, and it is her look into Ramón’s very soul

that makes him the fascinating character he is. There are moments of agony

when Ms. Dunbar lays Ramón naked before the reader, and we are forced to

see the sensitive, vulnerable but proud man. As a male reader, I can’t help

but feel Ramón’s torture and his pain.

A scene of significant, that allows us to see this tortured man takes place

when Mariah has rejected him, and the only thing left is his pride. His

strength of character is seen when, despite loosing the most precious thing

in his life, he is able to walk away:

Slowly his shimmering gray eyes became flat an unreadable as stone

and he slowly shook his head negatively from one side to the other….

The deliberate stiffness in his back and shoulders was message

enough.

The love scenes between the hero and heroine are sexy, and deliciously hot,

but at all times, a demonstration of their love for each other. When they

make love for the first time, their coming together is a fitting climax to the

sexual tension that shimmered for the time the reader meets them. And we

recognize that this is that special coming together of two soul mates.

BEST OF FRIENDS is a great debut book, and definitely not one to be

missed. Ms. Dunbar creates characters who are compelling, and a theme,

though familiar, that demonstrates a fresh originality not often seen in the

work of a new writer. BEST OF FRIENDS simply wonderful!

14th February 2021 | Original Review 2000| romcol@caribsurf.com