I Like Em Pretty by Michael Mandrake

 New Orleans is supposed to be the big easy. One night changes everything for Frankie Choteau.

New Orleans. A city rich in tradition, diversity, and on the comeback trail from hurricane Katrina. Francois “Frankie” Choteau, a resident of this town, a cop with a hot temper and low tolerance for bs. Kajika Fortier, a transplant from Oklahoma came here looking for a dream and unfortunately it’s turned into a nightmare. On a hot summer night, they meet and cross paths during a very difficult situation. Despite this, the attraction between them is evident and loneliness for both men is a fate worse than death. They’d both like a chance at happiness but will the circumstances and Frankie’s uneasiness prevent their happy ever after?

I Like Em Pretty is the first in the N’awlins Exotica series and revolves around New Orleans Homicide Detective Frankie Choteau and his developing relationship with Kajika Fortier, an exotic dancer he met during an investigation. Despite their immediate attraction, Frankie refuses to get involved with Kajika until after the investigation is closed – a detail that I appreciated as so many books try to get the characters in bed far too quickly at times. While these two men talk a really good game and you expect them to end up in bed sooner rather than later, they don’t have sex until 70% into the book, and the wait was worth it – for both the characters and the reads.

Michael Mandrake (which is the pen name for a female author, so please forgive me if I mix up my pronouns) does a very good job of writing dialogue that is authentic to New Orleans dialect. Unfortunately, this is where the book actually lost me and it is completely a personal issue for me. I was surprised that I could not enjoy the book fully as I typically enjoy books that are written in the characters’ dialect and I have visited New Orleans and loved listening to the residents talk. My inability to enjoy the book fully is completely on me because the author does a wonderful job with the story line, the character development, the dialogue & dialect, and there is nothing I find fault with in the book. I absolutely hate that I didn’t enjoy it fully. I can only hope that I Like Em Pretty can find its way to readers who can fully appreciate and enjoy the writer’s hard work and will write the reviews it deserves.

If you think that this is a book you would enjoy, please do not let my inability to enjoy it sway you against it. Download the sample and check it out for yourself. My 3-star rating means that a book is a good read and Michael Mandrake has definitely produced a solid, well-written novel. I’m just not the right reader for it. However, I will be reading the next book in the series because I do want to know what happens to Frankie and Kajika.

      

Michael Mandrake pens complex characters already comfortable with their sexuality. Thorough these, he builds worlds not centered on erotica but rather the mainstream plots we might encounter in everyday life through personal experiences or the media. To find out more please visit http://tabooindeed.blogspot.com.

Thanks so much and look forward to hearing from you

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