For over a decade, author Niobia Bryant has entranced a loyal legion of readers, first with tantalizing romances and now, under the identity of Meesha Mink, urban fiction. 2007’s Desperate Hoodwives kicked off the first successful series and now the award-winning writer has penned Kiss The Ring, another explosive tale brimming with sex, drugs and violence that introduces fans to a headstrong new heroine, Naeema Cole.
On the outside, Ms. Cole’s got it going on: a man at her beck and call, steady cheddar as a hairstylist and an enviable mix of street smarts and sex appeal. To those watching from afar, Naeema’s life is a symbol of the hard-won success that many in Brick City fall short of achieving for themselves.
But out of nowhere, that tranquility is forever shattered, thanks to the senseless murder of her teenage son—the secret child she conceived as a teen and never raised—and past skeletons that torment Naeema as she mourns his loss, wallows in guilt and sets out on a deadly quest for revenge: “She had no idea if the last moments of his life were better or worse than her imaginings. Only thing she knew for sure was her son was dead and the police listed his friends as ‘persons of interest, but that was as far as their sorry-@$$ investigation had gotten in the last few weeks. As far as she could tell they never even questioned any of them. It was clear they could care less about another dead black boy in the streets of Newark.”
So armed only with her survival instincts and the help of her estranged husband, ‘Tank,’ Naeema infiltrates his former clique as ‘Queen,’ determined to gain the crew’s trust, learn more about the boy she lost and, eventually, flush out the murderers one by one for pain and payback.
Fast-paced and full of eccentric allies, charismatic villains and street scenarios that rival any episode of The First 48, Kiss The Ring has everything that readers have come to expect from Mink: blood, gore, graphic sex and a powerful protagonist that reaps what she’s sewn and manages to redeem herself along the way. Whether you’re new to her work or looking forward to adding to the collection, Meesha Mink’s latest novel is daring, delectable and doesn’t disappoint. ****
THE MOC STAR RATINGS SCALE:
**** Essential Reading
*** Engaging Diversion
** Middle Ground Mediocrity
* Craptastic Garbage
