Bling

My favorite character was Mimi. She began as down to earth young lady and as her music career begin to take off she became a diva

This was a great book! I read it in 4 days! I read alot of contemporary fiction. I have found that alot books start off great and fizzle at the end or the end reads as if the writer ran out of ideas. This is not that type of book. Intially, I wasn't sure if I would get through it due to the size of the book and the fact that I only read in the evenings. But the story made me want to continue reading it and and the story was so captivating and flowed so well, it was easy to get engrossed in it and want to continue reading it. I thought the characters were fleshed out well and even though it is a big book and some may be intimidated by the number of pages, I think it was a great escape book and I was sad when I finished it. If you enjoy books like "The Coldest Winter Ever" by Sistah Souljah or any of Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant collaborations or any of Rosalyn McMillan books, you will enjoy this book because the writing is very detailed and you can actually see these characters in your mind as Erica Kennedy did a wonderful job painting a picture for the reader by her descriptions of the characters and their world. I hope to see more books from this author. In the meantime, I will recommend this book to all of my friends!!!!!

And I mean this is a good way! I spent many summers reading my moms Jackie Collins books while she was away at work and trying to put them back where I found them so she wouldn't notice! Once I got old, I would try and figure out who was who in her books, since they were supposed to be based loosely on real life people and events. It's the same thing with this novel, which will probably gain "cult like" status like "Flyy Girl" and "The Coldest Winter Ever". I think the main character, Mimi, is a mixture of Beyonce, Ashanti, Mariah Carey, and Lauryn Hill maybe. Her girl Lena seems to be Paris Hilton-ish, especially when I read about her "crawling on the floor of the club looking for her diamond studded cell phone with a short skirt and no underwear". Totally sounds like something Paris would do. The older guy being forced out of his record label, Tommy Motola (sp?) maybe? Didn't the same thing happen to him? And I'm thinking that Daryl guy is Jermaine Dupri kind of sort of. Some of my guesses may be way off, but it's fun to guess, and the book was pretty good. It was a good "train" read, something to make the long commute faster. This was a great first book and I hope to hear more from the author.

This book reads like a Jackie Collins book--very fast paced. It's well written, and will have you guessing which hip hop stars, models, personalities, she's writing about. The only complaint I have is that I read it too fast. Ms. Kennedy is an excellent writer and heads above the other "hip hop" writers. Simply awesome!!

In reading Bling I felt like a "fly on the wall" in the inner sanctum of the glitzy hip hop world. A provocative and very funny page turner, it kept me up late into the night and I dreaded it's ending. Erica Kennedy's debut novel knocks it out the park. I can't wait for her next book.

Lucrative recording contracts, shopping sprees, singing stars, paparazzi, sex, and life lived on the hip-hop edge. This is what you'll find in BLING, the splashy debut by Erica Kennedy. The story centers on Mimi, a twenty-something girl from Ohio who dreams of getting a record contract. She and her singing friends travel to New York to make the dream come true. The road the Mimi travels is one she could never predict and her life changes almost instantly when she hooks up with a hip-hop producer named Lamont.The book is filled with short chapters and the plot moves at a fast pace. BLING is a likable page-turner. It provides a fascinating glimpse of the recording industry and can provide as a textbook of sorts for those who aspire to become a part of the hip-hop industry. There are tons of characters in this book, and at times the lines are belly-aching funny. There's plenty of fresh and hip characters who all talk the latest lingo, all of which may have you think you're reading from the pages of VIBE. Most of the characters will make you try to guess the real-life counterparts because there are plenty of similarities between BLING's subplots and actual hip-hop celebrities. The only distractions are the mountains of background information about the minor characters. These narratives somewhat diminish the action and intensity of the story, but nevertheless BLING is an out-the-box hit; it's a recommended read that should appeal to those who love urban fiction, hip-hop music, and rags to riches African-American stories.