Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It

I thought to myself, hmm the kind of book that will most likely be about men and women taking their pleasure in areas/places they can even if they shouldn't. I read a bit of the book just to realize there's more to it then just that. There is a story taking place and you can't help it but wanting to know what is going on by continuing reading. The end of the book is pretty shocking and yet still got you wondering many questions. Like will they be a second book coming out soon, what happened to the relationship of...?? If you haven't read it yet, I strongly recommend it!

Renetta, Phyllis, and Freddie were high school friends that were closer than sisters until a dark secret tore them apart. Fast forward thirty years later, and the women meet again at their high school reunion. But some memories should be left buried in the past. Or should they? Renetta had a rough childhood that leads her to marry the first man who came along after high school. After years in an abusive marriage, Renetta's husband suffers a mysterious stroke that leaves him incapacitated in a nursing home. Phyllis lived for her very successful career. Unfortunately, this dissolves her marriage and causes her to have a strained relationship with her adult daughter. When Phyllis doesn't get a promotion that she feels she deserves, it causes her to do some self-evaluation. Freddie is very bored with her routine life. She's been married for thirty years, but she needs something more. When Freddie decides to take some writing classes taught by her favorite author, a whole new world opens up for her. Tasha was raised by the foster care system and is looking for her birth mother. One of the three women is Tasha's real mother. But who is it? Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It is a superb emotional drama by J.D. Mason. Mason weaved a wonderful tale about a horrible mistake made by high school friends that came back to haunt them thirty years later. The character development is one of the things that made this novel stand out. Each of these women had seemingly went on with their lives while running away from their past. The main focus of this story is about Tasha finding her birth mother, but you also get to see how complex the lives of Renetta, Phyllis, and Freddie have become. Readers will find themselves wondering which one of these women is Tasha's mother. Mason did a good job of revealing this secret without it becoming obvious. There are also some surprising steamy and humorous elements in this story that added an extra kick. Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It is another classic by J.D. Mason. Reviewed by Radiah Hubbert for Urban Reviews

In the late 1970s in high school, Renetta, Phyllis and Freddie became the best friends. Everyone knew them as the Tres Amigas. Then something happened to destroy their friendships as they left behind a newborn in the emergency room. Over the next three decades, Renetta married a nasty person Vincent who used the secret as a weapon against her; until he suffered a questionable stroke. Phyllis put her career over love and family until she failed to get the promotion she expected which shattered her esteem. Freddie is married to Don, but feels the empty nest syndrome of three adult kids having flown away so she takes writing classes under Bianca Hightower who sees more than just a potentially good writer. Tasha Darden grew up in foster care mostly with disgusting adults after being abandoned in an emergency room thirty years ago. When the only caring foster mom she ever had died, Tasha decides it is time to hire a detective to find her biological mother to ask why. Her sleuth has three prime candidates: the Tres Amigas. This is a superb character study of friendship and redemption with the three BFFs and the one offspring all coming across fully developed yet different. Readers will appreciate Tasha's efforts to meet the mother who abandoned her at birth, wondering who of the Tres Amigas is her mother. Well written, Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It is an engaging tale as the past has caught up with the present. Harriet Klausner

Renetta Jones runs a very lucrative online lingerie business from her home. Her models are like daughters to her and they share a close working relationship. She is very wealthy and polished, which has not always been the case. Still married to her abusive husband who is left bed stricken due to a stroke, she still holds onto the belief they are both being punished for past wrongs. Freddie Palmer is happily married with three children and several grandchildren. She works as a county clerk and although she is happy, her existence is somewhat mundane. After attending a book signing where the author performs a reading from her novel, she is struck with the desire to write. Unsure of her talent as a writer, she signs up for a writing classes led by the author. As the author encourages her to discover her muse, she introduces Freddie to a sordid lifestyle that haunts her everyday life. Phyllis Neville is a successful account manager at a marketing firm. Throughout her life, her career has been her main focus, even taking precedence over her marriage and her daughter. When she is passed over for a promotion, she begins to reevaluate her decisions. She still has feelings for her ex-husband who has moved on and remarried and she still has not developed a strong relationship with her daughter. When her daughter needs her most, Phyllis has to dig deep in order to be there for her. These three women were inseparable as teenagers until a horrible secret tore them apart. With each carrying their guilt for a decision made 30 years before, they are no longer friends. With the aid of a private investigator, the secret is no longer buried. Will the trio come to together to face the consequences of the decision they made as kids? I love the way JD Mason kept the secret to the very end. TAKE YOUR PLEASURE WHERE YOU FIND IT kept me mesmerized until the very end. I was somewhat perplexed with Freddie's story line, but it was hilarious. Mason is an awesome storyteller with well-rounded characters and strong plot development, which continues to earn her a spot as one of my favorite authors. Reviewed by Paula Henderson of The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers

Thirty years ago all that was told of a crime committed by three teenage girls was a grainy picture with one girl holding a bag in her hand. Their identities and faces were never known. However, 30 years later a young woman, Tasha Darden, who spent her childhood in foster care, is interested in finding out who those women are and more importantly which one was the mother who abandoned her. Take Your Pleasure Where You Find It tells Tasha's story and the stories of the three women in the photo in a fast-paced, very convoluted manner. Renetta Jones has remade herself into a stunning, online entrepreneur. Once the victim of a missing mother and abusive husband, she has taken her life into her own hands and become the picture of serenity. But, will an incident from the past reveal more current crimes? Phyllis Neville only cares about her upward mobility in corporate America. She has sacrificed her marriage and relationship with her daughter, Abby, in order to succeed. What the world is about to find out is that beneath that successful, well-dressed veneer is a woman running from the past and the future. Freddie Palmer has been successfully married for over 30 years and on the surface everything seems to be just fine. But her boredom and sudden love for romance novels sends her into a world she could not have imagined and the past popping up does not help matters at all. JD Mason takes us into the lives and pasts of these women without revealing the identity of the mother until the very end. I enjoyed the fast pace and humor of the novel, though, at times the story seemed to stretch the imagination just a bit. I recommend Take Your Pleasure Where You Find it to all Mason fans and those who love a fast-paced, entertaining novel filled with surprises. This book was provided by publisher for review purposes. Angelia Menchan APOOO BookClub