Tangerine

Sweet and tangy with the right dash of salt tears, Marilynn's third Shades of Style book offers the best kind of fruit. Fruit that will satisfy your soul and keep you coming back for more. While many of the story lines in Tangerine are true-to-life painful, Marilynn skillfully blends humor, romantic tension, and grace throughout every chapter. Like her characters, Marilynn refuses to shy away from issues of race, brokenness, and the healing power of forgiveness. She also deftly paints an accurate picture of "man face" and offers a realistic look into the beauty of enduring love.

Her writing is fresh, thoughtful and so original. You become the characters when you read it because Marilynn is so personal...and the characters are so real! Tangerine is such a good book...you won't be able to put in down. You are blessed with each page! Read it with a Chocolate Bar and you're good for the night. Pam Perry Chocolate Pages reviews

Tangerine by Marilyn Griffiths at first appears to be a chick-lit book. But this is misleading. Tangerine is extremely well written with multi-layered characters, realistic dialogue, a look at racial relations, plus a strong well defined message of faith. I was expecting this book to be another light, humorous read in the vein of Suri Mitchell or Kristen Billerbeck, but instead the book begins as Jean Guerra, a Vietnam vet, finds out that her 15-year-old daughter Monica is pregnant. Jean has to make a choice between continuing to fight for her husband's freedom from a false conviction that's thrown him into jail or her daughter's plight. She chooses her daughter and cuts off communication from her husband Nigel. Fast forward 15 years. Jean is working in the fashion industry on a new project for a big sporting goods company. When the rep from the company walks in, Jean is shocked to find that it's her husband, Nigel. Nigel, a man of faith, is in a relationship with Carmen. He's ambivalent about his feelings for Carmen, but because she makes him feel loved, he can't quite let her go. Jean and Nigel have never stopped loving each other, but the twenty years apart has damaged not just their relationship with each other, but their relationships with their daughter, granddaughter, and God. Griffiths does a terrific job of portraying both characters' yearning and anger for each other. They can hold hands and slip into bed together with ease; the physical portion of their marriage is easy to repair, but the physical affection doesn't make up for their resentments and pain. Each suffers from their own pain from serving in Vietnam, but they've never really opened up to the other about it. This main plot really drives the book, but their are multiple sub-plots of equal interest and strength. Griffiths deft writing and strong characterizations makes this book truly soar. The characters share their love and faith for God without seeming preachy. The ending is satisfying and leaves room for the sequel about Jean's boss Chenille. I can't wait to read it!

Jean is the third member of the Garments of Praise team that we get to meet in the Shades of Style series. She's all set to start designing on outfits for NBA teams when the person brought in to collaborate with her is her estranged husband who she hasn't talked to in years because he's been in prison. Nigel tries his best to reconcile with Jean but there's a big wall he has to break down in order to get to her. The two struggle with their relationship as they try to find out how to work together and maybe rekindle the love they once had. While I enjoyed reading this book, I didn't like it as much as Pink or Jade. Maybe it's because there was such a big age difference between Jean vs Raya and Lily and I could relate more to the two younger women. Jean's also a grandmother which didn't really fit my image of chick lit and the story is more heavy than the other two. However I did enjoy reading about Jean discovering a new relationship with her estranged husband Nigel. This book tackles a lot of heavy subjects such as Nigel being wrongly accused and still put in jail, Monica's problems due to a lack of a father in her life, and what a couple has to deal with when one member has been unfaithful. Jean is very reluctant at first to accept Nigel and it's understandable with the hurt he's gone through. There were lots to learn about the Latino culture in this book. I've always found the idea of a quinceañera very cool and interesting because in the US we don't have something that's equal to it. I liked the fact that it took the granddaughter's help to get the couple back together. It was also very cool to read about hearing designing clothes for NBA teams. Very awesome job. I'd recommend this book for fans of the Shades of Style series. Looking forward to reading about Chenille's story in Turquoise!

The premise behind the novel is fabulous and unique. The couple is married, yet they were separated for such a LONG time that they lost touch with each other. The setup is very believable. Plus, they aren't young anymore (though I suppose that is a matter of opinion) and they even have a teenage granddaughter. Side note**The author still makes them sound attractive, so you tend to forget they are getting gray hair. Also, I love the morality and guilt issues woven into the plot regarding the hero's relationship with Carmen. That made for some great tension. I also loved those Murphy's Law moments interspersed through the story. It makes for some page-turning reading. The cultural dynamics were also very well-done as were the many things these friends learned from each other during their journeys. There were so many wonderful sub-plots and resolutions that revealed the depth of each character that I was amazed at times with how the author brought out the life in them. These people seemed real; like they were my friends, neighbors, relatives, etc. And the romance between the hero and heroine was downright delectable. Yummy! The love scenes and the gentle humor and camaraderie between the couple were a delight to experience.