So, I visited home and connected with a friend of mine who equally loves books and at the end of the meet up, she gave me this novel she had just purchased, Butterfly. We both got really excited about it because we knew, given the genre, that it would be racy and thrilling. It didn’t disappoint.
BOOK
The story follows a main character Morgan Atkins who is torn between several loves, actually. She doesn't know that yet though. We learn that she has money, we learn that she is from the streets, she’s very young, and she has twins by a guy she used to mess with who left her in some reckless way that keeps getting hinted at, but not explained. He also left her one million dollars (???). Her new life/family, which is with some respectable (read: not hood) other black guy is prim and proper. The family is paying for her to go to medical school and they’re gonna get her placed in a residency program. They also love and accept the children and the guy is ready to go ahead and get married, per the family’s expectations and the way that things work in his social class. She is always keeping ties with her family and friends at home.
At a charity event she (or her new family) is putting on, her old friends from back home as well as her dance partner and best friend, come to visit and she starts to “notice” one of the guys romantically. He gets his money illegally, he’s very rough around the edges. She likes that because she’s bored with the nice guy. They proceed to have a torrid affair and eventually the friends find out and they really need to make a decision about who they want to be with. Meanwhile, the original guy she was in love with who hurt her is not dead. He’s plotting how to get her back, with the ultimate goal being marriage.
OPINION
I love these dramatic romance books, so I had a fun time reading this. A few things though: I was never actually clear on whether or not Bash knew that the children were not of his biology. She mentioned that he accepted them as his own, but later it seemed like it was possibly a secret that they were not his biological children.
About the million dollars that the dead ex left her: I guess I get it because that’s the romantic in him or whatever. But would any dude actually do this? I mean, I guess the thing was he loved her and thought that he would die, but what about his mom? That’s who they would usually leave it to. Not their baby mama. Or, they would bury it, or leave it to a family member. I just don’t see someone in the hood being like okay, I’m gonna leave this to my baby mama. But who am I? Maybe nobody has loved me that much. That was odd to me. But it is a romance, so it’s fine.
It was also amazing to me how much time she had away from her kids. I know that her stepdad or father figure liked to have time with them, but it seemed like a lot. And at one point, she was definitely having a full affair with the guy who was visiting. And I’m sitting there like, at this point, you just need to say something to your fiancé, because this is definitely out of control. Also, if someone leaves your kids alone because they’re angry, it’s really a hard no. That was very fucked up and I don’t know why he tried to act like it wasn’t.
Another thing I wanted to touch on was the use of music throughout the book. This is something I’ve thought about often. How do we include music or reference music in a book and will it help to set a mood or will it make the world feel less timeless? What I found here is that I didn't know most of the songs, so it mostly didn't have an effect, except for when it did (when I was familiar with the song) and in those cases, the emotion came through for me. I also don’t think that all of the songs from the playlist were quoted throughout. So when do we use those? The last book I read that utilized musical references so heavily was set in the 80s and about a band, and I think that they were reaching for nostalgia purposely. A lot of the songs were classic rock hits. And the book was specifically about a band. So it wasn’t used as background emotion, it was used to push that nostalgic feeling to forefront. Obviously, I wasn’t around then, so it wasn't nostalgic for me, but the way that the characters engaged with the music made it so that it came through in their feelings.
QUESTIONS
What do you guys think about the million dollars situation?
Whose team are you on, love interest wise? Good boy or bad boy?
Does Bash know that those aren’t his biological children?
-Blithe