Review: Surprisingly insightful
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 8, 2014
What I’ve come to love about Vera Roberts and her brand of storytelling is how beautifully she weaves all of the darkness and desperation that life’s decisions present with perseverance, love and determination. Along with her hallmark sizzle, Ms. Roberts showcases her ability to present a strong character. The strength of any worthy story is built around the characters, their thoughts, their decisions, their motivations. Ms. Roberts is the master of crafting the perfectly flawed character; they clutch onto their reality, own their decisions, and most of all shine with all of the nuances of  their individual humanity. It’s the characters that compel the reader to risk the journey. It’s the characters that compel the reader to invest in each step, that induces a curiosity that can only be satiated by finding a resolution. With each word, Ms. Roberts cultivates that curiosity and does a fine job entertaining the reader in the process. Even if that story is about a prostitute, a pimp, and an talent agent.What a potent trifecta, right?I have to admit, however, that I approach any story with such a lurid premise with a bit of trepidation. Stories with this subject matter usually delve into predictability rather quickly; desperate girl meets driven and determined bad boy while hero swoops in to save the day. Rather run of the mill and highly frustrating.Thankfully, Ms. Roberts doesn’t prescribe to the predictable tale.Yes, Angela is constructed as the desperate girl and yes, Jackson is the driven and determined bad boy but these characterizations are spun on their axis. Angela, though desperate, has not succumbed wholly to the lifestyle; instead she’s become an outsider in both her interactions with the others that reside in the house and within herself. I got the feeling that when she was with a john, she subconsciously left the building and returned when the deed was done, collected the money and went home.  End of story. There was no reveling in what Jackson, her pimp, provided. She merely took just enough to sustain herself. I felt divided by Angela, by her reasoning to stay rather than leave, to continue to subject herself to so much loneliness all for the sake of surviving. Not living, just surviving. But, that is what makes Angela so human in her decisions and why I can’t fault her motivations.Conversely, Jackson and Enzo turn out to be mirror images of each other. Both are powerful in their own right, both have a visceral command over the people in their lives and both have similar intents on possessing Angela. The difference, however, is the approach. Jackson maintains a sense of entitlement, of possession over Angela. In his warped sense of what love is, he gives just a little and then  expects a lot in return and although he believes he loves Angela, its nothing more than a play into his ego as are all the girls in his stable. Jackson had all the markings of the tragic hero (my favorite type of hero) but for me, he missed the target completely. There was no sense of redemption for him and oddly it works. He remains, however, nothing more than the tainted bad boy who has yet to meet his match.On the other end of that spectrum is Enzo. He is the savior, the white knight in shining armor, almost too good to be true.  He wanted to lift Angela out of the dregs of darkness into the light and did everything he could to make it happen. Yes, his was a intent of possessiveness too…but what mattered was that Angela was buying what he was selling and she was able to turn the tables simply because Enzo believed in her past what she could physically give him. I will admit, I was dubious of Enzo and his motivations but was won over by his sincerity. It became less about his needs and more about Angela’s gains. She had become more than something to be  simply possessed but revered.All the makings of a delicious love story.At the surface, Daddy’s Angel could’ve been a garish tale but instead became something much more brilliant, more substantial. It’s what I love about Ms. Roberts and her talent to infuse her words with spirit and conviction. She’s a bold storyteller, one that is determined to say what she has to say, regardless of the naysayers and cynics and continues to grow as an author. It is why I will continue to read and laud her  seemingly effortless attempts to enlighten and entertain.Excellent work, Ms. Roberts!