Review: Keep Your Hands to Yourself...Unless You're Making Love
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 27, 2013
In the spirit of October being Domestic Violence Awareness Month, I wanted to talk about a serious issue as well as give a review of a book that courageously deals with that issue. Domestic Abuse, unfortunately, plagues many households across the globe. However, I don't really see how one could call a place where abuse is an accepted action a "house" or "home." A home should be a safe haven, not a place from which you run. In "Have You Seen Her" Chicki Brown tells the story of Marcia Hadley--a well to do real estate agent. She had a luxurious home, a beautiful vehicle and lots of money. But none of those things held weight as long as she wasn't safe. Her husband, Reggie, was a man who couldn't keep his hands to himself.Marcia runs from her nice neighborhood and huge California residence to a small apartment in a seedy part of Atlantic City. She trades her car for cold hard cash and trades real estate for waiting tables. Yet, she never felt more alive and safe. That's probably because of Taylor Villanova, a bouncer who abounds with interesting layers Marcia can't wait to explore. But can she trust him? Can she truly feel secure in their future? Or will the past forever haunt her and keep her on the run?I truly enjoyed the novel even though it deals with an extremely touchy subject. I mean, I saw "What's Love Got to Do With It" and disliked Laurence Fishburne's Ike Turner for a long time afterwards. But we need literature like this because it points to a serious problem that must be solved. Men, and women for that matter, must realize that there is no love in hurting a spouse. Skin, soft and delicate, was made to be babied not battered. And hearts once opened should never be broken by assault and battery. So even though the subject was serious, I enjoyed the way Mrs. Brown weaved the story. The take home message was when it comes to marriage, keep your hands to yourself...unless you're making love.