Genre Fiction: Contemporary romance.

Blurb Meet Mira Adure: an ambitious, creative twenty-something stuck working as PA to the ruthless editor of high fashion magazine Black Sparkle. Her work is tedious, but her love life is even worse – a string of disastrous dates is threatening to put Mira off men forever. And then she crashes her car into the flashy Mercedes of the gorgeous, tiger-eyed Dominic and the encounter leaves her fuming. Mira’s luck begins to change when she is promoted to her dream job of assistant editor. But when Dominic turns up at Mira’s office a few days later, she is infuriated to discover he’s been hired as the photographer for her first edition in charge of Black Sparkle. As they embark on a photo shoot by the swaying palms of Coconut Beach in Badagry, Mira and Dominic can’t stop arguing. Will it be too late before Mira realises that beneath the tension is smouldering desire? Sparks fly as the creative energy of two talented individuals fuels a heady mix of fear, passion and desire.

Dialogue Some of it worked and was believable, especially Dominic’s lines. Some of Mira’s lines especially her internal thoughts were intrusive and a bit juvenile for someone in her mid-20s.

Themes Feminism, Love and Envy.

Editing Well edited.

Plot Mira Dike, a 26-year-old assistant editor of a magazine, Black Sparkle is the personal assistant to the formidable Lauren Akinola. Lauren is insufferable and Mira just wants to maximise her potentials, think “The Devil Wears Prada.” Mira meets Dominic, a photographer when she reverses into his car at a coffee shop. It turns out Dominic is her boss, Lauren’s nephew and Mira has to work with him on a photo shoot for the August edition of Black Sparkle. They fall in love but Dominic does not reveal all about himself and this has serious consequences for their relationship including a murder attempt on Mira’s life.

What worked?

And so we come to the last book in our Ankara Press book reviews this year. It’s been quite the journey. This is the seventh Ankara Press book we are reviewing.[i] You may read our other reviews, A Tailor-made Romance, Love me Unconditionally, A Taste of Love, Finding Love Again, The Seeing Place and Love Next Door (audio review).

Black Sparkle Romance has a simple plot which has probably been used a million and one times but if you are a romance lover, you can never get tired. Right? Yes. There’s chemistry between Mira and Dominic. Although Dominic’s character was easier to connect with as he seemed well rounded and felt real, the relationship between Mira and her friends was relatable. Amara brought these characters to life.

The description of Badagry and its beach was well written and transported the reader to it. The descriptions of the slave museum and the reactions of the characters who visited it added a bit of history to the story without making it too heavy.

Black Sparkle Romance is Amara’s debut novel.

What didn’t work?

Mo The excessive brand name-dropping, had me rolling my eyes throughout. The ending was rushed and was nothing short of a telenovela performance.

Lady B I found it difficult to connect with Mira, she seemed a bit too childish and was annoying throughout the book.

There were some poorly written bits for instance, Dominic is a photographer at a wedding but somehow ends up spending all his time there with Mira including dancing with her for hours. The teenager, Zaram no explanation is given on how she happened to be at the scene to save the day.

In conclusion, the book would have read better if the end had been better executed.

Number of pages 199

Publisher Ankara Press

Damage N750 on Okadabooks

Rating 6/10

Black Sparkle Romance is available on Amazon, Ankara Press and Okadabooks.

Have you read Black Sparkle Romance? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

[i] Ankara Press books were the inspiration for starting this blog as we wanted to share these books and other good books which we had read. Read more about our journey: Too Many Books, Too Little Time and Tis the Season of Love.