Review of Loving Preston

Nwankwo GC · Post by **Nwankwo GC** » 11 Apr 2022, 21:56

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Loving Preston" by Maria Pryor Herndon.]

2 out of 4 stars

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While fleeing to Hunstville from Chicago for safety from an abusive husband who had threatened to kill her and looked ready to perform his threat, Sharon was lost in the thought of what temporarily living with her cousin, Winston, and what life in Huntsville had in stuck for her. She was equally as apprehensive as she was optimistic. A stranger whose car seemed to have broken down on a very lonely road flagged her down and asked for a lift to where he could find help.

Life in Huntsville was all the relief Sharon and her son, Mark, needed. They finally escaped the abusive and toxic ambience her alcoholic and drug-abusing husband, Steven, created in their Chicago home, and she seemed ready to start a new life. She joined a big church where she felt protected from inquisitive members who would notice and question her about her past life in a small crowd. Something seemed to be brewing between Sharon and the stranger she gave a ride on her way to her new city decades ago. What could that be?

In Loving Preston, Maria Pryor Herndon wrote a brilliant romance fiction story. Maria's extensive character development enthralled me. All the characters in this story were so well seasoned, and their personalities so perfectly illustrated that the reader could imagine what they looked like. Also, the story was so sequentially arranged that there was no way the reader could get confused at any point. I loved that the author used the medium of this book to address issues such as domestic violence, drug abuse, and alcoholism; she highlighted that there are no positives to those behaviors and lifestyles, only negatives. Also, I was happy to see the author briefly accentuate the benefits of exposing a male child to strong male role models as they help shape his life to a huge extent.

However, there are a lot of things I didn't quite appreciate about Loving Preston. Firstly, I don't consider the book to be professionally edited. I found well over ten errors in it, which affected my enjoyment of the book. Also, in certain instances where a character's words were quoted, there were no inverted commas to indicate that it was a character speaking. The continued use of exclamation marks, even when there was no need for them, didn't sit well with me. I equally noticed some repetition of the exact words used in a chapter in another chapter. I didn't like that there was a surprising switch in the name of Preston's wife from Veronica to Valerie at some point in the book. All of these took away from the book's beauty.

I rate Loving Preston 2 out of 4 stars. I deducted one star for the number of errors I found in the book and struck out a second star for the other negative points I mentioned in the previous paragraph. The book sure needs another round of editing and some adjustments in certain areas.

Loving Preston will be an intriguing read for lovers of romance fiction. Advocates against gender-based violence, especially in a domestic setting, will appreciate this one too. I recommend this book to them.

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Loving Preston
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Ifesi · Post by **Ifesi** » 20 Apr 2022, 06:38

This review sounds interesting. The author did a nice job in presenting the book to be interesting and easy to understand.Thanks for an honest review. Looking forward to reading this book.