Caught Up in the Rapture (Hardback) Sheneska Jackson

Jazmine Deems is twenty-six, and her life hasn't really started yet. She's going to school in the mornings, working at Bullock's in the afternoons, and hoping to get discovered in her free time. She's also just about had it with men. They treat you badly and expect you to be grateful for their attention. Well, forget that. Raised amid the negativity of South-Central Los Angeles, she survived through the church and the strict rules set down by Reverend Deems, her preacher father. But Jazmine, a former fat girl who can sing like a dream, is ready to step out from under his influence, make it on her own, discover her sexuality and have some fun with the help of her wisecracking soul sister and confidante Dakota.
Dakota and Jazmine share their righteous anger at men, girlfriend to girlfriend. Dakota is the more outgoing of the two, and she's determined that, with her help, the talented and beautiful Jazmine will get her share of the spotlight. There's always one man or another in Dakota's life, until something happens that turns Dakota's humor into pain, her opinions into convictions, and her ambition into determination to succeed on her own terms and help both herself and Jazmine to rise up beyond their circumstances. Besides dealing with all that, she's got to keep an eye on the more vulnerable Jazmine as she begins to fall for Xavier.
Xavier Honor, better known as X-Man, has not been able to escape the pull of the streets. He's a gangsta, headed for a life of pure destruction, along with his homies T-Bone and Rich, unless something big happens in their lives. Through his rapping, X-Man sees a chance to escape the hood, and if he can make it out of the ghetto he just might win Jazmine's heart.
Black Tie Records is the hip recording company that unites Jazmine and Xavier, but at the hands of its all-powerful record executive Bobby Strong, the two soon learn that the glamour of the music industry hides some very real lessons about life.

June 2024