I have read several books by Roby, and I like her stile. She defines her charters very well, and their issues. There are so many values that can be taken from this book, and, so many lesions that can be learned. Deloris shows you what faith is. I liked reading this the most because it helped me think about myself, and where I am going.

This story could help many people indirectly. They way that Roby writes doesn't make you feel like someone is trying to beat you over the head with a bible but show you life. I feel that the values that Roby puts into her stories along with the entertainment of her style makes her books worth their weight in gold.

Well this story consisted of a family, their values, and their lives. Each with their own individual problems. Rick the youngest, dealing with commitment. Gina the middle child, dealing with an abusive husband. Sidney the oldest, dealing with sexual abuse during her childhood. Deloris and her three children dealing with her failing health all while trying to keep their family together.
BY IT!
READ IT!
LOVE IT!

I admired the characters and I simply got lost in the story lines. This book made me feel and think.

A number of themes were explored, and not in a heavy-handed way.

One character was physically battered by her husband, and as I read about the beatings, and his demeaning treatment of her, and the effect it had on the children, I had to set the book aside.

I screamed, "Why is this woman allowing this man to treat her this way?"

My anger and confusion is a testament to Ms. Roby's writing. She has the ability to make her characters and situations so real, so life-like, that she can enrage the reader.

There was also a subplot about commitment phobia. But it was never clear to me why Rick refused to make his live-in girlfriend his wife.

This book was a story about relationships--husband/wife, mother/daughter, man/woman. And some of the themes were familiar, but they were approached with a fresh eye.

I so fell in love with Kimberla Lawson Roby's writing that I ordered everything she has written.

Can't wait to read the next book. I'm sure it will be a five-star read as well.

Buy this book. It's worth every quarter.

Ms. Roby wrote this book with heart and soul. After reading this book she may you feel that life can through a bunch of curves at one time but through faith and perservance you will overcome. This book deals with everyday issues, child sexual abuse, spousal abuse and the fear of committment. Sydney, Gina and Rick are siblings. Each one is very succesful, love each other dearly and are truly devoted to their mother who suffers a stroke. Each sibling has a serious problem to solve along with the caring of their ill mother, which only one sibling is doing all the work which causes more problems.

Ms. Roby's writing keeps you wanting to read the entire book without putting it down which I did. Ms. Roby, may God continue to bless you with the gift of writing.

This was our [ReadSistahRead@egroup.com] first book of the month. An excellent, well-written book, Casting the First Stone, centers around the rise and fall of a Southern-born minister who is overcome by power, money and women. Because money and power rule his life, God, his family, and others are placed on the back burner.

Calvin's meager beginnings as a dedicated minister, his gradual rise to fame and fortune, and his ultimate fall will affect the reader as much as his loved ones, his congregation, and the 'other' women he used and abused are affected.

This excellent, well-written book contains well-developed characters that the reader will both love and hate. They are believable people with personalities of their own. I found myself discussing portions of the book with others who had not read it, remarking about the characters as though they were real people.

An excellent read, sums up my opinion of this well-written, attention-commanding book. Kudos to you, Ms. Roby.

this is a novel that i never thought i'll be able to pick up and just read straight through. ive been waiting for someone to write about how money doesnt make you a happy man. so to speak. its ok to have enough to be comfortable but not greedy. the main character were so strong that at one time i just wanted to jump up and say 'you go girl'. this is a book for everybody, man or lady, to see that money isnt power. you have to learn to love and enjoy what you have before its too late. the only thing you'll get out of for being as money hungry as curtis is being by yourself and miserable and believe me when i say curtis got what was coming to him!

After reading this book, I went back and read the reviews. I totally disagree with the bad reviews of this book. I found that this book may not have captivated Curtis' reason for all of his lies and betrayal, but why does a man cheat we will never know. I thought that Kimberly brought to the forefront the issues surrounding the church and its pastors. We should not worship the man behind the pulpit but the spirit and son of God. I enjoyed this book from cover to cover as well as all of her books. It makes you think whether you are a man or women. Why do we make decisions to stay in bad relationships? Why do we let another person control us? Maybe the bad reviews were the result of some of the characters hitting to close to home. Thanks Kim for the happy ending!

I read Roby's other books, Behind Closed Doors and Casting the First Stone, before reading this one. I liked the other two books a lot, so I figured I'd enjoy Here and Now as well. Boy, was I wrong. This book was just WAY too depressing, it was just tragic events piled on top of tragic events. I know Roby was striving to teach the lesson of not thinking the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, but this was a bit much. Although we do finally get to see some type of light at the end of a very long tunnel, Lawson spent way too much time depressing us with the painful details of these women's lives, and then gave a very poorly-thrown-together happy ending, with everyone having learned their lesson. I was not impressed with Lawson's storytelling in this book, but she does have an impressive writing style, and I will read future books by this author.

This quote cannot describe this book any better. I read Behind Closed Doors, and I really enjoyed it, despite all the critisim the book was given. I like Roby's writing style and her great stories so I decided to give this book a try.

The story starts with Marcella, a single mother of two children, who is struggling to make ends meet. She is basically a receptionist at an accounting agency, but she wants to become an acountant. Marcella's sister, Raquel, is an elementary school teacher who is having some serious marital problems. She is trying so hard to become pregant but she isn't successful. This is the main reason why her husband, Kevin, becomes distant from her. The book basically takes you through the lives of these sisters and how thery deal with horrible situations that they confront.

I recommend this book because it touches on reality. I can relate to Marcella because I am a single mother and I am a full time student also. So it is hard to spend that quality time with your child, and sometimes you take things for granted. The only problem I had was with Racquel. She was really getting on my nerves with all of the crying and complaining she was doing about getting pregnant. She was so obsessed with having a baby that it was annoying and very selfish of her. Overall, it was a pretty good read.

:)

Kimberla Roby, you go girl! I couldn't put this book down. How did you do it? Here and Now was definitely a true read. Marcella and Racquel's situation were soooo real. This was a definite tear jerker. I cried. I laughed. I yelled. I screamed. I rejoiced. I got mad. I did it all. I could relate to some of the issues in the book. I was surprised with what happened to both Sharon and Nicholas. You outdid yourself with this book. I thought Behind Closed Doors was great. I don't know what else to say. I can't wait to read Casting the First Stone. Keep um coming!

As usual, Ms. Roby tells a riveting story I hated to put down and was anxious to get back to, with one big difference . . . this story was much better written than her previous works. No jolting point of view changes and word overuse that plagued her earlier novels. Granted, she still has an urge to explain character's motivation after their dialogue, passing up opportunity after opportunity to show this to the reader by describing their body language. But it's a tremendous improvement. Maybe she has a more attentive editor; her previous books had the feel of a rough draft.

This is a nicely constructed look at racism in contemporary society, those little covert incidents as well as the ones that are in our faces, cleverly incorporating the protaganist's private life in a largely corporate story, including her romantic relationships, her friendships, and little incidents of everyday life.

I didn't find the plot overstated, as some other readers have said. But no book has ever struck me as without flaws. There were some things that got to me. She overused the phrase "I couldn't believe," especially in the early part of the book where Anise was talking to her husband. I wanted to say to her, "Believe it, baby!" I also felt that the best friend was too pushy with her personal beliefs on divorce and interracial dating, especially when she had been divorced herself. But I loved Anise's close relationship with her mother, which seemed especially poignant in light that the book is dedicated to the author's own recently deceased mother. It's a valentine to mother-daughter relationships.

The major point I didn't like was the handling of the romantic relationship. It moved too fast and therefore never rang true for me, you know, that too-good-to-be-true plot line. Because of that I kept waiting for a bomb to go off. I wasn't disappointed here, but I could have accepted the bomb more readily if the author hadn't rushed things but instead allowed a strong friendship to develop before dropping it. (I don't mean to sound cryptic, I just don't want to spoil the plot for those who haven't read it yet).

I do recommend this book. And I look forward to Ms. Roby's continued growth as a writer.

I loved the book. A Taste of Reality" is the greatest book I have ever read. Kimberla Roby really did a fantastic job, with this book. All the things she talked about are still going on in the world, and are going to continue to go on. I seen a commerical the other night dealing with the same thing, and this book came to mine. I thought " this is just letting people know, things like this really are happening". I can't believe their putting something like that on television. Anyway I hope there will be a sequel to A Taste of Reality, because I want to know if Frank will stay with his ex, or will he go back to Anise. I hope to read more of her books in the near future. Keep up the Great work, Kimberla.
Thanks, Chanel

I am so surprised at the reviews about this book. I thought everyone would feel the way I do. I couldn't put it down and there were times when I tried to, but couldn't. Ms. Roby writes about real every day issues. I don't understand anyone who says she spent too much time on racism. America spends too much time on racism. This was an entertaining, fictional read with a REAL Taste of Reality! I wish we could get past reading for entertainment only. Isn't it great to be entertained and learn something too? Keep writing, Ms. Roby. I can't wait for your next read.

This is my firsrt time reading Kimerla Lawson Roby book and I found it intriging. She went to much on describing on what they wore that I started to skip lines, but the book was easy to read. Regina had mad me mad in the beginning cause I thought she didn't have a back bone it came to a point while I was reading that I wanted to shake her to her sense's, but at the end her back bone has strengthen up thanks to her friend Karen. I recommned this book to all the wives and their friends. It's a page turner.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it was a nice easy read. It was a very interesting story, and I commend the author on her first novel. I could not give the book 5 stars, however, because there were some things that took away from the book. As one reviewer mentioned, there was just TOO MUCH NAME DROPPING! I understand that the author was trying to convey the financial and material success of the main characters, but the mentioning of name brand clothes, perfumes, and cars was a bit too much. Also, Regina's story was just too predictable! In spite of my criticisms of the book, I did enjoy it and kept in mind that this was the author's first novel. I think she has real talent, and I will read more books by her in the future.

Well, after reading the different reviews about this book I was very skepital about reading it. But after the first page I realized that I was going to enojoy the book, and that is just what I did.
The book is about two friends, Regina and Karen, who are dealing with the problems of marriage. Regina belives that her husband Larry is cheating on her, and Karen cannot stand the fact that her husband,John,is gambling their money away. There are a few surprises in this book, but I have to admit that the ending is predictable. I can relate to this book because there are a lot of us women out there that want to be with our boyfriends/husbands after they have done something unthinkable. I think this book really tells readers that life will go on without the one that you love even though it may hurt. Love and pain is all a part of life.