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A review by gabsalott13
The Best-Kept Secret by Kimberla Lawson Roby
The third installment in The Reverend Curtis Black Series makes it clear how [a:Kimberla Lawson Roby|84220|Kimberla Lawson Roby|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1462390990p2/84220.jpg] was able to continue this story for twelve more. It was SO amusing to see someone give Curtis a taste of his own medicine, thanks to the introduction of his third wife, Charlotte, who bears all of his negative qualities, and none of his positive ones (I’m using the word positive in a *very* relative sense.)
The Best-Kept Secret really anchors itself on Curtis’ good-guy act, but I found it to be quite unbelievable, since he was still fantasizing about cheating or beating his wife every other minute, and then dismissing these as “thoughts of the devil.” I enjoyed the full-circle moments of Tanya counseling Curtis on his emotional woes, but it was unclear whether he truly recognized the irony of his situation (taking great offense at receiving what he had once doled out to others) when every other chapter had him blowing up in righteous (HIS WORDS, NOT MINE HIM) indignation. To the author’s credit, though, there is something about Curtis’ stint as a faithfully married man made every scene feel like a cliffhanger. Roby plays a good, long con with our reverend’s descent back into extramarital debauchery, and you *almost* come to believe he may be able to preserve his (third) vows.
Similarly to [b:Too Much of a Good Thing|246097|Too Much of a Good Thing (Reverend Curtis Black, #2)|Kimberla Lawson Roby|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1402717477s/246097.jpg|238446], there is an unsettling, inexplicable turn towards mental illness on the part of the third party in the Blacks’ relationship, and without it being a character trait developed throughout the story, it seems a bit unfair to people with schizophrenia/borderline personality disorder/etc. Aaron and Adrienne don’t have to be mentally ill to be immoral and irrationally fixed on revenge, and it’s almost lazy to offer a diagnosis as a justification of their actions (the black church’s flawed logic about mental health is enough mess for a whole other 15-book series, though...)
Despite this problematic characterization, Aaron is given some moral complexity earlier in the novel. To his credit, he is nearly the only person pointing out that “Good Curtis” still holds a very bad habit of commandeering too much power in his church. I'll be interested to see how Roby will develop this financial sin in the following books, though I’m sure it will take a backseat to our characters' preferred vice, volatile extramarital affairs.
Either way, I am along for the ride, and if I can keep finding these audiobooks on Hoopla, said journey will be well above my usual speed limit.
The Best-Kept Secret really anchors itself on Curtis’ good-guy act, but I found it to be quite unbelievable, since he was still fantasizing about cheating or beating his wife every other minute, and then dismissing these as “thoughts of the devil.” I enjoyed the full-circle moments of Tanya counseling Curtis on his emotional woes, but it was unclear whether he truly recognized the irony of his situation (taking great offense at receiving what he had once doled out to others) when every other chapter had him blowing up in righteous (HIS WORDS, NOT MINE HIM) indignation. To the author’s credit, though, there is something about Curtis’ stint as a faithfully married man made every scene feel like a cliffhanger. Roby plays a good, long con with our reverend’s descent back into extramarital debauchery, and you *almost* come to believe he may be able to preserve his (third) vows.
Similarly to [b:Too Much of a Good Thing|246097|Too Much of a Good Thing (Reverend Curtis Black, #2)|Kimberla Lawson Roby|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1402717477s/246097.jpg|238446], there is an unsettling, inexplicable turn towards mental illness on the part of the third party in the Blacks’ relationship, and without it being a character trait developed throughout the story, it seems a bit unfair to people with schizophrenia/borderline personality disorder/etc. Aaron and Adrienne don’t have to be mentally ill to be immoral and irrationally fixed on revenge, and it’s almost lazy to offer a diagnosis as a justification of their actions (the black church’s flawed logic about mental health is enough mess for a whole other 15-book series, though...)
Despite this problematic characterization, Aaron is given some moral complexity earlier in the novel. To his credit, he is nearly the only person pointing out that “Good Curtis” still holds a very bad habit of commandeering too much power in his church. I'll be interested to see how Roby will develop this financial sin in the following books, though I’m sure it will take a backseat to our characters' preferred vice, volatile extramarital affairs.
Either way, I am along for the ride, and if I can keep finding these audiobooks on Hoopla, said journey will be well above my usual speed limit.