LEATHER, LACE, AND LOCS
By Anne Shade
Representation matters in all the diversity of the African and African American diaspora, be it in friendships, love relationships, or familial relationships. This certainly holds true for those of us who stand at the intersectionality of race, gender, and orientation. Such is the case in the lives of three 30-something sistah-friends in Anne Shade’s Leather, Lace, and Locs.
Our story opens in New York City. Golden Hughes is suffering from the loss of her father to cancer, and she has been working in a “secure” job financially to be there for her mother and her brother. Lately, the call of her first love, dancing, has been strong, and she opens a dance academy and a classy burlesque troupe, which takes her to Paris for a search into the history of a mysterious great-aunt. Rhythm Twins duo Jade and Kendra have caught her eye, and they are actively pursuing her in the hope of making this a polyamorous relationship.
Melissa Hart has battled issues of self-esteem and feeling unwanted by her conservative mother and stepfather. Staying closeted cost her two relationships; she subsequently comes out and with a need to control in her life. Breaking free of a position as a nanny/governess, she accepts a position at an art gallery. But there is another part to her new boss’ business enterprises: a high-end adults-only club specializing in clients who want to experience their kinks, and Melissa embraces her persona as dominatrix Mistress Heart, keeping her double life hidden from her friends.
Entrepreneur Zoe Grant runs a successful beauty salon and hair products business while raising her teenage daughter Kiara and putting her own needs last. Divorced, she has borne the emotional scars of a bad marriage to her ex-husband, and she doesn’t want to get hurt again. Until one day, Danice walks into her shop in distress and desperate for a totally new haircut, newly divorced from a manipulative man and hungry for love.
Will Golden solve the mystery of her heritage and overcome her fear of loss to take a chance on Jade and Kendra? Will Melissa embrace her total self with confidence and recognize what the mysterious, non-binary Black is offering? Will Zoe put herself first? Will Danice break free of the hold her mother and ex-husband have had on her life?
I have always enjoyed female-female romance novels for incorporating sisterhood and family dynamics as well as romance, and Shade shares this story with panache. Through their complicated personal love lives, the friendship of Golden, Melissa, and Zoe shines through. Unlike Zoe and Golden, Melissa’s family of origin didn’t accept her, but instead she has something far stronger—her chosen family. Also, on the road to true love, authenticity, and a happily-ever-after, Shade reminds us that it often involves getting out of our own way.
Leather, Lace and Locs is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bold Strokes Books, and her website www.anneshaderomance.com.
Thank you, Anne, for sharing your story on love and romance. At the end of the day, love wins out.
W.D. Foster-Graham
W.D. Foster-Graham is a native son of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received a B.A. in psychology from Luther College, and he was an original member of the multi-Grammy-Award-winning ensemble, Sounds of Blackness. He has also been recognized by the International Society of Poets as one of its “Best New Poets of 2003,” is a guest writer for journalist/author/entertainer Wyatt O’Brian Evans.
