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Honey Well by Gloria Mallette β€” book cover

Honey Well

by Gloria Mallette
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Overview

Arnell Rayford's mother, Esther, is where she's always wanted to be. Ensconced in the mansion where her own mother once worked as a housekeeper, she runs a thriving business that's surely making the previous owner turn in her grave. For Esther, money is everything, and no one will stand in the way of her making it--not even her only child.

While some may call Esther's live-in employees prostitutes, she prefers to call them ladies of charm--or tenants. There are no laws against renting out rooms, after all. Of course, there are laws against prostituting one's own underage daughter. It's a devastating secret Arnell and Esther have kept for years. Esther calls the jobs "favors," but Arnell recognizes them for what they are: demands couched in blackmail.

Now that Arnell is engaged to a pillar of the community, Esther's latest request may well send her over the edge--but she won't be going alone. Because while Esther is holding Arnell's past overhead, her own is coming back to haunt her--and the lines between love and hate, parent and child, sex, profit--and even murder--are about to become dangerously blurred. . .

"Starts with a bang and ends with a full-blown Fourth of July fireworks display." --QBR, The Black Book Review

"The Honey Well is an amazing book! The sweet, poignant, painful and spicy story flowed effortlessly." --The African American Literature Book Club

"With a suspenseful plot that reads like a movie, The Honey Well demonstrates how the perils of blackmail, trickery and deceit can overshadow the simple rewards of life."--Upscale

About the Author, Gloria Mallette

Author Gloria Mallette, a Finalist in the 2009 and a Winner in the 2007 National Best Books Awards in African American Fiction; and a Winner in the 2010 and 2008 National Indie Excellence Awards in African American Fiction was first published in 1995 by Holloway House with the title WHEN WE PRACTICE TO DECEIVE while she was employed part-time as a Federal Perkins Loan Coordinator at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York. However, by 2000, with five manuscripts and several rejection letters from major publishing houses in her file cabinet, with a nudge from her husband, Gloria stepped timidly out onto the self-publishing track.

In April of 2000, Gloria self-published SHADES OF JADE and by August had sold 13,000 copies when Random House came calling. SHADES OF JADE was re-published in June of 2001 and has since made several best sellers lists, including Black Board, Essence Magazine, The Dallas Morning News, The Washington Post/Washington is Also Reading listing and Upscale Magazine.

Gloria has been featured in ToDay’s Black Woman (2003, 2007), The New York Daily News (2000), USA Today ( 2001), The Pocono Record (2006, 2007), and has a novella, COME TOMORROW, featured on the USAToday.com website.

To date, Gloria has ten titles: SASSY, LIVING, BREATHING LIES, IF THERE BE PAIN, WHAT’S DONE IN THE DARK, DISTANT LOVER, THE HONEY WELL, PROMISES TO KEEP, WEEPING WILLOWS DANCE, SHADES OF JADE and WHEN WE PRACTICE TO DECEIVE.

Spring of 2010 marked a new beginning for Gloria. She realized her lifelong dream of becoming an artist. She now paints in acrylics in addition to continuing to write.

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Editorials

Book- Remarks.com - Books Remarks.com

"Queen Esther...is the ultimate Mommie Dearest type...The Honey Well is a page-turner that shows a facinating side of the mother/daughter relationship."

QBR-- The Black Book Review - QBR The Black Book Review

"A superb story---starts with a band and ends with a full-blown 4th of July fireworks display."

Upscale Magazine

"With a suspenseful plot that reads like a movie, The Honey Well demonstrates how the perils of blackmail, trickery and deceit can overshadow the simple rewards of life."

Book Details

Published
August 1, 2005
Publisher
Kensington Publishing Corporation
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780758291974

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