Adrian Moses spent most of her life longing for a normal life and craving affection, but found lost love and treachery. At the age of two, Adrian's mother passed away from cancer. She spends the remainder of her childhood with her father who is lost in his own personal pursuit of an identity. Riddled with disappointment and disillusionment, he commits suicide and leaves Adrian in the hands of his angry, prejudiced and hateful mother, Reva Joe. Despite the difficult times with her grandmother, Adrian found two rays of hope, her art and her first love, Anthem. That is, until Reva Joe disrupts everything and sends her packing to a year-round boarding school.

At boarding school, Adrian finds more horrible experiences that she takes with her to college. In college, she meets Michael Keifer Cage, a wealthy up and coming attorney. Their courtship ends with an elopement and what promises to be a wonderful life. Those promises are dashed when Adrian realizes life as Mrs. Michael Cage is just for appearances sake. Trapped in a loveless marriage for several years and nowhere to turn, Adrian's first love reappears again. Now with a reason to go on living, Adrian receives a double blow once Michael finds out.

Darnella Ford's NAKED LOVE is a symphony of words that catalogues one woman's plight in life, as she falls prey to one tragedy after another, before finally giving up on it all. Ford does an excellent job of placing the reader alongside the main character in an ingenious way. I felt the amount of anguish this one person experienced in her lifetime. Her longing called out to me, as I found myself searching for something to help turn the tide of events for her. As always, Ford's books are outstanding and no one can go wrong with this one.

Reviewed by Brenda M. Lisbon
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers