Thanks to gossip blogs and social media, everyone thinks they know the ins and outs of celebrity relationships. Award-winning journalist Aliya S. King takes you beyond the red carpet and flashing lights in her first novel, PLATINUM.
When Alex Sampson, a seasoned journalist, takes a huge writing assignment to shadow hip-hop wives while ghostwriting a raunchy tell-all book for Cleo, a veteran video vixen, she knows drama awaits. Cleo wants to single-handedly destroy lives one by one, page by page by documenting her sexcapades with powerful rappers–who could possibly in relationships with Alex’s upcoming story sources. Little does Alex know how much of her own life she’ll see in theirs.
She interviews the wives and wives-to-be: Beth Saddlebrook, longtime wife to Z, one of New York’s hottest rappers, who is on the verge a personal and professional breakdown. She is also a small town white woman, pregnant with their fifth child–all while tolerating and managing his infidelity.
Josephine Bennett is a beautiful couture clothing designer married to the most sought after producer in the industry, Ras. When her husband’s fling confronts her face-to-face, she must ask Ras—and herself, if he was only in lust with another woman–or was he in love?
A megastar and entertainer since her teen years, Kipenzi Hill wants to give it all up for the simple life. For years she’s had to hide her relationship with her boyfriend, hip-hop god, Jake, for professional reasons. Kipenzi trades in her stilettos for sneakers and looks ahead to marriage until Cleo’s book puts doubts in her mind about Jake’s committment to her.
Conflict of interest is the name of the game, but Alex must do both jobs and hold in a secret she’s had for years without compromising her journalistic values and morals.
King takes readers on a real life ride through the lives of women and what they will and won’t do for their men, families and happiness. Her first-hand experience in the journalism game makes her writing even more believable. You feel as if you’re right there in the moment, in the offices of a Vibe or Source Magazine. PLATINUM shows readers there’s much more to hip-hop journalism than just putting words on paper.
It’s realistic and sexy–definitely a page-turner. I look forward to the sequel, or even a spin-off book focusing solely on a particular character.
Via Amazon.com
Because I Said So 