To Love a Stallion

To Love A Stallion by Deborah Fletcher Mello

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I met Deborah Mello at a Black History Month event earlier this year. Several of us black authors were hawking our books. She bought mine, and I bought one of hers. When I asked which one she would recommend that I read first, she started talking about the Stallion brothers as if they were her own children. There was that look of loving pride on her face when she talked about them. Then she said I should start with To Love a Stallion.

What I didn't tell her was that I had only read maybe five romance books in the last 25 years. I used to read Jacqueline Susann and Danielle Steel until they got to be too predictable and I quit cold turkey. The few romances I have read recently were book club recommendations or were written by an author I knew or had met.

My Stallion brother was a pleasant surprise. Of course a romance novel has to follow certain prescription. Girl meets boy and in spite of their initial conflict we know they will end up together. Marah Briscoe and John Stallion start out with conflict, then they get together, and break up, and get back together. Then there is something else to keep them apart. There are some surprises, even with the prescribed formula. Ms. Mello interweaves the history of black cowboys and the care and breeding of thoroughbreds against a backdrop of western life, where you wouldn't expect to see black people.

There are no trite details of luxury cars, lushly decorated houses, and perfectly matching shoes and underwear. The details are rich, varied, and imaginative. There is even a twist in the erotica, in that John Stallion always uses a condom. I'll have to read another of Deborah Mello's Stallion series, maybe Matthew, Mark, or Luke. I give John 4 stars.



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