Before I start this review, I want to say that I love the all-round good egg that is Whoopi Goldberg. I love the on screen Goldberg. I love the Goldberg I’ve watched on many interviews on YouTube where she has defended the rights of gay people, the homeless, children and people who have substance misuse issues. Goldberg has been fighting the battle against AIDS, since it came onto the scene in the 80s.
1. Be self aware. Know what you want from a relationship and be realistic about it.
2. Have your own life. Be comfortable alone. Have your own busy life and don’t make a new relationship your entire life. It’s good to have your own friends, social commitments, hobbies and leisure activities.
3. Communicate. Tell your potential partner what you want and don’t from the outset. Set the boundaries from the beginning and know what you’re willing to compromise on and what you’re not willing to compromise on.
At the start of a If Someone Says “You Complete Me,” RUN! Goldberg describes herself as an Realist. But at intervals throughout the book she felt like more of a Cynic.
In If Someone Says “You Complete Me,” RUN! Goldberg discusses friends with benefits or F*** buddies, mentioning that she has a few for booty calls herself. She emphasises the need to know the difference between physical and emotional needs, and for both sides to know what the deal is.
Goldberg is an inspirational icon, but there’s just nothing inspiring about this book, which is a real shame. It should be noted that she wrote this book during and after the recent death of her brother. So perhaps she was grief-stricken with a deadline looming.
There were some mildly entertaining Ask Whoopi sections throughout the book, where Goldberg responds to relationship dilemmas.
What Goldberg covers in If Someone Says “You Complete Me,” RUN! could have been covered in a 500-1,000 word article. It felt like Goldberg had put tones of unnecessary words in, that said nothing, to make up the word count.
This is not the first time I’ve been disappointed by a book Goldberg has written. I read her Book, which I reviewed here and was disappointed. I think in future, I’ll steer clear of any written works by Goldberg.
Soulmates is my latest short story in the gay romance genre. Here is the synopsis:
In Soulmates Robert and Lucas keep missing each other. In fact, they’ve never met. That is until a disembodied spirit assigns himself Robert’s case. Can this spirit create the perfect opportunity for these two potential Soulmates to finally meet? And if they do meet, how will it go?
Imagine that you go to the doctors and are told that you have a rare form of cancer, one that’s terminal. Then imagine going home to seek the solace of your husband, only for him to drop his own bombshell – that he’s been seeing a therapist and thinks that he might be gay. This is exactly what happens to Elizabeth (better known as Libby) Miller in Life And Other Near-Death Experiences by Camille Pagan.
Tom, Libby’s husband drops the I might be gay bombshell before she has chance to tell him about her cancer. So naturally her first reaction is to stab him with a fork. Libby encourages him to leave for his own safety and he obliges.
Then Libby makes some radical decisions: she quits her job working as a PA to nightmare boss Jackie, she puts the apartment up for sale and she speaks to Paul, her twin brother to get some advice about how much money she would need to live on for a year. Next she tells Tom of her intention to divorce him, knowing that she’ll probably not live long enough to go through the snail-paced legal process.
Libby knows cancer intimately. She watched it slowly take her mother from her, her brother and her father. Making her motherless at ten years old. So Libby decides not to tell anyone about her diagnosis.
After hearing about Tom and the divorce Libby’s father calls her. Libby talks about an idea she has to go to Mexico. Her father discourages her because that’s where Tom and she went on their honeymoon. Her father shares a memory he has of her mother and he going to Puerto Rico. He tells Libby that her mother loved it there. Libby decides to go there instead.
Libby has her first near-death experience getting to Puerto Rico on a small plane piloted by the sexy Shiloh. On the Island, Libby discovers what it is to live, fall in love and experience every moment fully.
Libby’s character is funny, feisty and fantastic. Pagan writes the story from Libby’s perspective and in doing so creates a character that oozes depth and realism. It’s not just Libby’s character that has depth and realism, so does love interest Shiloh, twin brother Paul (whom happens to be gay and is married to a man with two children) and all other characters.
Life And Other Near-Death Experiences is fast paced, has a fascinating plot, has beautiful description and is packed with dark humour. Pagan should be commended on this superb and captivating novel.