"Funny ethnic romance"

Butler County Bee reporter Ebony MacKenzie knows why she is going undercover at the Shangri-La Naturalist Retreat though she feels out of place at the nudist colony. If she can interview a member, Reuben "Ice Cream King" Renfro, Ebony will land a job with the Cincinnati Examiner.

Journalist Isaiah Malone of the International Inquisitor and the Weekly Tale Tattler is also seeking the same interview as are other reporters. All want the job with the Examiner and the one who attains the interview will be hired. Isaiah and Ebony are caught in what looks like a compromising position so are tossed out of the nudist colony, making the interview that much more difficult. As they become better acquainted, they heed natures call and fall in love though they still compete for the same job.

IT'S A LOVE THANG is a funny ethnic romance that readers and readers will find the player's antics funny. What makes the tale work is that different types of humor are employed from the subtle Benny-Carson look to outright slapstick. Though the ploy by the Cincinnati Examiner editor seems outrageously unreal (or at least unethical), Reon Landau furbishes the audience with a jocular romance that also provides some insight into the newspaper publishing industry.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted August 22, 2002

Summary

Sassy, smart, and funny, Reon Laudat's deliciously wicked romantic comedy reveals the naked truth about love, sex, boxers, and briefs... Ebony MacKenzie's hopes have been stripped down to the bare essentials-literally. If the ambitious young writer wants to land her dream job with The Cincinnati Examiner, she needs an exclusive interview with the reclusive Ice Cream King, Reuben Renfro. That means working the story undercover-or out-of-covers-at his favorite nudist colony. For someone like ultra-conservative Ebony, this is as lowdown as it gets...especially when she spies luscious rival reporter Isaiah Malone on the premises, holding up his towel with a serious amount of beautifully sculpted charm... Isaiah likes his women hot, wild, and full of dangerous curves. So he doesn't need to get with a skinny sister who acts like she's the Second Coming of Diana Ross-The Mahogany years. Besides being the sort of woman who irons her underwear and probably thinks a thong is a song lyric, Miss Goody-Two-Shoes is also his competition, a journalist out for the same story. And Isaiah aims to win-until fate has other ideas. But one thing's for sure, when it comes to letting your guard down-and keeping your towel up-nothing can get in the way when... IT'S A LOVE THANG