Carleen Brice

Dear Readers,

What a year so far! Lifetime TV recently optioned Orange Mint and Honey for a television movie! And the audio version of the book went on sale at the end of June.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Enjoy your summer!
Carleen

Orange Mint and Honey hit #1 on The Denver Post list of best-selling paperback fiction!

The Go On Girl Book Club (with 30 chapters around the country) will read Orange Mint in September!

Orange Mint and Honey was A Place of Our Own Book Club's selection for May!

Essence Magazine has selected my novel as their 13th Recommended Read Essence Book Club Selection. Their review in the March issue states: "Carleen Brice's Orange Mint and Honey, a new novel about real mama drama, will have you hooked from page one. Taking on the fabled mother-daughter bond, the Denver author confidently strides onto terrain many lesser writers have tripped over--with winning results."

Target has selected Orange Mint and Honey as a Bookmarked Break Out Book!

The Black Expressions Book Club has chosen Orange Mint and Honey as one of their picks! Their review says: "A heartwarming story that shows why life tastes better when the bitter is followed by the sweet, Orange Mint and Honey is a delicious treat."

Thank you everybody who has emailed me to let me know what you think!! Here are a few of the comments I've received since Orange Mint and Honey was released:

"I read Orange Mint and Honey, again, because I am on vacation and can really take in the book (without the typical distractions around my house). I loved it even more the second time. Such a wonderful, wonderful book. It spoke to me on so many levels. I hated to see it end. What a gift to us readers. Thank you!"

"When I went to buy the book and saw how beautiful the cover was, somehow I knew I would enjoy this book. I just finished reading it today. I wanted to know what was going to happen to Shay ..., but yet I didn't want the story to end. I was sitting on my patio, in Upstate New York, with a tall glass of ice tea finishing this book. When I read the last page and closed the book, I knew I had to e-mail you and tell you how much I enjoyed this book. I read constantly, and sometimes it's hard to find a really good book. I'm so glad I read yours. I don't know if you have any plans for a sequel to this book, I know everyone that read this book would love to follow Shay as she goes back to college and start to get her life back on track. What a wonderful story that involves so many emotions like forgiveness, love, family. Thank you for a wonderful and refreshing read. Keep writing and I'll keep reading."

"I just finished your book and I loved it. I cried tears of joy and of sadness. The book was absolutely wonderful. I have read alot of books and yours is by far my favorite thank you. I cannot wait until your new book comes out. I am going to the book store today to get Age Aint Nothing but a Number. You are now my favorite author keep em coming."

"I just, moments ago, finished the last page and I must tell you this was an awesomely awaking and emotionally evoking book. I felt your characters [all of them] understood their pain, joys, doubts and growth. I laughed, cheered, became angry, empathized and yes, cried [a little--gglz]. Orange Mint and Honey, by far has been the best book (of its stature) I've read in a very, very, very long time. And even more than that it rejuvenates my belief in our legacy in literature, which I've felt has sadly been steering young folks in the wrong dirdirection in the last few years. Thank you! Thank you for restoring my faith in Black women writers who less than 20 years ago wrote about love, forgiveness and the essential of self and worth but whose work has been over looked, down played, overshadowed and nearly forgotten for the likes of urban or street lit. Thank you for reminding me why I lost myself in books (and music), as a young girl, that spoke to my soul, comforted me, guided me to becoming a bigger image of myself and who I could become and nurtured me when I needed it the most. Most of all thank you for allowing me to believe that our voices must be and will be heard; that someone still believes in the power of great writing."

"I just read your book and I have to let you know that it is the first book that I have read in a long time that I didn't want to end. I am an avid reader and it is a joy to read African American fiction with such exuberant characters and a plot that enlivens the African American spirit."

"I enjoyed your book. I read it 2 weeks ago, and I am still thinking about it."

"I just read your book and loved every bit of it. Thanks for your willingness to share it with us."

"THANK YOU for a WONDERFUL book! Our book club in Richmond Va. discussed your book at our March meeting this past Sunday afternoon. It received thumbs up from everyone in attendance!"

"You have written a book that has hit home for me in many ways as a child of a mother with the disease of alcoholism and while my mother has not overcome the disease stories like this give me hope that my mother may one day return to me."

"After several praised works of nonfiction, Colorado author Brice successfully moves to fiction with this bittersweet story featuring an engagingly wry, spirited narrator. Grade: A-." - Rocky Mountain News

“A tale of unexpected forgiveness and reconciliation.” - 5280 Magazine

"[An] accomplished debut...Brice's straightforward prose is dead-on in describing the challenges Shay and her mother face as they reconnect." -Publisher's Weekly

"Carleen Brice's Orange Mint and Honey, with its heart-tugging warmth and harsh reality, has earned a place on my 'favorite books' shelf. The characters are expertly drawn, the plot fluid and the message clear." - T. Shelly B. of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

"Gripping." - Upscale Magazine

A "poignant story." - Ebony Magazine

"The marriage of historical confidence with creativity brings forth the first novel by Carleen Brice. Orange Mint and Honey makes use of the oldest of relationships: mothers and daughters. Looking at the plights of love, forgiveness, understanding and redemption brings to this first novel a fresh and unique feel. A wonderful jazzy exciting read." - Nikki Giovanni

"Mothers and daughters--the closest of bonds, the most loaded of relationships. Carleen Brice mixes in alcohol, abandonment and anger for a potent cocktail and a penetrating read." - Donna Grant, co-author of Better Than I Know Myself

"Carleen Brice has crafted an open, sweet, realistic novel about a woman's journey to find her own heart and home. Orange Mint and Honey is a keeper." - Kris Radish, bestselling author of The Sunday List of Dreams

"Orange Mint and Honey is sweet fun-yet also a socially conscious page-turner about accountability and forgiveness. In this memorable story of a once-derelict mother and a profoundly wounded daughter, rage, sadness, and humor jump off the page and grip us to the end. Author Carleen Brice has woven her talent for story-telling into a funny, sad, and perceptive novel that speaks to all of us who navigate less-than-perfect-relationships with parents or children. Therefore, it may speak to all of us." - Elyse Singleton, award-winning author of This Side of the Sky

“In Orange Mint and Honey, Brice deftly shows the importance and joy of understanding our past and not only forgiving those who hurt us, but loving them in spite of that hurt. We see Shay on her journey to discovering who she is and all that she can be--even when she's not sure she's ready to meet the person she's about to become. Readers of Terry McMillan and Bebe Moore Campbell will find a new writer to watch.” - Judy Merrill Larsen, author of All the Numbers