"Ooooo, she makes me SICK!! She does this to me every time!" I heard this from my good friend Steve right after I said hello when I answered the phone. After a few more moments of Steve being sick, I asked him who in the hell he was talking about. The "she" in question was Gloria Mallette and what she did to Steve was write her latest novel Distant Lover. I understand and share Steve’s excitement. Mallette has indeed done it again. Distant Lover is all of that and then some! The novel is a certified, stamp approved ass wiper!

Tandi Crawford is an unsatisfied woman. Her 13 year marriage has become lonely and loveless after she discovered her husband’s, Jared Crawford, affair three years ago. The only thing that has gotten Tandi through this difficult time is fantasies of her first love, Brent Rodgers. After reaching the end of her rope with her marriage, Tandi leaves Jared, takes her 11 year old son Michael Jared and ends up moving in to the place she ran away from 18 years before, with her father Glynne ’Sporty’ Belson. Sporty and Tandi have what I would like to call a dysfunctional relationship. Now Tandi has to pick up the pieces of her puzzling life and learn the hard truth that everything that looks good to you ain’t necessarily good for you.

I will be the first to throw it out there and acknowledge the pink elephant sitting in the room— when I picked up the book; I started singing the Marvin Gaye classic song Distant Lover. You can go ahead and sing it, I got the background. (Lover, Lover, Lover, oo oooooo) With the song humming through my mind, I got the false impression that I was in for a romance novel. You all know romance novels and I done fell out a long while ago. Although there is a hint of a romance in the novel, Distant Lover is more than the usual couple finding and loving each other. Distant Lover is a drama, the kind I love the best, a family drama with that Mallette touch. Melodic, intense, painful, shocking, and intoxicating, Distant Lover, the novel, is unforgettable.

The characters, plot, and fabulous ending are all air tight. The story was told in great detail, just enough to not bog down the story. Actually, the rhythm of the story did not flow; it swayed, in the same manner as a woman with an hour glass figure would move her hips, enticingly, to the music of a slow song.

I have reviewed almost all of Mallette’s books and I have loved all of them. From the 5 books of Mallette’s that I have read, Mallette has taken me from romance to murder mysteries, and different forms of relationships. She has not disappointed me. Mallette can not be classified as being an author of any genre of literature. Distant Lover is another piece of evidence that supports my claim. She is proving to be a remarkable "jack of all trades". Now I have to wait a whole ’nother year to read her next novel. I don't know what Mallette’s next novel will be about, but I do know that it will be good.