What a welcome relief! The High Price of a Good Man by Debra Phillips is a novel that I’ve been waiting on for sometime — a book about a contemporary woman that does not feature the size 0, designer-clothes-wearing sista who ends up with a dreamboat of a man. I loved it! I had such a good time reading it that I hated for the book to end. The High Price of a Good Man is a winner.

Queenisha (Queenie) Sutton is a proud size-sixteen black woman who’s not ashamed of her weight. If anyone has a problem with Queenie’s weight, it’s his or her problem to have because Queenie ain’t got time for it. At the prompting of her best friend Poetta, Queenie goes to a charity date auction and wins a dinner with the handsome Zeke Washington. Queenie decides she wants more than one date with Zeke. With hilarious and disastrous results, Queenie sets out to make Zeke "her man" by doing whatever she feels she has to do to win his affection. Queenie will discover for herself the old adage, "Be careful what you wish for, because you might get it." And Queenie does indeed get more than she bargained for, including a love that is just perfect for her.

The High Price of a Good Man was a good time waiting to be had. It was so refreshing to read about a main female character that was full figured and who had confidence and high self-esteem. I wanted to stand up and applaud Phillips for swimming against the flow of popular African-American fiction. It’s long overdue. The High Price of a Good Man could have been tighter. But, when compiling the assets against the liabilities, the novel still emerges as an enchanting and delightful read.

The characters were fully and well developed. Queenie is the narrator of the book and she is a hoot! I love her! With Queenie Phillips shows readers a plus-sized black woman who is not suffering from that Oprah — the-losing-weight-to-gain-more-back complex. Queenie was not buckling under the constant barrage of negativity directed at any woman who’s not skinny and hungry looking — that is until she meets Zeke. Then Phillips showed the gradual changes Queenie took herself through in order to please her dream man.

The supporting cast was equally as interesting as Queenie, and included her best friend Poetta, and Raymo, Queenie’s stalker at work, and Zeke, the ideal man. All of the characters were fun to know and read about.

My main problem with The High Price of A Good Man was that there were with a few sections where Phillips was too wordy with descriptions and details. I don’t really need to know what type of maple syrup Queenie likes to eat and why. I don’t need to be continually told how good a friend Poetta is. The constant evaluation of food was excessive. I already know that Queenie likes to eat. The frequent descriptions weren’t doing anything but making me hungry, and started to bore me. But these segments of wordiness were mere speed bumps that temporarily slowed my roll and did not diminish my overall pleasure.

I highly enjoyed The High Price of a Good Man, and my problem with some wordiness did not stop me from going where I wanted to go, and having a thoroughly wonderful time getting there.