Up at the College
By Michele Andrea Bowen
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (April 1, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0446577758
Genre: Romance

I selected this book because I did not want to read a book labeled as a romance. I wanted a story filled with the longing and anticipation of love; where the people grew to love one another. In this regard, this book met my expectations.

It begins with the divorce of the heroine Yvonne Fountain Copeland who has put up with her husband’s awful taste in music and even more awful behavior. Darrell, the husband, cheats on Yvonne and then informs her, “I want you and the girls [his daughters] out of the house seven weeks from today” (5).

There are great descriptions and humorous sentences like the following from the Prologue that made continue reading.
After much contemplation, relentless journaling to soothe my endless vexation with you, tai chi, acupuncture and colon cleansing to rid myself of the impurities brought on by my anxiety over this situation, I have decided that I must find my way back to my original self through a wrenching detachment process some refer to as divorce.

Yes, I would be shocked and devastated if my husband expressed these thoughts but I think that at some point these same words would make me laugh intensely. (Note, I have never been married or experienced this kind of betrayal.)

So funny lines keep me in this book and the love story makes it more enjoyable. Of course Yvonne, “an authentic church girl,” is going to find a new mate. She finds him in the form of Coach Curtis Parker. They both work at Evangeline T. Marshall University in her hometown of Durham, North Carolina. There is the problem of Curtis having not yet devoted his life to Christian living but this obstacle can and will be removed. These two individuals became a couple after time and consideration. The couple falls in love while dealing with life; she is in need of a permanent position at the college and he has problems with the basketball team.

Up at the College has the characteristics listed by Saricks. There is an immediate emotional tone, you dislike her husband; the man is handsome and the female is “strong, bright, independent, and often beautiful” (Saricks, 204); I did not read this quickly but I could stop and start with ease; and the language is “instantly recognizable” once the couple is together. They are holding hands and Yvonne thinks “I can feel the touch of the palm of your hand in the center of my heart” (216).

Although, the book is too long and at times extremely predictable, I do enjoy her characters and discussion of the impact of gentrification on the African American community. Her characters and this theme appear in some of her other titles.

This is a good book for those who enjoy love stories; fiction that includes stories of faith and triumph; and real life situations.