Chocolate Star - Softcover

Copeland, Sheila

4.19

164 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312967292 ISBN 13: 9780312967291

Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks, 1998

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He played the wrong game.
The song of preacher, college basketball star Sean "Sylk" Ross prayed that God would get him in the NBA, until he started playing games of love and power. Then the way to fame was leading him toward a mistake that could send him straight to hell...

She never looked back.
Lies, drugs, too many men-- golden skinned singer Topaz Black would do anything to get a hit to the top of the charts, even walk away from her friends and family. But surrounded by greed and lust, the love the longed for seemed to be slipping away forever.

He broke all the rules.
Brought up in South Central L.A., movie producer Gunther Lawrence learned early how to get the wealth and women he wanted-- and to turn his back on his roots. Now, blinded by Hollywood's glitter, his illusions may shatter when he discovers who really controls his career.

As their lives touch, ignite, and explode, three talented African-Americans pursue fame at any cost...and the price may be their happiness...or their lives..

An alternate selection of the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club

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About the Author:

Sheila Copeland is the founder and CEO of Populartis/Chocolate Star, a multifaceted production company.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Copeland debuts with three rags-to-riches journeys that even when combined make up little more than a Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous episode. All three of the African-American protagonists here are flawed. Singer Topaz Black, who began as a model, is vain, rude, and greedy--not to mention having abandoned a hardworking husband and infant son in the blink of an eye for Hollywood and the high life. Film director Gunther Lawrence started out as a self-loathing black kid in a lily-white prep school; when he strikes it rich in Hollywood, he immediately makes a point of forgetting everyone who helped him along the way. NBA star Sean ``Sylk'' Ross, meanwhile, is meant to be the good guy, but his constant praying, do-gooding, and holier-than-thou moralizing make him, if anything, even less palatable than his co-stars, who are at least frank about their selfish and ruthless behavior. Eventually, the three come together. Topaz ends up married to Gunther (who's become involved with a heavy drug scene). Before marrying, though, she'd dated Sean, whom she had hoped would introduce her to the ``right people'' (read: celebrities). Of the three, one finally dies, another is miserable and alone, the third is happier than most people have a right to be. It's all too easy, in accordance with Copeland's moral scale, to guess the outcomes--more suspense and less predictability could have offered the novel some much needed energy. The story is lacking, too, in good old-fashioned campy fun--the most important factor, after all, in any sort of Jackie Collins page-turner. The mean-spirited Topaz and Gunther are unpleasant, but not even the goody-goody Sean is appealing: in all, just plenty of glitz and three rich, unlikable people. -- Copyright �1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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