I don’t usually write reviews like this, but I have to be honest. This book didn’t hit like I expected.

We jump right in from where the first book ended, picking back up with the rich and powerful families of the Black Hamptons. The Brittons and the Johnsons are still going at it, full of secrets, schemes, and social climbing. It’s supposed to be drama-filled and bold, but most of the book felt like setup with no real payoff. Things didn’t start getting interesting until the last four chapters, and by then I was already checked out.

There weren’t any spicy or jaw-dropping moments until the very end. And the whole gentrification storyline? Barely mentioned. That was such a big theme in the first book and the BET+ show, so I was expecting more. Instead, it felt like this book was just laying the groundwork for whatever comes next.

I listened to the audiobook and honestly that made it worse. I don’t like ensemble narration, and this one really didn’t work for me. The voices didn’t match well and some were just hard to listen to. One thing that bugged me a lot was how they kept changing how they said Tanya’s name. Sometimes it was “Ta-nia,” sometimes “Tahn-ya.” If you’ve seen the show, you know it’s “Tahn-ya.” Why didn’t the audiobook producer catch that?

Overall, I was disappointed. The first book had so much going for it—Black wealth, family drama, power moves. This one felt flat and slow. I’m still curious about what happens next, but Book 3 has a lot of work to do. Hopefully it brings the heat, because this one didn’t.