Lady
★★★★★
July 7, 2025
From the very first page, 𝐍𝐨 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 wraps you in the warmth and ache of a woman’s heart, torn between the past, the present, and everything she once believed love could be.
Adesuwa’s writing is honest, raw, and beautifully lyrical, drawing you into Gina’s world in a way that makes you pause and reflect on your own emotional truths.
Every chapter feels like a quiet, tender conversation with yourself, an invitation to sit with discomfort, to ponder forgiveness, and to re-evaluate what we expect from love.
The characters are flawed in ways that feel deeply human.
𝐆𝐢𝐧𝐚 is a hopeful romantic, longing for connection.
𝐓𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐚, her husband, is reliable and deeply committed, yet blind to how his emotional distance leaves her lonely.
And 𝐌𝐮𝐝𝐢… Mudi is that dangerous nostalgia, reigniting emotions we thought we’d buried for good.
You’ll root for them, get frustrated by them, and in the end, understand them.
While I didn’t always root for every character, I understood them.
That’s the brilliance of this story, it makes space for complex emotions, conflicting loyalties, and messy truths.
What stood out most for me was how the book confronts the unspoken struggles in African marriages:
•The silent emotional neglect.
•The myth of “happily ever after.”
•The quiet ache of wanting to feel special again.
The book doesn’t shy away from these realities. Instead, it opens up space for real, necessary conversations about how marriage is a choice we must recommit to, again and again.
It reminds us that love is not a feeling, it’s a decision.
One we must choose, fight for, and nurture, over and over again.
The pacing moves like healing: gentle, intentional, and necessary.
And the emotional depth, it’s simply unmatched.
Have you ever felt emotionally lonely in a relationship?
What do you think keeps love alive?
Sophia Akah
★★★★★
July 7, 2025
This book follows the love life of Gina and what a ride that was. It shows the parts of romance that doesn't usually fit the aesthetic and teaches us some of the practicalities of love.
I went into this book blind but I definitely didn't expect the love lessons this book taught!
Truth be told I had to drop this book one too many times because of the amount of mistakes Gina was making.
I thought I was annotating this book while I read but I really just spent my time screaming at Gina and Mudi and then Tobe!!! Then I couldn't drop this book as it dished out life lessons one by one at the end. Adesuwa really took us on a roller coaster ride with her writing because I couldn't predict what could happen most of the times and I had to keep reading. The way she portrayed the harsh truths without mincing words is definitely commendable.
This truly broke the last of the hopeless romantic in me as I definitely started to see myself loving the practical and steady love that was Tobe.
Go see for yourself
Kehinde Oyebade
★★★★★
July 7, 2025
3.5 ⭐️
i have so many thoughts about this book; complex, conflicting, and still very fresh. at exactly 5:47 am., not even 25% into the story, i found myself weeping. the kind of tears that clutch your chest and make your heart physically ache. in those early pages, the author cut straight into something soft and tender in me. 🥺
but just as quickly, that raw feeling shifted into a slow, creeping irritation. (inserts bombastic side eye 🌚)
this book explores delicate themes; love, marriage, betrayal, forgiveness, and second chances. it tries to handle them with emotional realism, which i genuinely respect. the characters are flawed, human, and often frustrating. the plot feels believable, and there’s this undeniable pull that kept me turning the pages. i had to see how it would all play out.
AND YET, even though i was fully engaged, i struggled. a big part of me felt like the whole Mudi & Gina storyline was dangerously close to romanticizing infidelity and excusing emotional (maybe even moral) irresponsibility, all in the name of “growth” or “rediscovered love.” i get that real-life relationships and human emotions aren’t black and white, but this particular angle didn’t sit right with me. it felt like the book wanted me to root for something i just couldn’t endorse or support. the emotional pull was subtle but steady, and i kept resisting the idea that certain choices should be easily forgiven or admired.🌚
that said, i can’t deny how beautifully written this book is. the prose is stunning, and the pacing, despite my reservations, kept me hooked until the end. the author clearly knows how to write emotionally charged scenes and create tension that lingers. 👏
if you’re a romance reader who loves emotionally fraught stories, messy love, and you don’t mind characters navigating murky waters of desire and regret, this might be exactly what you’re looking for. it’s swoon-worthy, at times poetic, and definitely hard to put down. 🥳
Oge Obi –
Sometimes, love doesn’t look the way we expect, but that doesn’t make it any less real.
Gina’s story unfolds across two timelines, her passionate 90s romance that ended in heartbreak, and her present-day marriage that’s quietly falling apart. When her ex suddenly returns, offering the attention her husband no longer gives, she’s torn between the past and her present
Kehinde Oyebade –
3.5 ⭐️
i have so many thoughts about this book; complex, conflicting, and still very fresh. at exactly 5:47 am., not even 25% into the story, i found myself weeping. the kind of tears that clutch your chest and make your heart physically ache. in those early pages, the author cut straight into something soft and tender in me. 🥺
but just as quickly, that raw feeling shifted into a slow, creeping irritation. (inserts bombastic side eye 🌚)
this book explores delicate themes; love, marriage, betrayal, forgiveness, and second chances. it tries to handle them with emotional realism, which i genuinely respect. the characters are flawed, human, and often frustrating. the plot feels believable, and there’s this undeniable pull that kept me turning the pages. i had to see how it would all play out.
AND YET, even though i was fully engaged, i struggled. a big part of me felt like the whole Mudi & Gina storyline was dangerously close to romanticizing infidelity and excusing emotional (maybe even moral) irresponsibility, all in the name of “growth” or “rediscovered love.” i get that real-life relationships and human emotions aren’t black and white, but this particular angle didn’t sit right with me. it felt like the book wanted me to root for something i just couldn’t endorse or support. the emotional pull was subtle but steady, and i kept resisting the idea that certain choices should be easily forgiven or admired.🌚
that said, i can’t deny how beautifully written this book is. the prose is stunning, and the pacing, despite my reservations, kept me hooked until the end. the author clearly knows how to write emotionally charged scenes and create tension that lingers. 👏
if you’re a romance reader who loves emotionally fraught stories, messy love, and you don’t mind characters navigating murky waters of desire and regret, this might be exactly what you’re looking for. it’s swoon-worthy, at times poetic, and definitely hard to put down. 🥳
Sophia Akah –
This book follows the love life of Gina and what a ride that was. It shows the parts of romance that doesn’t usually fit the aesthetic and teaches us some of the practicalities of love.
I went into this book blind but I definitely didn’t expect the love lessons this book taught!
Truth be told I had to drop this book one too many times because of the amount of mistakes Gina was making.
I thought I was annotating this book while I read but I really just spent my time screaming at Gina and Mudi and then Tobe!!! Then I couldn’t drop this book as it dished out life lessons one by one at the end. Adesuwa really took us on a roller coaster ride with her writing because I couldn’t predict what could happen most of the times and I had to keep reading. The way she portrayed the harsh truths without mincing words is definitely commendable.
This truly broke the last of the hopeless romantic in me as I definitely started to see myself loving the practical and steady love that was Tobe.
Go see for yourself
Lady –
From the very first page, 𝐍𝐨 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 wraps you in the warmth and ache of a woman’s heart, torn between the past, the present, and everything she once believed love could be.
Adesuwa’s writing is honest, raw, and beautifully lyrical, drawing you into Gina’s world in a way that makes you pause and reflect on your own emotional truths.
Every chapter feels like a quiet, tender conversation with yourself, an invitation to sit with discomfort, to ponder forgiveness, and to re-evaluate what we expect from love.
The characters are flawed in ways that feel deeply human.
𝐆𝐢𝐧𝐚 is a hopeful romantic, longing for connection.
𝐓𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐚, her husband, is reliable and deeply committed, yet blind to how his emotional distance leaves her lonely.
And 𝐌𝐮𝐝𝐢… Mudi is that dangerous nostalgia, reigniting emotions we thought we’d buried for good.
You’ll root for them, get frustrated by them, and in the end, understand them.
While I didn’t always root for every character, I understood them.
That’s the brilliance of this story, it makes space for complex emotions, conflicting loyalties, and messy truths.
What stood out most for me was how the book confronts the unspoken struggles in African marriages:
•The silent emotional neglect.
•The myth of “happily ever after.”
•The quiet ache of wanting to feel special again.
The book doesn’t shy away from these realities. Instead, it opens up space for real, necessary conversations about how marriage is a choice we must recommit to, again and again.
It reminds us that love is not a feeling, it’s a decision.
One we must choose, fight for, and nurture, over and over again.
The pacing moves like healing: gentle, intentional, and necessary.
And the emotional depth, it’s simply unmatched.
Have you ever felt emotionally lonely in a relationship?
What do you think keeps love alive?