Somebody's Gotta Be on Top

Soulmates Dissipate #4

by Mary B. Morrison

In Mary B. Morrison's national bestsellers Never Again Once More and He's Just a Friend, readers met playboy heir Darius Jones and reckless-in-love Fancy Taylor. Now, in this achingly poignant, deliciously sensual erotic novel, she takes Darius's relationships further and explores the ways men and women surrender themselves in order to gain the love they're desperately seeking.  .  .    "The only time a woman should be on top is during sex.  .  ." 

  So says Darius Jones. At just twenty-two, the baby boy has grown--bigger, taller, sexier, hotter--but he hasn't necessarily grown up. Maybe he isn't messing with the women on his mama's staff anymore, but he's still messing with people's lives and messing up his own. For Darius, "If it doesn't make money, it doesn't make sense." And that goes for women, too. Women are there to give him what he wants, the way he wants it. Not that he doesn't know how to pleasure a sister; he just doesn't want them telling him the way it's going to be. On anything. Ever. Including his mother. If his mother was a liar, then every other woman was, too. That's why he relocates from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, near his mama's business, where he sets up his own company, Somebody's Gotta Be on Top Enterprises. And it's no secret who that somebody's got to be. Now that Darius is all about the control--getting it, keeping it, and taking it away, if need be--he's sure he can apply that principle to finding "the one." But trying to be on top all the time only gets him into trouble with the women in his life, women like.  .  . 

  Ciara Monroe, president of a rival company. She's earned power and respect the hard way, but Darius isn't about to be outsmarted by her.  .  .not in bed and not in business. He's going after Ciara on a personal level, digging up the dirt on her past. It's a move that will cost him, and Ciara's not leaving before she confronts him about his feelings for Ashlee.  .  . 

  Ashlee Anderson is the stepsister who's more than just his friend. She's also the woman he loves and desires. When Darius convinces Ashlee to live with him and manage his finance department, he never expects her to fall for his half-brother, Kevin Williams. Darius will do anything to split them apart, even if it means risking his business. But there's one woman who's got Darius's number.  .  . 

  Fancy Taylor. With skin like brown sugar, and the bearing of a fine queen, Fancy definitely intrigues Darius. If he didn't have his heart set on conquering Ashlee no matter what, he'd enjoy sampling what the lady has to offer, but that's all. Fancy's a woman with a past that precludes her from being serious relationship material. But fate has a way of stepping in and putting the wrong people on the right path, if they're not too foolish to see it.  .  . 

  Still harboring the wounds of his mother's deception and a childhood without his biological father, caught between an all-consuming pride and the call of his own untrusting heart, Darius has a lot to about life, women, and what it takes to find and nurture real love. And if he's not careful, he might just end up on the bottom of everything.

Genres: Urban, African American, Contemporary, Drama

385 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Mary B. Morrison, New York Times best-selling author is the up and coming artist with a multiple book-to-film deal. Mary has seventeen published novels including her newest release, If I Can’t Have You.

She writes for Kensington Publishing Corporation as Mary B. Morrison and Grand Central Publishing as HoneyB. In her novels Mary addresses social and sexual issues while empowering her female characters.

“Women Rule,” that’s the way I see it. “Beside every great man there is a powerful woman. The same does not hold true for every successful woman. A lot of us are single because men want to wear the pants, even if they didn’t buy them.”

Jeff Clanagan, CEO of Codeblack Entertainment and filmmaker, Leslie Small, optioned the film rights to Mary B. Morrison’s popular Soulmates Dissipate series (which includes seven novels). Her first book, Soulmates Dissipate, is being developed for feature film in 2013.

Mary is an Executive Producer on her film deal and she was Executive Producer and playwright for her stage play Single Husbands (based on her novel under her pen name HoneyB).

On June 3, 2000, Mary withdrew her retirement to self-publish her debut novel, Soulmates Dissipate. Mary has also sponsored an anthology publishing 33 students entitled Diverse Stories: From the Imaginations of Sixth Graders.

Lift Every Voice and Write is Mary’s non-profit. The organization is established to help increase literacy and support students interested in pursuing writing as a career.

Born in Aurora, Illinois, and reared in New Orleans, Louisiana, Mary is the middle child of seven. She’s a graduate of McDonogh #35 High School in New Orleans and Berkeley Community College in Berkeley, California.

Her wonderful son, Jesse Byrd, Jr. is a 2010 graduate of U.C. Santa Barbara and producer on Mary’s film deal. Jesse has recently completed his first novel and owns a clothing business, OiseauChateau.com.

Mary currently resides in Oakland, California.

Reviews

[Renee · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was awful. Painfully awful.

[Winter Sophia Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing, Erotic, Twisted, Hot & Sexy! An Fantastic Read! I Loved It!

[Shakeitha R Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somebody's Gotta Be On Top is an amazing romance novel. Morrison explores different relationships and how they impact people through the life of Darius Jones. Darius is a typical womanizer. At the age of 21, he has lots of experience with the ins and outs of relationships and women. Taking his pick for the night, every night, he enjoys indulging in everything women have to offer him, mostly sexually. Although he loves to have a woman in anyway he pleases, he struggles with actually loving a woman or allowing them to be in control. This issue seems to stem from his relationship with him mom, (who he hates) and his biological father (who he barely knows). Aside from his lust for women, Darius loves to be on top, especially in his business, a trait he seems to inherit from his mother. Darius Jones is a young, carefree, bachelor you'll love, hate, pity, admire, but empathize with.


This novel was a page turner. Morrison kept me on my toes with each chapter I read. She made all of the characters real and relatable through her words. I enjoyed reading this novel. I can honestly say that Morrison not only make me excited about reading, but she inspired me to write and enjoy doing it.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darius is just such a POS. You wanna hate him, but you know his actions is a direct reflection of his trauma and he needs to go to therapy and work through it. I'm hoping to see him grow up and treat women better in the future.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

My real complaint is that logic doesn’t come into play with anyone, but Wellington. Your “wife” almost killed the woman you love and you don’t send her to jail. Your brother steals 1 million and you allow him to roam free. Jada gives in too easily

[Twana · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can't just keep playing with a woman's heart and treating each one like trash. In the end you are just a sad, lonely, and heartless man. Every woman deserves more....

[Tasha Milteer · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I'm love with this series. I wanna hate Darius Jones so bad sometimes, but I can't.

[Tamara Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a sweet repeat for me! Read it back in high school and I picked up from my local library. I don't remember being this turned OFF about Darius. I hope to never meet a man like Darius

[Mrs Tupac · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a mess I was hoping for women empowerment instead of them just dropping their drawls for a chauvinistic pig who had mommy and daddy issues !!!!

[Nardsbaby Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's those who do and those who don't

those who don't never come out on top!

I had no plans to read this book. I've had it on the shelf for sometime and I was waiting for another book to arrive in the mail and needed something to pass the time....

YES THIS BOOK DOES THAT

At 22 Darius Jones is all grown up. Well, he maybe legal, but his antics are still very childlike.

Somebody's gotta be on top, might as well be Darius, right? Well so he thinks.

Darius Law states..."If it doesn't make money, it doesn't make sense!"

Darius Jones, the young entrepreneur of his very own company is looking to do big things. Stake a claim in the world with people saying Darius Jones name. Well you do have to earnestly work to reap the rewards.

Darius has serious issues with women. Stemmed from his hatred of his mother. He consistently reverts to the fact that had he known the truth about whom his biological father was his life would've been so much better. (Yeah instead of growing up with an BILLIONAIRE BUSINESSMAN for a father he would have had a BILLIONAIRE NBA PLAYER for a father) His apparent issues with women in power has him believing that every woman's position should be "literally" under him!

Now that Darius is the boss, can he control the new power that he has? The power of being in control has him searching for "the one" even though he believes he knows who she is. But Darius can't let the others suffer. Not with his powerful "SLUGGER!" What would the women do with out Darius Jones meeting all of their needs?

Watching as Darius bed hops, lies, steal, and cheat will have you flipping through the pages. All I can say is this boy is definitely his mother's child! OH yeah and kin is kin....

[Ms.Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darius Jones, of "Never Again Once More" and "He's Just a Friend," is back and on a mission! He's the man you love to hate. He lives by his motto, "If it doesn't make money, it doesn't make sense." Darius has his hands full with his company Somebody's Gotta Be On Top. If that's not enough he's juggling his many woman, from Ciara Monroe - the president of a rival company to Ashlee Anderson - his stepsister whom he believes is the woman for him to Kimberly - his number one piece. With all his issues and drama in his life, can Darius Jones come out on top?

Good fast paced action filled book. For those who have read Ms. Morrison's previous novels, this one runs parallel in time with "He's Just a Friend." So don't look for Fancy to play a large role in this book. "Nothing Has Ever Felt Like This," book number 5, will pick up with Fancy and Darius. Looking forward to it.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

(FROM JACKET)"The only time a woman should be on top is during sex..."So says Darius Jones. At just twenty-two, the baby boy has grown-bigger, taller, sexier, hotter-but he hasn't necessarily grown up. Maybe he isn't messing with the women on his mama's staff anymore, but he's still messing with people's lives and messing up his own. For Darius, "If it doesn't make money, it doesn't make sense." And that goes for women, too. Women are there to give him what he wants, the way he wants it. Not that he doesn't know how to pleasure a sister; he just doesn't want them telling him the way it's going to be. On anything. Ever. Including his mother. If his mother was a liar, then every woman was, too. That's why he relocates from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, near his mama's business, where he sets up his own company....

[LaTonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so good! I think this is the best so far in this series and it has me dying to read the next book, Nothing Has Ever Felt Like This, where I can't wait to find out what happens between Darius and Fancy. In my review of Never Again Once More, I said that I thought that Darius Jones learned a valuable lesson, but after reading this book I must take that back because he didn't really learn much from his mistakes in that book, but I do believe that he does finally actually learn valuable lessons in this book. Also, I love how well the author weaves the stories together from the last book to this one, and although there were a few mistakes, this book it was a good read and I'm ready to move on to the 5th book of the series to see what unfolds.

[Pamela Greer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book features on a grown up Darius, Jada and Wellington's son (?). It is a part of the Soul Mates series.
This is a good book as we find Darius as a grown man, but not necessarily living the life his parents imagine. However, we see that much of the man he has become is due to the things that have happend in his life and his mother is a large part of this. This is one of my favorites in the series.

[Irion · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize that there was other parts before this book so when I read it I felt like something was missing at first then later found out that there was more to this book but it still was a good read. If you plan to read this book I recommend that you read soulmates dissipate and never again once more.

[Cinta Mccoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It could have been better towards the ends. The beginning started out with a lot of points and information and the ending didn't end well with that much information. I would recommend this book. Although the Author could have added more details at the end it was a very inspirational book.

[B.]

Fourth book from Morrison.

[Tashun · Rating 5 out of 5]

breathtaking

[Delanior · Rating 4 out of 5]

cant help but love that Darius Jones!!!!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this one

[Venyke Pompey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a good book

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

love it

[LaToya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[K.J. Wolfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of Mary B. Morrison's earlier series, I could already tell that she was going to be an amazing author.

[Timaya Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome..

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was the weakest in the series

[Alexandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

THIS WAS ONE I ALSO REALLY LIKED

[Sharell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Darius Jones is a hotttt mess!!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book soooooooooooooo much

[Nina Salazar-paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book I just love Mary b Morrison