Reading through Lariba, you may blame Jadili and you may also praise him. You may even build up a vocabulary of words to describe his person. But will anyone blame Lunn, the major character of this story, for naming her first child after Jadili, her childhood sweetheart and former lover?

For Lariba, life is a sort of roller coaster, and indeed she is made to face an emotional roller coaster due to human vagaries, but her husband, Michael, stabilises her life by making a strong statement to the fun seeker who parades himself as her guardian angel,

Filled with twist, suspense, struggle and tragedy — all about love, Lariba leaves you to contend that you may sometimes have no control over your emotions.

Louis Sheppard is a motivational speaker, author, world traveller and a man of God.

He is a modern-day griot who has served as a teacher, school administrator and adjunct college professor.

He is a valued community leader, founder of several community organisations including co-founder of Safe in My Brothers’ Arms (a k a Simba), founded in Pomona, California, and Project SUN, a healthy lifestyle choice programme designed to serve both parents and students at Charles I, West Middle School in Clark County School District, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Louis Sheppard’s many accolades include receipt of the Martin Luther King Jr Spirit Award, National Council of Negro Women’s Community Service Award, Simba Day Proclamation from Mayor of Oakland, California, and Excellence in Education Hall of Fame nominee in Clark County School District.

As an international exchange student, the author’s travelling experiences are sources of inspiration for him to create and write stories.

He has been in the vanguard of inspiring young scholars to create and sharpen their imagination through both fiction and non-fiction literatures.