At the opening of the book we meet Kennedy, a Black woman who's between jobs working as a receptionist who is suddenly yanked into the boardroom when the clothing company she's working for needs diversity representation to hook in a Black Beyoncé type woman who wants to do a clothing range. She bonds with Sahara immediately but does she accept the big job offer?

Well, we then cut forward to where Kennedy and best friend Aurora (I did really like the fact the best friend was White, overturning the trope we often find) run an agency which both solves PR disasters in general (Aurora) and solves diversity disasters in particular (Kennedy). Now, that side of the book I really enjoyed: we see Kennedy confronted with a newsreader who's accused of racism, a high-end jewellery CEO who's promoting not serving Black people, a hockey player who's caught on video using racial slurs ... and we see the ways the agency work to smooth those over, gradually realising, as Kennedy does, that these ways are borderline unethical (importing fake employees, setting up fake friendships, etc.).

The most powerful part of the book for me was this detail then the realisation and actualised change in the epilogue, when the company pivots to working with colleges to provide proper job candidates. I also liked the powerful friendship group of Kennedy, Aurora and Sahara, and, slightly randomly but I can see setting things up for the next book (there's an excerpt at the back), we get endometriosis representation, which isn't common in light novels.

Things I wasn't so keen on was that we find yet again the Global Majority Community woman and the rich mediocre White guy. Aurora's brother runs a company that had good diversity policies but he's taken his eye off the ball and gone to France (do American people constantly go off to France? It's cropped up a few times recently), while someone has undermined this work and now there's a lawsuit. Kennedy seems to find they can't take him on as a paid client but, after she inexplicably messes up his press conference, she can be his fake girlfriend to show he's not racist ("I'm not racist, my girlfriend is Black". Hm.). Of course the fake-girlfriend trope runs its course, and also the ex-lovers reunite one, and he seems to have a sexual hold over her while behaving quite badly (she does pull him up for that). His money comes between them in certain ways, so obviously using the rich White guy trope is used to say something about financial imbalances (he has family money so it says something there about historical financial imbalances. But having an Ibram X. Kendi with annotations on his bookshelf seems to absolve him from being a mediocre White guy, even though that probably should be the minimum if he's wanting to run a diverse company and date a Black woman (he also claims to read James Baldwin).

There was a bit too much time in the bedroom for my personal liking but the thing that rather annoyed me was Kennedy's move from being part of a Black power couple to settling for this guy.

My blog review published 6 March: https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2024/03/06/book-review-beverley-kendall-token/

My Review: Token spoke to me immediately, being white Asian descendant, having wonderful cinnamon skin. To me I knew the story would be about minorities. I am 48 so I am not sure if that’s still a term these days. I was poster girl for my regiment in the Army back in the day and my image was used to encourage people with similar origins to join.
Here we engage in Kennedy’s story. From a poor background in Raleigh North Carolina. I loved that, because in 2005 I had been there myself, it’s near Ft Bragg and not too far from Kitty Hawk where the Wright Brothers did their first flight. I still have a First In Flight T shirt somewhere. I best get back to my review, but see how a book can invite memories long buried away?
Kennedy was blessed to receive a scholarship. Her friend Aurora’s background is the complete opposite as is her brother Nate and both are Caucasian. A very important detail to the story. Nate is also a very successful Billionaire and owner of Constellation, a fortune 500 company that employs 15.000 people.
Kenedy’s journey means she ends up being offered a large sum of money to become the Token employee in order to secure a contract with Grammy Winning Artist Sahara. This changes her world and Token is born.
The story is told at an easy pace, it’s clear there is unfinished business between Kennedy and Nate, who are thrown together due to a lawsuit.
There are a great selection of characters and sentiments that tell the story well, with twists and turns thrown in for good measure.
Loved it, read it in two sittings and would love to read more from the author, who is one that I’d love to do a Q and A with.
This is a 5 star recommendation.

This was an interesting read for me, I haven’t read this author before and I soon found myself intrigued by the storyline and characters.
Kennedy was a strong character and I relished watching her take on the role of promoting diversity in the business world.
I’m a sucker for a second chance of love trope, so I really enjoyed watching Kennedy reconnecting with her first love Nate. They certainly had the sparks flying between them!
It was also fascinating to see the type of work Kennedy did, and how she assisted companies with their problems. It definitely highlighted issues that happen in the workplace, and I think the author shared these issues in a honest and constructive manner.
I found the storyline reasonably fast paced and the action both in and out of the bedroom kept my attention throughout.
Filled with brilliant characters and steamy moments, this was a fantastic story.

An explosive romance set against themes of racism, classicism, white privilege and misogyny, this story is an enthralling and page-turning read.
Main character Kennedy is a great character, and empathetic, I think, to women of all ages and colour. White readers may never have experienced the covert and overt racism she encounters in the workplace, but her strong refusal to be a victim can resonate with all of us.
The title Token works on so many levels. Kennedy is a “token” black woman. Her relationship with ex-boyfriend Nate could be seen as “token” to a cynical outside world. But Kennedy is also a token of hope that the world is changing thanks to people like her proving that “you’re no better than anyone else and no-one is better than you”.
She’s that rare find – a heroine with confidence, who owns her talent, owns her sexuality and owns her own place in the world, while retaining a vulnerability that makes her instantly sympathetic to the reader.
As the story progresses and tensions rise, she becomes ever more her own woman, until a shocking revelation sees her questioning all her achievements.
Well-paced, beautifully-plotted, written with humour and passion and strength, this story works as a romance and as a social commentary on the prides and prejudices of our modern world.

Took a bit of time for me to get into this one but once I did, I loved it. The characters were amazing their interactions were humorous and witty. The storyline however was a bit meh! I found it lacking the big moments it was quite a steady read no ups and downs, plot twists or big reveals, having said that I still enjoyed it and would 100% read more by this author.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the Arc in exchange for my honest opinion and views.
3.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐ the book will definitely make a good book club recommendation as there is a lot to discuss about the themes and subjects in this book. For me I found it flat and the characters annoying especially Kennedy's Ex.
The book moves at a ok pace but I wasn't drawn in and kept putting the book down and coming back to it later because I wasn't engaged.
I agree with other reviews that this is more of women's fiction and I didn't get romcom vibes; I really tried to enjoy this book but it just was engaging enough with how it was executed story wise I found Kennedy frustrating and she took too long to get a clue like most of the characters.
I will be buying for the library and there is enough subject matter to talk about definitely a good book club book.
But for me I got bored 🥱.

I wanted desperately to like Token. I was drawn in by the stunning cover and other great reviews, but after I almost DNFed 2x in 3 days, I think I have to give it 1.5 stars (rounded up to 2 in the system). Throughout my read, I've made some notes as to why and while I see this book's promise, I don't think I'm the target audience. It seems like a book written for white women or non-Black women on how interracial relationships are and how tokenisation works, when really, for the majority of the book, Kennedy just perpetuates the system that she benefits from.

General Feelings:
- I would have preferred if the POV swaps got different chapters and/or at least labels as it was confusing to keep up, but at the end, there were the use of **** in places, so I wish that could have gone throughout.
- I'm very confused with Kennedy and her appearance versus the book cover. The author's description/fancast doesn't look similar to how she's described, and it feels a teeny bit like false advertising to lure people in when that's not what she looks like (outside of the eyes).
- The sheer number of celebrity name dropping, especially of well-known and often discussed for their looks, of Black celebrities seemed like an easy out for describing people without properly describing them, instead sexualising some of these celebrities. I didn't notice the same with white characters, but it always seemed to pop up.
- How to be anti-racist as a turn-on? That was the first place I almost DNF'ed. As someone in an interracial relationship, it was weird and I don't know many people who would see that as anything but the bare minimum.
- The entire book had a really strong attachment to the idea of Nate as her first. I get it, but it also seemed slightly creepy the more and more it was belaboured. I was 79% in and we were still talking about him being "her first". Can we stop harping on it? It's a bit gross.
- Jack is a weirdo and needs to do some sensitivity training.
- Aurora should have known better.
- Black magic? White magic? This was my second almost DNF and it gave me the ick honestly......I have never and would NEVER use that with my partner. Again, same dynamics and yes everyone was different, but it has so many layers to wrong. White savior complexes, tokenising Kennedy within her relationship, and also just weird speech I can't see someone using. This was a major reason I think I wasn't the target audience for the book because I did not find it endearing at all.
- The scholarship breakup and the recoupling seemed rushed and forced to create a third-act breakup.
- Kennedy: "My primary goal is to help diversify the workplace, not help men like you escape the consequences of your actions." Me: Literally, she did that exact thing the entire book and it shouldn't have taken the scandal and fight to find her moral compass.
- It took Nate WAY too long to realise Jack was out for him. Not contacting the lawyers, internal team, etc and just taking his word? Not reaching out to employees who left at coincidental times? Not reaching out to the aggrieved claimant? Seemed a bit too oblivious for someone reading Ibram X. Kendi.
- Thank you Sahara for being the only rational person in this book.

This book was a joy to read. I was totally captivated by the story & the relationship between Kennedy & Nate.
A well written book that I read in one sitting as I just couldn't stop turning the pages.

3/5 ⭐️
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC of this book.
I really wanted to like this one but unfortunately most “cases” that Kennedy took on felt like a bad episodes of Suits without any of the good bits.
The promised witty banter was lacking, the FMC often seemed too flustered.

I did enjoy all the writing of all the friendships and relationships, and I do think characters had a lot of chemistry.

Token is a story that follows Kennedy Mitchell as she finds herself trying to "fix" her ex's own PR nightmare, until she becomes embroiled within that nightmare and her own PR scandal.

Right off the bat I am going to say just how much this book draws similarities to the TV series Scandal, both MCs; Ken and Nate have a lot in common with the two MCs from the TV series (Olivia and Fitz) both relationships are interracial and both characters seem to have similar appearances as well as similar wealth and social status. Plus, just like OPA in the series, I find the company Token seems to ride the fine line of ethics, as just like OPA, Token often fixes scandals and PR nightmares for their clients.

Back to the book, the flow is fantastic and it is completely engrossing, just towards the end of the book it felt completely out of place and flow for the author to include "into the wee hours" I did not pick up on any Scottish vibes throughout the book so this felt completely out of place.

Other than this the book is fantastic, I adored the fake dating trope but was completely there for Kennedy and Nate, their chemistry was palpable and the spicy scenes were very hot! I loved how they were able to talk and open up to one another about their issues and work through them. Plus all the other relationships in the book are so well written, I loved the girls squad of Sahara, Ken and Aurora, I found their relationships brilliant, and how they looked out for and supported one another was lovely to see! Plus, I was absolutely there for the representation of Endometriosis, as a sufferer myself this is a very unknown condition, that most women don't even realise they suffer with it, so to see this is works of fiction now is brilliant!

I love the inclusion of the discussion guide at the end, this was a great add in, as it really helps individuals and book groups dig deeper into the book, and it certainly helped me for my review also. Plus that snippet for book two, firstly I didn't expect there to be a second book as this felt string enough to be a standalone but I will not complain as the snippet was brilliant, engrossing enough that there was a cliffhanger, but the cliffhanger being such a strong one that I need the title of book two as well as a sign up somewhere to read it!

I enjoyed being able to see the developing business and relationship throughout the novel however I did question whether the romance would be positive fir both sides.

I found this entirely frustrating a read. Where was the promised whip smart? This girl was far too good for the entirely mediocre man playing her love interest. Degrading.