Erotic tale about the pleasures and pitfalls of swinging and swapping, with enticing dialogue and a disappointing finale.
A bickering African-American couple is amusingly unfaithful in author Whitehall’s frisky debut novel.
Accountant Maia and attorney Michael Henderson live with their two children, Andrea, 13, and Tre, 9, in Bowie, Maryland. At lunch, Maia’s friend Diane informs her that Michael is cheating. At 5 feet 5 inches tall and 235 pounds, Maia has become undesirable to her relatively fit husband, who’s always looking for a “side piece.” Maia’s married boss, Andrew “Drew” Neal, has an eye for her and, sensing she’s unhappy, makes his move only to be rejected. Michael’s infidelity is multilayered. In addition to making it with a potential employee, he’s flirting online at Blackconnections.net, has the occasional fling with one of Maia’s girlfriends and, with a co-worker, visits a club called Xxtasy. Here’s a steamy story of yet another husband and wife—told from their alternating perspectives—who are affluent (she carries a Coach bag and wears Gucci pumps) and restless in their marriage. It’s a familiar story with a fresh take, peppered with zippy, humorous dialogue primarily about sex, as when frustrated Maia informs her husband that she’s “dick deprived.” Proud, possessive Michael is saddled by a Madonna/whore complex: He thinks a wife should behave, so he looks for rough and wild elsewhere. Dutiful Maia is the compliant wife; weary of the missionary position, she finds solace in Twinkies, turning to vibrator Bunny as her man loses interest. The title moniker applies to both husband and wife. Maia, on advice from a friend, sets a “honey trap,” adopting an online persona to expose Michael’s infidelity, and she eventually indulges in a cheater’s game. The escalating situation between husband and wife, which puts their marriage at risk, captivates more than Michael or Maia, who become increasingly tiresome in their complaints. A standout character is bold, brash swinger Nina Laussat, new to town and looking for work. She plays with Michael and Maia, both together and separately, voicing dismay at Michael’s lack of stamina and Maia’s take-without-giving approach. One significant downer: After pages of buildup, the book ends abruptly with the click of a phone. It’s a less than satisfying climax, but there’s always Bunny.
Erotic tale about the pleasures and pitfalls of swinging and swapping, with enticing dialogue and a disappointing finale.Pub Date: March 31, 2014
ISBN: 978-1493189250
Page Count: 298
Publisher: Xlibris
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles...
Sisters in and out of love.
Meghann Dontess is a high-powered matrimonial lawyer in Seattle who prefers sex with strangers to emotional intimacy: a strategy bound to backfire sooner or later, warns her tough-talking shrink. It’s advice Meghann decides to ignore, along with the memories of her difficult childhood, neglectful mother, and younger sister. Though she managed to reunite Claire with Sam Cavenaugh (her father but not Meghann’s) when her mother abandoned both girls long ago, Meghann still feels guilty that her sister’s life doesn’t measure up, at least on her terms. Never married, Claire ekes out a living running a country campground with her dad and is raising her six-year-old daughter on her own. When she falls in love for the first time with an up-and-coming country musician, Meghann is appalled: Bobby Austin is a three-time loser at marriage—how on earth can Claire be so blind? Bobby’s blunt explanation doesn’t exactly satisfy the concerned big sister, who busies herself planning Claire’s dream wedding anyway. And, to relieve the stress, she beds various guys she picks up in bars, including Dr. Joe Wyatt, a neurosurgeon turned homeless drifter after the demise of his beloved wife Diane (whom he euthanized). When Claire’s awful headache turns out to be a kind of brain tumor known among neurologists as a “terminator,” Joe rallies. Turns out that Claire had befriended his wife on her deathbed, and now in turn he must try to save her. Is it too late? Will Meghann find true love at last?
Briskly written soap with down-to-earth types, mostly without the lachrymose contrivances of Hannah’s previous titles (Distant Shores, 2002, etc.). Kudos for skipping the snifflefest this time around.Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-345-45073-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
