Fluffy debut novel by an entertainment-industry recruiter based in L.A.
Mariah Pijeaux hasn’t met anyone like her beloved late husband, but former basketball player Kareem Washington satisfies her sexual needs, even if he isn’t interested in any kind of commitment. But now that her oldest is attending UC Berkeley and her youngest has turned 16, Mariah is starting to wonder what she wants out of life. Should she seek custody of her third child, who now lives with his father? Should she pursue a career in broadcast journalism instead of drifting from one temp assignment to the next? Most importantly, should she dump Kareem? The relationships seminar she attends intrigues her, though her skeptical girlfriends scoff at the sillier notions of the love doctor. Not Mariah. Maybe she is addicted to the oxytocin high she gets from all that hot sex, and it’s certainly possible she’s bonded to a penis attached to the wrong man. Fortunately, Mr. Right is around the corner. Malik Tolliver is a rookie football player seemingly made up of bits and pieces of black celebrities (smooth Michael Jordan head, Wesley Snipes color, etc.). Only problem: Malik is 21, Mariah 39. But they do have something in common besides lust: both were abandoned by their daddies. After a lot of soul-searching and earnest talk-show platitudes, they write to their respective fathers, hoping for reconciliation and healing. Mariah’s apparently heartless daddy writes back and tells her to get over it, then promptly dies, leaving her a heap of old photo albums and childhood mementoes that prove his lifelong love for her. Further happiness awaits: Malik is drafted by the Baltimore Ravens—and, besides that, beats a statutory rape charge with ease. Mariah just knows he didn’t do it, and her faith in him and herself is rewarded even more when she’s tapped to host an entertainment news show.
Feel-good fantasy served up with an earthiness that often borders on the raunchy.