SEX AND THE SINGLE SISTER

Debut collection of graphic but not especially sensual novellas about black single women .

Farah, Alaya, Kenya, Alexis, and Waceera are in their 20s and looking (mostly) for sex with the finest brothers around, ranking them according to the upscale brand names of their suits and cars, wondering (gee-whiz) why the resulting relationships don’t seem to mean much. The fabulous five are all gorgeous and have dream jobs: Farah, 24, is a junior correspondent for NBC and lives in New York; Alaya, 26, runs her own accounting firm in San Francisco with her gay friend Fernando; Kenya, 29, is a Miami investment banker; Alexis, 25, is a publicist for dot-com ventures in Atlanta; and Waceera, 23, is an administrative assistant at a Chicago nonprofit agency. Naïve Farah is seduced by not-exactly-single but not-exactly-married Marcus, the straying father of a baby boy by a live-in love, and she ends up predictably sadder and wiser. Cautious-to-a fault Alaya unwisely takes Fernando’s catty advice, alienating a promising man forever when she impulsively rejects him during sex. Kenya falls for a hunky Cuban-blend cop with a great big warmhearted family, but he’s hurt when he finds out about her brief fling with an ex and dumps her. Bored with her stodgy job, Alexis picks up Mike, an ex-con, for fun and games that get a little out of hand when he suggests a threesome she doesn’t want. Waceera, who can’t make up her mind, is involved with two problematic men and must eventually choose between Lamont and Laurence.

Reid’s magazine-style demographic approach and unoriginal prose are anything but sexy. Flat characterization and dear-diary tone don’t help. What’s love got to do with it? Nothing at all, apparently.