cover image First Fridays

First Fridays

Cherlyn Michaels, . . Hyperion, $14.95 (270pp) ISBN 978-1-4013-0814-8

Naja Rodgers has always wanted to be her own boss, so when she's laid off from her awful office job, she begins pursuing her dream in earnest. At the encouragement of her best friend Vlora, she attends First Fridays, a monthly networking meeting for St. Louis–area African-American business owners and investors. Naja is skeptical of the catty women and the shyster, scope-a-date men, but then she meets Russ, a handsome and successful real estate developer who wants to partner with Naja on her Internet cafe business plan. They become romantically involved, but, in an uncharacteristic turn of events, Naja quickly loses her sense of self and allows Russ to control her life. As his demands escalate, Naja's headaches and misery increase, but it isn't until Russ hands her a brochure on liposuction that she resists. She and Russ split, but how will this affect business? Though the uneven pacing slows to a crawl more than once and Naja's descent into submissiveness strains credibility (ditto the root of Russ's domineering attitude), her by-the-bootstraps story should garner for Michaels (Counting Raindrops Through a Stained Glass Window ) a loyal following. (Jan.)