cover image LIKE BOOGIE ON TUESDAY

LIKE BOOGIE ON TUESDAY

Linda Dominique Grosvenor, . . BET/Sepia, $15 (438pp) ISBN 978-1-58314-260-8

Grosvenor musters some of the ingredients for a lively romantic drama, but squanders them in pages and pages of exposition and endless inner monologue in her first commercially published novel (Sometimes I Cry was a self-published hit). Nina, the proud, bright director of a market research company in New York City, has issues with being overweight; she constantly fantasizes about meeting Mr. Right, but has no luck in love. Tim, a procrastinating, immature womanizer who envisions himself as a future Spike Lee, has been playing the field so long he can't imagine settling down, despite his matchmaking sister Rochelle's best efforts. The two eventually end up on a few unsuccessful dates, but their happily ever after is postponed while a plethora of smaller stories work themselves out, including one featuring Nina's sister, Troi, who owns a beauty shop and has what appears to be the perfect balance between family, work and religion. Troi gets the shock of her life when her husband, Vaughn, admits to infidelity, having given in to temptation with another man whose motives for destroying relationships are right out of a bad soap opera. Despite the deadly pace (the first six pages are devoted to providing useless information about Nina, such as the fact that her favorite fabric is moleskin), awkward clichés and similes ("a man whose word was as faithful as God and gift-wrapped like a Godiva chocolate"), Grosvenor reveals a knack for character development. Perhaps next time she will figure out how to handle backstory, and it won't take forever to get to the plot. Agent, Claudia Menza. National print advertising in African-American women's magazines. (Jan.)