Power Play

Through shrewdness and hard work, Fiona Carson has shattered the glass ceiling at a Palo Alto, Calif., tech company, NTA (National Technology Advancement), but that's not the only thing that sets her apart in the boardroom. What makes the intensely private 49-year-old CEO and divorced mother of two truly unique, as shown in this biting critique of the corporate gender gap, is her unwavering commitment to both job and family. Prolific bestseller Steel (Winners) elevates an otherwise formulaic tale of love, ambition, and loyalty by drawing a pointed contrast between Fiona's search for romantic happiness and that of duplicitous Marshall Weston. The San Francisco captain of industry keeps his 30-year-old mistress Ashley and their twin daughters in a house in Malibu, while maintaining appearances with his wife, Liz, and their three children in Marin. Marshall's thoughtless fling with an employee sets off a chain of events that exposes his double life, forces Ashley and Liz to re-evaluate their loyalties%E2%80%94and threatens the one thing the corporate titan loves above all else: himself. Steel expertly handles a well-paced morality tale while creating three starkly different heroines who share a common moral compass. (Mar.)