When You Dance with the Devil

Forster (Whatever It Takes ;If You Walked in My Shoes ) continues her soft-focus chronicle of the Thank the Lord boardinghouse's residents, this time setting a 35-year-old small-town virgin and a high-powered New Yorker on paths to self-discovery. Sara Jolene Tilman, burdened with an ox-sized case of low self-esteem, resolves to finally live life on her own terms after her controlling mother dies. Eager to utilize her new freedom, she moves into Thank the Lord. Meanwhile, Richard Peterson, the by-the-bootstraps executive director of ""one of the largest and most prestigious nongovernmental organizations,"" is suffering a broken heart after learning an old flame is getting married. Burned out from years of globe trotting, womanizing and maintaining his lofty position, Richard heads to Maryland and the boardinghouse. As Jolene looks for love in casual affairs that quickly turn disastrous, Richard tries celibacy and begins funding local community-improvement initiatives. Unfortunately, the characters learn their obvious lessons in dreadfully slow fashions, and Forster's passive prose does little to enliven Jolene's endless self-pitying. But the characters' earnestness will appeal to readers looking for a light pick-me-up.(Aug.)