Almost Doesn’t Count

In the second installment of her D.C. Series, Winters (Back on Top) revisits the stories of Sherise Robinson, Billie Carter, and Erica Kent, best friends who overcame hardscrabble childhoods to enter the elite social circles of Washington, D.C. Despite outward success, each young woman’s life is a mess: Sherise put her political career on hold to raise her daughter, but she doesn’t know whether Cady is her husband’s, or the result of a recent affair. To make matters worse, a mysterious note suggests that her infidelities weren’t as secret as she’d thought. Pentagon communications assistant Erica must cope with the sudden appearance of the father she never knew and learn to trust her boyfriend after his numerous betrayals. High-powered lawyer Billie is recovering from a nasty divorce, and she aches to go back to the pro bono cases she found so fulfilling. Leaping from drama to drama, Winters hopscotches to the end, leaving room for another entry in the series. Readers looking for backstabbing, secrets, and sex will find plenty, but little in the way of character development. Agent: Peter Miller, PMA Literary. (Sept.)