Marketed as the "African-American answer to Sex and the City," Reid's debut collection of novellas focuses on five 20-somethings in different parts of the country: New York, California, Florida, Georgia and Illinois. All are professionally aggressive, all have man trouble. Farah is attracted to someone who's taken; Alaya is too busy worrying about nailing Mr. Right to enjoy the journey; Kenya's concerns about the race of her new Hispanic lover could spoil the best chance she has for commitment; Alexis, burned by a longtime lover, thinks she just wants to have fun; and Waceera keeps a steady while looking for someone better. Despite the ostensibly wide geographical range, a singles bar in one city is no different from a singles bar in the next, and there's little to distinguish the various sets of urban bright lights. The serial first-person narration enhances the just-us-girls confessional intimacy of the stories, but there's too much navel-gazing going on. Sister 20-somethings and other naïfs may sympathize with the superficial plights of these five vacuous women, but more readers will already know the modern-day spin on Aesop as depicted in these cautionary tales: don't mess with a man who's already committed, don't rely on gimmicks, don't sleep with another man if you want to keep the one you're with, be yourself and, finally, mutual trust is necessary for the long haul. Looks like being a single sister isn't so very different from being a single white woman. Agent, Richard Curtis. Author tour. (June)
Forecast:The title plays shamelessly on the popularity of
Sex and the City, and the cute, kitschy jacket may attract a few readers from Reid's target demographic, but don't look for this derivative collection to hit the big time.
