Significant Others: 7

In The Color of Love and Significant Others, Kitt delved into issues of interracial relationships and biracial children with great sensitivity and understanding. And here she does it again. Dallas Oliver's life looks better from the outside than it does from within. After a childhood spent largely in a middle-class neighborhood in Long Island, New York, she's making her way as a writer and has a successful boyfriend. But the boyfriend is excruciatingly self-involved. He's the kind who, having stood her up for five hours, tells her ""I guess I was wrong to think you'd understand what it's like for a black man in this business."" Dallas's childhood memories are tainted by racism, including an attempted rape by a neighbor. She was saved then by Alex Marco, and it looks like the Italian-American Alex, now an ex-Navy SEAL, is trying to involve himself in her life again. Alex is a strong, capable and caring hero. He's got his own childhood scars and secrets but they never overwhelm his character. Instead, they add emotional richness to a story of two outsiders both of whom are willing to buck convention for the warmth, patience and understanding of real love. (June)