Millionaire entrepreneur John Sebastian has everything but happiness at the start of Major's enjoyable new novel (after 4 Guys and Trouble). When John decides to expand his chemical safety systems business from North Carolina to New Jersey, he is at the pinnacle of success, with lots of money, a smart and sexy girlfriend (memorably named Scent) and a company he nurtured from the ground up—all by the age of 36. John resettles in the affluent northern New Jersey suburbs and becomes involved in a philanthropic project at an underfunded elementary school in his old hometown of Newark. There, he crosses paths with a former love, Josephine, the school's embattled vice principal. The reunion causes both to realize how much is missing from their current lives. Deep down, John knows that he and Scent are not really in love—and that she's most interested in his money. Josephine's self-absorbed husband has two main concerns in life: retaining his position as the superintendent of a rich suburban school district and getting Josephine to lose 20 pounds. John and Josephine fall in love all over again, but they're forced to confront the tragedy that parted them in the first place. Major breathes life into an old formula with his vivid, fast-talking characters and his rich descriptions of their friendships, milieu and workplace politics. His pop culture references are well deployed to give the book a fresh—but not studied—feel. The ending is too pat, but fans will be more than satisfied. (Jan.)
