Two couples weather rough times in this latest by Zane (Addicted; The Sex Chronicles) set in swinging D.C. Tempest and Janessa are best friends, out to find "the one"—Janessa at local singles' clubs, Tempest anywhere but. Dvontè and Geren are their male counterparts. When the pairs meet one fateful evening, Cupid strikes with wildly differing results, pairing yuppie Geren with responsible social worker Tempest and womanizing Dvontè with reckless but good-hearted Janessa. Tempest and Geren embark on an emotionally mature relationship, full of the usual testing of boundaries, while Janessa and Dvontè begin a passionate and primarily sexual fling that results in the typical half-truths—and finally an unwanted pregnancy. Tempest and Geren have to balance their loyalties to their old friends with their budding love for one another, all the while wrestling with personal secrets that could further jeopardize the union. Adding to an already complicated scenario, a young woman being counseled by Tempest is complaining of physical abuse at home. Zane's characters, while well drawn, fluctuate between being sympathetic and painfully superficial, as when they mock the unattractive ("desperate, ugly hoes") and, bizarrely, the short ("watch out for pygmies in there"). For the most part, however, the novel is warm and engaging, stressing the importance of personal responsibility and attesting to the power of hope while delivering the clever banter and sizzling sex scenes that Zane's (many) readers have come to expect. (June)
