Money Never Sleeps

Milan, Jaise, and Chaunci return for another season of raunchy reality TV antics in Whitaker’s sequel to Millionaire Wives Club. Milan and Kendu are engaged, but he’s having difficulty adjusting to retirement from the NFL and she’s in the sights of another player, Samir. Jaise’s 19-year-old son Jabril, the irresponsible father of two children by different mothers, is putting a strain on Jaise’s marriage to Bilal, whose attempts at discipline almost destroy the marriage. Chaunci discovers that Idris has married another woman, sidelining her ability to trust until she meets sexy Emory. And stuck-up new cast member Vera soon discovers that her perfect marriage has flaws of its own. All storylines come to a head with predictably explosive catfights and scandal as trashy and vacuous as the reality television Whitaker portrays, stocked with shallow caricature provocateurs and not a single likeable persona on the page. Readers unfamiliar with the series will be utterly lost, and those seeking a quick dip into cheap melodrama, sex, money, and brawling women will have to look elsewhere for substance. (Dec.)