January Girl

Thandywaye Malone is a beautiful and educated woman with a rough upbringing that led her to leave home as a teenager. Subsequently, she got pregnant and married a caring older man who bankrolled their lifestyle on profits from his drug trafficking operation. After he got arrested, she was left on the streets. Now, in her 30s, Thandy has a high-powered job in Atlanta, but low self-esteem. In comes slick-talking Jackson Gabrielle, an old money, married-with-kids surgeon who sweet-talks Thandy into an affair. She eventually ditches him for an even better job in Chicago. Unfortunately, Jack is portrayed as such a louse (cheater, manipulative, woman-beater) that when he and Thandy get back together, the reader has no sympathy left for him. The choppy narrative and flat characters don’t do the book any favors, either. (Apr.)