Dajani's engrossing second novel (after Fashionably Late
) chronicles the overlap in the lives of three dissimilar women working at a Miami magazine. Upon realizing that her husband is gay, pampered Ranya Hayek flees her situation and, after a chance meeting with smitten millionaire Georges Mallouk, finds herself working for the first time. Georges and his brother, Joe, own Suéltate
, a successful magazine geared toward Latinas and helmed by the brash Rio, who works nonstop to make it a top publication. Rio has the occasional tryst with Joe and is wary of Ranya, who has both brothers mooning over her. Also disdainful of Ranya and Rio is Ranya's childhood schoolmate Zahra, who is intelligent but socially awkward. After having made a mistake that destroyed her beloved life in Boston, Zahra took a corporate position with her old friend Georges, whom she still holds a torch for. Dajani seamlessly flits from character to character, embodying each woman and pitting her observations against her misconceptions. Though the unfortunately pat happy ending seems lazy and unlikely, the novel works nicely. (Oct.)
