MAY DECEMBER SOULS

Glam-town L.A. is the backdrop for this slick New Age–style romance by a former relationship lecturer turned novelist. Mariah Pijeaux is about to hit 40 and hopes one day to "experience the beauty of unconditional love from a man." But because her musician father abandoned her at age five—leaving the family for a white woman—this gorgeous African-American single mother with three well-adjusted kids believes she is "independent and controlling just like my mother," and therefore unfit for true love. Stuck for years in a purely sexual relationship with Kareem, a wealthy, possessive but unfaithful ex-professional basketball player, Mariah attends a local relationship seminar run by love specialist Dr. Singer to learn how to break free of her self-defeating tendencies. Her efforts to change pay off handsomely, attracting the interest of one Malik Tolliver—a gloriously good-looking man with a "perfectly shaped, Michael Jordan chocolate head"—who happens to be 21. Despite their nearly two-decade age difference (Malik is only a few years older than Mariah's eldest daughter), the romance blossoms into the kind of healthy, supportive friendship heartily endorsed by Dr. Singer. This book sports far too many contrived plot twists and one-dimensional characters to engage most readers. But the snappy, in-your-face tough girl dialogue and steamy sex may be enough to keep some turning the pages. Agent, Richard Curtis. (Mar. 17)