Learned Reactions

Ellis’s bighearted second Higher Education romance (after Learned Behaviors) turns to the unfinished business between Carlton Monroe and his former roommate Deion Jones. After a single steamy night their sophomore year, the two have been platonic besties, each convinced that the other isn’t interested in anything more than friendship. Deion’s on sabbatical from a tenure-track professorship when he accepts Carlton’s invitation to homecoming, arriving just in time for Carlton’s 14-year-old niece to turn up on Carlton’s doorstep, begging refuge from her grandparent’s house. Family-starved, Deion can’t resist Carlton’s plea that he stay and support Carlton in new fatherhood, though he can see no way to get his own needs met. The friends-to-lovers trope feels fresh in Ellis’s hands, in part because it’s underpinned by a lovingly drawn depiction of Black family dynamics. Meanwhile, the banter crackles and the emotional moves are believable but not predictable. Not every aspect of the milieu is convincing, however: untenured philosophy professors can’t pick any city they like and find a job, and lawyers charging $1,100 an hour don’t work in family court. But none of these nitpicks affect the sweet, insightful heart of this slow-burn romance. (Mar.)