Let's Get It On

November 8, 2004
The romantic clichés fly fast and furious in this collection of four interlocking, novella-length tales from the authors of Welcome to Leo's
, with the stories focused exclusively—and monotonously—on the efforts of attractive, successful young African-Americans to find true love and steamy sex. Food becomes the vehicle for seduction in Alers's "Love Lessons," when Tyrell Hardcastle, a handsome, 30-ish chef, hooks up with a local school to enlist students for a culinary project and ends up meeting the woman of his dreams, Viola Chapman, a gorgeous 40-year-old teacher. In Hill's "Lady in Waiting," an engaged but ambivalent couple ends up briefly separating to sample other potential partners. Jackson's "Irresistible Attraction" investigates the magic of instant chemistry between beautiful Sydney Corbain and Tyrell Hardcastle's twin brother, Tyrone; Ray's "Blind Date" tells how a woman's efforts to avoid a blind date propel her into the arms of a handsome local bachelor. The authors do a solid job coordinating their efforts and building on the foundation they laid in Welcome to Leo's
by using the same upscale New York restaurant as a meeting place. But the upwardly mobile buppies who populate these stories are scarcely distinguishable from one another, and their erotic moves prove wooden and uninspired.

November 1, 2004
These good-fun novellas are a sequel to " Welcome to Leo's "(2000), about the upscale D.C. supper club. In the previous book, finding love happened to other patrons, but in this collection the Hardcastles find romance for themselves. Alers' story, "Love Lessons," is about Tyrell and his attraction to a high-school educator. Agreeing to participate in her vocational program is merely the beginning of their relationship. "Lady in Waiting" by Donna Hill is about Noah and the unfinished business he has with his ex-girlfriend. In Brenda Jackson's story, "Irresistible Attraction," the music director of Leo's, Tyrone, meets the woman of his dreams, Sydney, at her brother and his friend's wedding. Six months later they serendipitously meet in New York and begin an intense affair. Last but not least, cousin Ayanna is smitten in Francis Ray's "Blind Date." When the infamous and wealthy Tanner Rafferty overhears an Ayanna conversation, he helps her save face by acknowledging their "date." But when he has to choose between his family and his woman, he makes a shrewd compromise.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)