Life is good for Nicki. She has an incredible job in real estate that supports her and her son Cody in a solid upper-middle class lifestyle. Her boyfriend Jake is young, handsome, daring, and attentive. She and Jake have started building a restaurant and have put money down on a beautiful new house.Then Nicki's life unravels. It starts with her father Ronnie showing up at her door, newly released from prison and in need of a place to stay.
Ronnie and Nicki speak in alternate chapters, allowing the reader deep insight into their perceptions and emotional life. Ronnie must come to terms with his past and how it has affected his relationships. He really wants to be a better man. But it's hard when you know just how to read and manipulate people--especially women who find him irresistible. Nicki has her own baggage with a dad in prison and a disconnected mother turning tricks for drug money. She chooses the wrong men and does not understand her teenage son. What she has to learn is that Ronnie is just what she needs in her life.
Multiple Listings is relationship author and screenwriter Tracy McMillan's first novel. The characterization is great and the plot moves along quickly. Early on I thought I knew how it would end, and it did end that way, but there were interesting twists to keep up my interest. It can get preachy, especially with Ronnie wanting to use his hard-earned wisdom to save the world. But I bet a lot of women will find the lessons valuable and affirming. We want Ronnie to make it outside of prison and for Nicki to allow herself to trust again. Cody is pivotal, for he badly needs a man to understand him and Ronnie knows what he is thinking even before Cody knows what he is thinking.
How long before this book becomes a movie? I wouldn't be surprised.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
"Inspired by the author's life and imbued with wit and profound insight into relationships, Multiple Listings speaks poignantly--and often hilariously--about the ties that bind families of all types together."
Multiple Listings
by Tracy McMillan
Gallery Books
Publication March 8, 2016
$26.00 hard cover
ISBN: 9781476785523
