Close Quarters
A Novel
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Can men and women live together as friends or are sparks destined to fly? When the tension begins to melt into temptation in this novel, it threatens to destroy the relationships of friends and lovers.
Three years ago, when Melina Bradford moved into her brownstone apartment in Brooklyn, she didn’t anticipate living with anyone—certainly not a man like Malik Denton. Sexist. Crass. Obnoxious. The roommates are a case of polar opposites. An attractive accountant with her own burgeoning firm, Melina’s reserved nature clashes with Malik’s carefree, single male lifestyle. After a year of living together, the roommates discover things about one another that would have been better left unsaid.
Recently engaged to one of the most successful African American men in the country, Melina finds herself questioning what her future will be like. Though Ellison Harlow III can provide Melina with financial security, she wonders if he can sustain her emotionally. Malik eagerly provides Melina with the excitement she is missing in her life with Ellison.
With a wedding looming, the roommates ponder why they came into each other’s lives and whether they can live without one another. In the end, they can’t—and they won’t.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Brooklyn roommates find romance right under their noses in Ray's lighthearted, sexy second novel. Melina rues the day she decided to rent out her spare bedroom to Malik. She welcomes the extra money as she builds up her accounting firm, but despite his paying the rent on time and being happy to help with chores, Malik's hard-partying, womanizing ways couldn't be more different from Melina's practical, grounded routine. They also know exactly how to push each other's buttons Melina needles Malik to "grow up" while he retorts that she ought to "loosen up." Even their significant others are polar opposites: Melina has just gotten engaged to Ellis, a straitlaced pharmaceutical executive from a high society family, while Malik enjoys a no-strings-attached fling with a co-worker. As Melina's future mother-in-law crosses the line from overbearing into downright threatening, and Malik faces a career crisis, the roommates find themselves turning to each other and their casual friendship catches fire. Though some supporting characters become caricatures and material goods are described to a distracting degree, the central romance is full of warmth and humor., Ray (Recipe for Love) showcases her best when her protagonists trade banter like a modern-day, urban Hepburn and Tracy.
