NEVA HAFTA

Funny, juicy sequel to Ever After (2001, not reviewed).

Not quite over Jasmine, the woman of his dreams who dumped him in Ever After, Nick leaves Chicago to sit on the beach in San Diego and watch girls, when not heading up to LA for auditions, since he wants to act. Getting married? Well, some of his player friends just did, but getting his heart broken by the fiercely independent Jasmine taught him to be more cautious. Later, though, when his beloved mother is diagnosed with cancer—given two years to live—Nick’s priorities change in a heartbeat: he’s got to marry a good woman before his mother dies. When his friend Craig offers Nick a chance to write an anonymous column on the dating wars for a San Diego giveaway newspaper, Nick jumps at it, titling it “One Man’s Quest To Be Married In A Year” and signing it “Marriage Minded.” He begins his research at a wedding where—as fate would have it—he catches the bride’s garter. He then proceeds to date every sexy black or Latina female (or mix thereof) he runs into in a rakish, often hilarious series of erotic and platonic misadventures interspersed with a fair amount of from-the-heart philosophizing from the network of brothas he keeps in touch with all over the country. A gorgeous actress, a nurse, an obliging stripper, a WEMP or two (Women With Emotional and Mental Problems)—all provide material for his column. Soon women everywhere are clamoring to meet “Marriage Minded,” but he goes public only when he falls in love at last, with acclaimed poet and rapper Tabitha. Publicity about their impending marriage reaches the suddenly jealous Jasmine, who shows up at the wedding, kisses him into insensibility, and demands that he choose! Installment three coming up.

Nick’s mother gets kind of forgotten, but the hero is irresistible: romantic, respectful, and cheerfully dirty-minded—sometimes all at once.