Erica Johnson, Washington, DC elementary school teacher and activist, is on a mission. She wants to call attention to the futility of the War in Iraq and get the funding redirected toward education so she interrupts a C- SPAN televised Senate hearing to make her point, landing herself in jail. Mark Newman, US senator from a southern state and Gulf war hero, is intrigued by Ms. Johnson from the minute he lays eyes on her. Never mind that he doesn't agree with her position on the war and generally avoids her kind: T-shirt wearin', head-wrapping, no-meat- eating, animal-loving liberal mouthpieces. Believing that firsthand experience of his hometown and the people he represents might help her understand folks who take pride in their children serving their country, Mark extends an invitation to Erica to accompany him as he campaigns for re-election in his home state.
Unable to decline Mark's very public invitation without looking insincere or maybe even cowardly, Erica agrees to travel South. Perhaps she can teach the good senator a few lessons of her own. She is attracted to him, although she'd die before admitting that a white Republican, war- mongering, environment-hating, gun-carrying conservative has caught her African-American eye. And she may have to... die. Since their televised standoff, she's begun receiving mysterious missives that suggest someone is not altogether pleased with this interracial coupling. Is it the work of misguided constituents, angry militants, or Mark's competition, and just how far will the unknown source of these nasty grams go?
UNFINISHED BUSINESS is a smart, savvy, thought-provoking take on interracial romance. Ms. Langhorne pulls no punches and few of today's interracial stereotypes go unexplored albeit it with aplomb and laughter. By the end, it is hard not to cheer for Erica and Mark's union, no matter what your politics. I found it interesting that the closest friends of both characters, whether members of the urban DC community or of the southern enclave Mark & Erica visit, had few reservations about them seeking love outside their race. Not that they should have. Just one more stereotype turned on its head.
Opposites attracting is a common theme in romance. For those who want a bit more than the average romance read, I highly recommend UNFINISHED BUSINESS.
Black activist Erica Johnson wears her causes on her sleeveβliterally. With her class of beloved fourth graders depending on her to represent their concerns, Erica's ready to confront golden-boy conservative senator Mark Newman. And she's willing to suffer through a night in jail and a battle of wits with a real-life war hero, if it will help get the children the money they need.
Mark Newman's a worthy adversary. But there's a more human side to the ambitious politician with the dreamy blue eyesβfrom the physical pain of his war wound, to his grief over his wife's death. Though they disagree on every hot-button issue, Erica and Mark can't resist their attraction or ignore the unfinished business between themβmuch to the delight of those trying to use this new relationship against the senator. And when Erica starts receiving some particularly vicious hate mail she has to decide if this handsome dream from the right/wrong side of the political fence is worth risking her heart for . . . and maybe her life.
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