Ladies' Night Out

From Publishers Weekly Parks's hardcover debut (after three paperback originals) follows Lexie, Meshell, Tracee and Tonya, four best girlfriends who think they know everything about each other. They don't, of course, and what they don't know might hurt them—or, at least, strain their bond. The women get together once a month for a night out in Atlanta, during which anything goes and (almost) everything is said. For fear of being judged, each harbors scandalous sex-centric secrets: Alexie, the clique's "conscience," meets a New York City firefighter on the Internet and has a fling with him; Meshell, the outspoken and overstressed attorney, unwinds with anonymous sex; Tracee has a wild exhibitionist streak; and Tonya, the materialist, is having an affair with her boss, a married man with two kids. Prompted by the ladies' revelations and emotional breakthroughs, Meshell and Lexie host an "intervention" instead of their usual night out. The erotic story makes for a fun and fast read, though the rotating first-person narration can get confusing and the ladies end up being more types than characters.