Review: Love and Lies . . .
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 30, 2013
The Perfect Choice is my first read by Libra Rajani and follows the interesting romantic misadventure and road to love of Tanya Campbell, a bold and bodacious young woman who agrees to go on a cruise to meet Isaiah Scott, the brother of her friend, Simone. Unbeknownst to Tanya, Isaiah is leery of being fixed up with anyone who doesn't fit into his well-ordered and high-profile life, so he instead sends his chief of staff Malik Anderson on the cruise to check Tanya out.  On the very first night onboard, Malik and Tanya meet and there is an immediate spark, but Malik is mindful that she is off-limits so nothing comes of their meeting other than some clever banter. Still, because of a misunderstanding, Tanya --when she sees Malik again--mistakenly believes he is Isaiah and Malik is decides not to correct this assumption as it will make his job of observing Tanya that much easier and hell, she's kinda cute too so he doesn't mind spending time with her if she believes he's the man she is being fixed up with.The time the two spend together very quickly turns into a steamy shipboard romance and Tanya is prepared to jump in and see whether a relationship can develop between them. Then . . . the inevitable happens. Malik's deception by omission is revealed and Tanya is hurt, deciding that she should return home and give the real Isaiah a shot.Ms. Rajani does a great job describing the rapid progression of Tanya and Malik's romance, and considering that it takes place only over a matter of days, she skillfully showed how in a place away from home, one can get caught up in a whirlwind and forget that after the vacation, real life awaits. Through this romance we see Tanya's character exposed - her alternately confident and assured manner peppered with moments of insecurity about the fact that she is not model-thin. And we see Malik's calm assurance--he's a man who know who he is and what he wants, and he wants Tanya. And in the background, though we hear more than see him in the first half of the book, is Isaiah, a man who by his actions feels entitled enough to basically order up a woman appropriate for his lifestyle and status.At first, I have to admit, I had problems with the premise--why would Isaiah go to these lengths to check a woman out? Why not just meet her for coffee or something? But as I read on, and saw his interactions with Tanya, I realized that it was part of his character--distance, control, entitlement. He wanted to have his employee (and friend) check the quality of the "product" before he would commit to buying it, essentially. Given that, it's no surprise that once Tanya and Isaiah do get together, his insistence on excellence begins to impact her self-esteem, making her feel the need to make changes like losing weight, and not the healthy way either . . .And one fateful weekend, when Isaiah, Tanya and Malik are all forced into close contact with each other, the whole thing begins to unravel. . . The interpersonal drama created by Malik's deception, Tanya's fluctuating emotions and Isaiah's control and perfectionist tendencies were plenty enough for me to make an interesting story, but then toward the end, Tanya's career as a fraud investigator becomes even more significant (I won't say how because that would ruin it for you), and Isaiah inexplicably involves his board of directors in his personal life with a mean-spirited and somewhat immature display (that seemed out of sync with his character as someone who cares a great deal about appearances and propriety), and that's where the story lost a little luster for me.Still, all in all, I liked how the author portrayed the theme of how one's negative self-image can blind us to what others see, and affect what we're willing to accept from others. This issue was very thoroughly explored in the Tanya character. She was complex - brave and yet afraid; smart in life but stupid in love; wanting more, but making choices that compromise her ability to get it. In other words, she was like most of us. And that made this a book well worth reading.