If there is a writer poised to meet the increasing demand for African American women's commercial fiction, it's Nina Foxx, author of Marrying Up. Foxx has a Masters and a Ph.D. in psychology, plus three novels under her belt. She self-published Dippin' My Spoon, which earned a spot on the Austin Chronicle bestseller list, before Avon Trade snapped her up for what vice president/executive editor Carrie Peron calls "her sassy yet compassionate, funny yet complex fiction" (Get Some Love, Going Buck Wild). Foxx has also written for Black Expressions Book Review and has her own column on Black Words Online.

Acclaimed as a "veracious storyteller" by BET VBooks, Nina Foxx has a special insight into the human psyche, which she uses to develop multi­dimensional characters who are as real and as complicated as any member of her readers' own families.

In her newest novel. Marrying Up, Foxx peels back the veneer of her main character, Paris Montague, a headstrong and independent woman who can be said to parallel one of women's fiction's most enduring heroines, Elizabeth Bennett of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Paris thought conquering love would be her battle....never realizing that her mother, her cousin, or the city of Austin would be so interested in her social life. Paris thinks she's happy enough - she's on the verge of a promotion and has a sweet, sexy man, Tyson James, by her side. But her family doesn't think that Tyson or her career measure up. Paris' mother plays matchmaker, throwing businessman JaBari Nolan at her, hoping Paris will realize that there are worse fates than marrying rich, successful... hot men. Paris is no fool: she knows something is up with JaBari - but never dreams his secrets have the power to ruin her family and destroy treasured relationships.

Marrying Up is a poignant, sultry work of fiction about reconciling love amidst the whirlpools of money, power, and tradition. We hope you will consider this compelling novel for review.

Marrying Up
By Nina Foxx
Publishers: Avon/HarperCollins
Price: $12.95
ISBN: 0060750456