By Kristen Corrado, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main

Sister, Sister is the book that launched Eric Jerome Dickey’s career. This book follows three women: Valerie, her sister Inda, and their friend Chiquita, who is dating their brother. The women are in various stages of relationships. Valerie is married and struggling to make it work. Inda is divorced and dating again. Unfortunately, it is with all the wrong men. And Chiquita thinks that she has found the perfect guy, but that is all an illusion.

This is a fun romance that follows three strong women as they struggle with their relationships with men and how to find strength in friendship. Valerie turns to her sister, Inda, for counsel when she senses her husband has lost interest in their relationship. But Inda has her own problems: first she meets her boyfriend Raymond’s “other girlfriend,” Chiquita; then the pair find Raymond with yet another woman, who turns out to be his fiancée.

There’s more: Thaddeus, Valerie and Inda’s brother, falls for Chiquita, who in turn has formed a sisterly bond with Inda, despite the less-than-ideal circumstances of their meeting. Point of view alternates between the various characters as Valerie, Chiquita, and Inda share their thoughts and feelings about their interlocking relationships with one another, with men, with family members, and with the past.

All of Dickey’s books have been bestsellers, and most have been about modern relationships. However, in his newer books, he has started writing thrillers. Sister, Sister is a good introduction to his work and a good place to start if you are interested in reading his 14 books.