Meena believes her family is cursed – no woman since her great-grandmother had an affair has ever been happily settled with a man. Her own mother has had a run of dead-end relationships but Meena is determined to break the hex and find true love. As the story unfolds, we find that Meena’s dating history is also one big mess, and I was beginning to think it wasn’t a curse that was the problem but rather an issue of anger management on both sides. But just as I was about to give up on the book, because reading about abusive relationships wasn’t what I was expecting between the perky yellow cover, things picked up. After an intense time with her untrustworthy college boyfriend Dexter, Meena gets a job with Buzz magazine where she meets swoon-worthy writer Sean. Is this finally her chance to beat the curse forever? This is a confronting read with a fiery cast.
The Man Curse is the debut novel by American journalist and radio personality Raqiyah Mays. The summary says: "Meena Butler's life is nearly in order, with one exception: the family curse. Is an age-old hex holding her back from landing the man of her dreams - or will she be the first woman in her family to break free of the past and find the love of a lifetime? Meena has heard whispers of the family curse since childhood. Seated around tables at the yearly reunion, relatives always shared stories of the Man Curse's origins. It began with Great Grandma Anna Mae's affair with the church pastor. After finding them in bed together, his wife hexed Anna Mae to prevent the women of her family from ever marrying, and the results are said to have lasted generations. Anna Mae and her sisters died without being wed. Grandma Fey never married. Aunt Connie has given up on men. And Meena's mother, Deena, continually runs into dead-end relationships. Vowing not to follow in their tracks, Meena is undeterred from achieving her dream of matrimony. After dating a string of wrong men and catching her college boyfriend Dexter cheating, she heads to New York, where she has an exciting new job at Buzz, the hottest music magazine in the business. On a professional upward track, Meena happily ignores Dexter's pleading calls for forgiveness. Instead, she meets the popular intellectual writer, Sean. Physical attraction and common interests fuel a love affair that seems destined for marriage. But when a chance meeting with another woman ignites lingering insecurities that Sean is hiding something, Meena's trust is shattered. With her relationship on the rocks and her confidence in the gutter, Meena's journey toward emotional healing forces her to face the truth and wonder if she really does have the Man Curse. Or is it all in her head?" The Man Curse is out in November 2015.