Dangerous dilemmas

Palfrey's third work of African-American commercial women's fiction (after Three Perfect Men, which she self-published, and The Price of Passion, from S & S) falls short of delivering suspense, burying readers in a clichd if sweet story of one woman's trials with both romantic and familial love. Palfrey's apparent wishes are commendable: she seems to want to offer a mature, intelligent tale to set readers thinking about what they would do if faced with the dilemma the protagonist must deal with. Audrey Roberts's life is certifiably awful. Her son, Malcolm, is being held in a Houston jail on murder charges, and she learns that her husband of 25 years is having an affair with a man. Things must get worse before they get better: on a visit to her son, Audrey's rental car gets a flat tire, and she's rescued by a tall, dark and handsome stranger named Kirk Maxwell. All seems heavenly ("Audrey looked up into his black eyes and felt herself drowning in his tenderness") until she learns that Maxwell is Malcolm's arresting officer. She now must decide what's more important helping her son win his case or having a heated love affair with Malcolm's legal arch enemy. The concept may be unique, but Palfrey's clunky sentences and overloaded plot (she throws in AIDS, racism, a crumbling marriage, a disintegrating family and more) make for a largely unfocused effort. (June)Forecast: Palfrey's modest following in the African-American community will generate interest, but the chances of her garnering praise from Essence magazine and other African-American publicity outlets (as she has in the past) are slim, given this book's weaknesses.