Publisher's Synopsis
Fonnie Bishop is an ornery girl and she doesn't care who knows it. With the exception of her lone, gentle friend, Lily Blue, Fonnie lives her life alone and she likes it that way, thank you very much. To Fonnie's annoyance, she gets a new green-eyed neighbor in the house across the street. Her plan is to ignore her new neighbor's existence, but Lily's not going to let that happen. They meet Basil Jenkins, a guy whose ethnicity turns out not to be all that straightforward and a bit of an issue if you ask Fonnie. During the escalating tension between Basil and Fonnie, their gay neighbor, Dante, and mentally unstable neighbor, Crazy Joe, both offer their uninvited advice about how to assuage their smoldering situation. Their advice is not helpful. Derrick Simmons is Lily's jobless boyfriend who thrives off of degrading her. He also has a low tolerance for Basil and his kind. Jamal Banks, Lily's close acquaintance, has always been unimpressed with the coupling of Lily and Derrick. The love Jamal has for Lily is unspoken, but stronger than anything Derrick could ever be capable of feeling. Derrick vows to make sure that Lily will die before she ever leaves him for any man, especially Jamal. Granny Marmalade, Basil's very plump and very brown grandmother, comes to town for Christmas. She easily pries away Fonnie's tough and hateful outer layer to expose her tender heart. Now it's up to Basil to cultivate Fonnie's love. He prays he'll be strong enough to do it.
