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Newly graduated from Columbia with a degree in public
health, she’d just landed a job as executive director of the
Maria de la Vega Community Health Clinic, focusing on the
well-being of New York’s sex workers. It was a job she’d had
her eye on for years, and she should have been celebrating.
Instead, there was nothing but drama: her older sister,
Jenisse, was in town with her drug-dealing boyfriend and two
teenage daughters. Not that Jenisse did anything specific;
just her being in town aggravated Tyesha.
It didn’t help that Tyesha’s friend, Lily, was having
trouble, too: she was a dancer at the One-Eyed King, a club
that was forcing its strippers to do things they didn’t want
to do and one girl almost got hurt. Lily had learned that a
Ukrainian mob was behind the new rules, and so she’d turned
to the Clinic – and Tyesha – for help.
So much drama – and yet, it was just what Tyesha needed. Her
life was uninspiring, but going to bat for the strippers was
something she could totally get into. She understood their
plight: in another life, Tyesha had been a dancer / escort,
too.
She had also helped run a little heist ring with her friend,
Marisol, but that work was behind them both. Tyesha was
respectable now; a professional with access to legal
information who could help New York’s dancers form a union.
If only her love life was as clear as her work project.
Tyesha had dated rapper Thug Woofer for awhile, but he kept
blowing every chance she gave him to get it right. Now
Tinder wasn’t cutting it and one-night stands were no good.
Really, could any man handle a relationship with a strong
woman like her?
While I do have to say that it’s quite far-fetched, The
Boss is so, in a good way.
Pure escapism is what author Aya de León offers here with a
story that actually has many separate plots – romance,
family drama, a little espionage, and surprisingly righteous
feminism - all of them appealing. Part of that appeal is
with the character: de Leon’s Tyesha is smart but vulnerable
and even though her story is over-the-top, she’s not.
Real or imagined, every reader will be able to find a little
of herself there, which makes this a doubly fun novel to
enjoy.
This is an adult book all the way, complete with language
and situations that are not for kids. Keep that in mind, and
if you’re looking for a great summer escape, The Boss
is just the shot you need. |
