Married but Still Looking: A Novel (Strivers Row) [Hardcover]

Travis Hunter (Author)

Book Description

Series: Strivers Row | Publication Date: May 14, 2002

New from the author of the national bestseller The Hearts of Men: a novel about one man’s quest to end his cheating ways.

Women have flocked to Genesis Styles ever since he was a teenager. He’s a good-looking, smooth-talking former pro-basketball player, but he has a problem: He has never been satisfied with just one woman. Then he meets Terri and everything changes. Sort of.

Genesis knows that Terri is perfect for him, and he asks her to marry him. But Genesis just can’t seem to stop cheating on Terri nearly every chance he gets. Genesis’s best friend, Prodigy, constantly warns him that he’s going to mess up the best thing ever to happen to him, but Genesis is not ready to listen.

After dealing with a family crisis, Genesis realizes the importance of his relationship with Terri, and he begins to change his cheating ways. He knows that once he says “I do,” everything will fall into place. But it may be too late, because one of his past indiscretions comes back to haunt him, and now Terri may have a few surprises of her own. . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This melodramatic, preachy novel chronicles the life of Genesis Styles, a retired basketball player in his late 20s. He works at a youth center in Atlanta and is engaged to Terri, who owns a small bookstore. Even though they are already living together, Terri correctly intuiting that all is not right between them is denying him sex until they are married. It should hardly make much difference, because horny, philandering Genesis has been having no problem satisfying his desires elsewhere. Can Genesis commit to one woman forever? Can his friend Prodigy Banks (the hero of Hunter's debut The Hearts of Men) who up until now has been helping him cover up his affairs talk some sense into him? There are family crises galore, as Genesis's sister Phyllis, a tough-as-nails lawyer, leaves her white husband and takes up with a black colleague. Another sister, Grace, returns to Atlanta from New York, planning to become a minister. Genesis's mother suffers a stroke, his brother is a drug-addicted convict and the whole family is still affected by the promiscuous lifestyle of the long-dead patriarch. When a former employee abandons her baby, Terri takes it in and, a week before the wedding, Genesis gets arrested for soliciting a prostitute. This is an irritatingly talky novel, with the characters constantly offering up facile insights along the lines of "you got to trust your heart." Hunter is a motivational speaker, and the shallow characters are used to spout clich‚d messages better confined to self-help books.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Genesis Styles has always been a ladies' man and never been quite satisfied with one woman, but he finally meets one who challenges his long-held bachelor ideals. Terri is an independent bookstore owner who has vowed celibacy until marriage. Genesis is sure that his love is complete and asks her for the ultimate commitment, marriage. Yet, he is only motivated to pop the question because of his fear of losing her rather than his desire to love one woman. His best friend, Prodigy Banks, who is his happily married childhood friend, constantly talks to him about relationships and marriage. He warns that if Genesis does not change, he will jeopardize his relationship with a good woman. As the wedding date gets closer, Genesis makes one foolish decision after another. He is finally confronted about his philandering and has to accept the consequences of his past actions. Genesis does not learn his lesson about love and commitment until his relationship is in jeopardy. Lillian Lewis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Villard; 1 edition (May 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375505695
• ISBN-13: 978-0375505690
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,022,733 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born Florence, South Carolina. I grew up playing football and basketball like most of the other kids around my way. I never thought I'd be an author. I always hated reading and God forbid writing. So being the smart woman that she is, my mother used reading as a form of punishment for me when I acted up. Little did I know she was planting a very important seed. One that would one day turn into a career. I decided to start writing because I couldn't find any good books with positive African American male leads. So I decided to take a leap of faith and wrote my first novel, The Hearts of Men. I self published THOM and after selling a little over six thousand copies in about two months, I was approached by Random House. They republished The Hearts of Men. After that, I was bitten by the writing bug and now I'm on a role. Married But Still Looking, Trouble Man, A One Woman Man, Something to Die For, A Family Sin, Dark Child and the latest, Momma's a Virgin. I have three young adult novels; Two The Hard Way, At the Cross Roads, On the Come Up and the forthcoming novel about bullies; The Last Laugh. My novels are all quick reads. I could kill lots of trees with pages and pages of fluff but I prefer to give you mostly the meat and potatoes of the story. Im very passionate about my non-profit THe Hearts of Men Foundation. (www.theheartsofmen.org) Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the work.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Second Novel by Travis Hunter!, July 2, 2002

By 

Brian K. Walley (Clayton, Delaware) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Married but Still Looking: A Novel (Strivers Row) (Hardcover)

Travis Hunter's second novel, Married But Still Looking, brings back some of the characters that were in The Hearts Of Men (his first novel) while centering in on the lives of Genesis Styles and his family which includes his mother Virginia, his sisters Phyllis and Grace, and his brother Grover. Travis Hunter's biggest writing strength is his ability to tell such a realistic story that both men and women should enjoy while getting his message across (families need to stick together, for instance). The main character in the story, Genesis, is a man who is engaged to be married yet he cannot control his sexual appetite long enough to stay faithful for more than a week or two. He thinks that he is really great at hiding his sexual escapades but his fiancée, Terri, is no dummy! I was able to just sit back, enjoy the ride, and wait for Genesis to make a major screw up and I had a great time getting to that point. Then there is his mean-spirited older sister Phyllis who is unhappily married to a white man whom she only married since she hates black men so much. But, along comes a GOOD BLACK MAN and her view of black men comes crashing down to the ground. To round out the cast of Genesis and his family, his brother, Grover, has an addiction to cocaine which he struggles to overcome, his younger sister Grace is about to become a minister, and their mother, Virginia, has a medical problem that brings her children together like never before.

If you are looking for a story that is not overloaded with drama, drama, and MORE DRAMA, you ought to give this one a try as you will probably see a lot of family members and friends in the various roles of these wonderful characters. If you are like me and you enjoy a story where problems are dealt with and worked out in a logical manner and if you love to root for a family to work things out and stick together through thick and thin then you are definitely in for an enjoyable reading experience.

This novel was excellent from the beginning until the end and Travis Hunter's fans and even those who have not read his first book should be pleased and won over with this one!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finding Ourselves, July 1, 2002

By 

Dawn R Reeves "tamardi" (Harrisburg, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Married but Still Looking: A Novel (Strivers Row) (Hardcover)

The Styles family consists of four grown children who are as different as night and day. Genesis is a self-proclaimed player who can't help himself; Phyllis appears to hate the black man so she marries outside of her race; Grover, Jr., is a single father who is drug and alcohol addicted and Grace is the baby of the family who struggles with forgiveness while trying to bring her family back together and find peace within. As you continue to read you will understand the root of their behavior.

From The Hearts of Men we are reintroduced to Prodigy and Nina, which is a treat. The story centers on Genesis and his impending marriage to Terri. Terri is everything that Genesis wants and needs in a woman but for some reason he can't stay faithful. Each sibling has his or her share of drama in addition to Genesis, which gives the story its completeness and leaves you with a better understanding of the crosses they have to bare to get to a semi-happy medium.

Travis Hunter does an excellent job of portraying and developing his characters in a very realistic manner. I found myself caring about these characters and hoping for a resolution to their issues.

Married But Still Looking is quick, emotional and heartfelt read with a surprising ending, a very surprising ending! I to enjoyed The Hearts of Men and I can't decide which book is better. I've decided that it doesn't matter.......Reviewed by Dawn R. Reeves, APOOO Bookclub

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Knowledge/Insight From a Credible Source..., March 3, 2005

By 

J. JUST "JJ29412" (Charleston, SC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Married but Still Looking: A Novel (Strivers Row) (Paperback)

As a young, single female it concerns me that some people are "Married But Still Looking". In this particular book, Travis Hunter writes about a young man who wants to get married but he still has a problem with commitment. If I asked ten different people why married individuals cheat, I'm sure I'd get ten different answers. Travis Hunter's book draws one main conclusion: we must all take responsibility for our own actions or suffer the consequences.

In the book, the main character's decision to solicit a hooker the night of his bachelor party costs him much more than he ever expected...
I won't tell the story, but I GUARANTEE you'll ENJOY this book.

Kudos to the author on another GREAT BOOK!