MOTIF centers on two college-age women and the men they meet over a frivolous weekend. Tiffany and Camisha are nineteen-year old, black Fisk University beauties. They have opposite personalities, but they compliment each other; Tiffany is the serious one and Camisha is the daredevil. Both enjoy flirting with men, but Camisha has a more astringent agenda, her goal is to attain wealth no matter the consequences of her quest.

The primary male characters are suave law student, Phillip, and a short, but gorgeous factory-worker, Rayford. The two women meet Rayford at a local mall; he invites them to his friends' fraternity party, where they meet Phillip. What starts out as a good time for the young co-eds evolves into something more destructive as they discover both men have quite an interesting secret to share.

The drama begins when the slightly naive coeds get physically and emotionally involved with the men. Camisha marries Rayford and Tiffany becomes engaged to Phillip. The foursome eventually collide in a rush of strange and unpredictable occurrences revolving around Rayford's wealthy grandfather. The ladies are drawn into a bizarre world of secrets, fetishes and lies. Tiffany begins to question Phillip's integrity and Camisha's marriage becomes chaotic. An infernal scheme to commit murder evolves, and the women realize their lives have taken a negative turn, but they may be in too deep.

MOTIF is a daring debut for a freshman outing; the characterizations are good, the storyline is believable. The characters are intertwined in a way that will produce some unpredictable occurrences. Part of the suspense of the story hinges on how the characters are developed. While readers may be mildly shocked by the dirty secrets, kinky sex and freaky characters, they will find something fascinating in how Bourne tells this story; she pulls out all the stops.

Reviewed by aNN
of The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers