The Company We Keep (Merch/Levy)

January 19, 2009
In her 11th novel, Monroe (She Had It Coming
; God Don't Play
) takes on the music industry, walking in the Jimmy Choos of Teri Stewart, Eclectic Record's hardworking executive publicity director. Much to the chagrin of her best friend/assistant Nicole, Teri fills her empty social schedule with work, pounding away at projects through holidays, meals and whatever else might keep her from finishing the job. Secretly, though, Teri admits it's lonely at the top; enter handsome, influential DJ Harrison Starr. While staying on his good side is only smart business—ensuring plenty of airplay for Eclectic's artists—the chemistry between them suggests there's more than business in the couple's future. When they do get together, however, their professional roles, a cast of interesting characters (Carla, the psychic psychologist; Yvette, the social climber) and, naturally, a secret from the past may mean their happily-ever-after is more like a one-hit wonder. Swift, salty writing and steamy sex scenes will keep readers cheering for the couple, and a twisting plot will keep them turning pages.

January 15, 2009
Will or won't sexy, successful 29-year-old Teri get back with sexy, successful Harrison?
Very little happens in Monroe 's latest (S he Had It Coming, 2008, etc.), which inhabits the high-rolling world of Teri Stewart, executive publicity director for Eclectic Records. It's a world of bawdy language, parties and occasional business, in which sexual matters tend to dominate. Teri has had no intimate relationships for the last six months, which is inexplicable given that she is still madly attracted to her most recent boyfriend, DJ Harrison Starr, and that he fancies her too. The pair keep meeting at parties, both are single and nothing stands in their way other than the plot 's insistence on misunderstandings and missed opportunities. Trivial subplots involving Teri 's office politics and her best friend/secretary Nicole, who is also sexually frustrated but unlike Teri hasn 't stopped playing the field, also fill some pages.

Crude and raunchy, the story eventually delivers its much delayed but entirely predictable gratification.

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