Footloose

July 31, 2006
Prolific author Banks (Feet First
, Underfoot
) opens her latest comic romance with a stock situation: good girl Amelia Parker, a dedicated employee of the Bellagio shoe company in Atlanta, gets dumped by her longtime fiancé and has to re-evaluate her life. From that point, however, the story rockets into fresh territory. Temporarily assigned to assist Bellagio's matriarch in Key West, Fla., Amelia makes a list of changes to make and experiences to pursue—getting a new car, investing, traveling, changing her hair color. When she runs into mystery man Jack O'Connell at a bar, he's not only willing to help achieve her goals but adds new ones, starting with "swimming in the nude." Unbeknownst to Amelia, Jack is "a shark by trade" with an agenda regarding Bellagio—along with more than a few personal and professional secrets—but finds himself sidetracked by his appealing mark. Their relationship proceeds with a playful vitality that keeps the pages turning, and the story provides just enough twists to balance frequent sex scenes. Witty dialogue and romantic suspense propel this latest series entry, but some readers may be turned off by the book's positive, Jimmy Buffett–style attitude toward heavy drinking. Then again, what's a Keys escape for if not a few too many hurricanes?

September 15, 2006
Banks returns to the world of Bellagio Shoes in this third stand-alone romance sharing characters with " Feet First "(2005) and " Underfoot "(2006). Amelia Parker, the superefficient temp at Bellagio, finally agrees to stay after she breaks up with her childhood sweetheart for the third and final time. On assignment in the Florida Keys as assistant to Lillian Bellagio, the grande dame of the company, she meets Jack O'Connell while sitting in a Tiki bar thinking up her life's to-do list. He comes up with several suggestions, most involving nudity, and they embark on a summer fling. Unbeknownst to Amelia, Jack, an illegitimate son of Lillian's late husband, is a venture capitalist who has bought into Bellagio. Back in Atlanta, Amelia is given a sizable promotion and finds Jack working at the company, which causes no end of complications. Hot lovemaking scenes and a couple made for each other make for great entertainment as Banks, once again, delivers a terrific feel-good romance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)