Chasing Perfect

March 8, 2010
For her first Fool's Gold romance, Mallery (Hot on Her Heels
) eschews her tried-and-true formula of a passionate heroine and arrogant alpha male hero linked by a tumultuous past, setting up two wary strangers instead. The mayor of Fool's Gold, Calif., is determined to match-make between Charity Jones, a city planner hired to create jobs that will keep the town's men from moving away, and Josh Golden, a professional cyclist and reputed womanizer. Charity, a veteran of romantic disaster, is skeptical of Josh, who's always surrounded by cute female fans. Josh, traumatized by a teammate's death and no longer able to race, feels too broken to maintain a relationship. The book brims with quick-witted, good-natured characters, and though Charity and Josh occasionally verge on blandness, their romance grows poignantly and with chemistry to spare.

April 15, 2010
Thrilled with the quaint small town of Fool's Gold and her new job as the city planner, Charity Jones is caught off guard when she learns that the town has a dwindling supply of men and attracting "manly" businesses is an unwritten part of her job. She's also startled by her intense reaction to the town's charming hero, former cyclist Josh Golden, who is exactly the kind of good-on-paper man she tends to avoidwith good reason. But Josh is not quite what he seems, and as he and Charity get to know each other better, they realize that they might actually be perfectly imperfect. VERDICT Warm, funny, and sexy, this lighthearted yet touching page-turner is a satisfying, rewarding read and the "perfect" beginning for Mallery's ("Hot on Her Heels") "Fool's Gold" series. Award-winning, multipublished author Mallery lives in the Pacific Northwest.

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