Boy Meets Girl

November 17, 2003
This latest adult novel by the prolific Cabot (she's responsible for the über-popular Princess Diaries franchise) unfolds, like 2002's The Boy Next Doo
r, entirely through e-mails, journals, instant messages, phone mail, deposition transcripts, notes scribbled on menus, to-do lists and other hallmarks of a modern girl's life. Kate Mackenzie, an idealistic HR representative at the New York Journal
, has just been forced by her evil boss, Amy Jenkins, to fire Ida Lopez, the wildly popular dessert cart lady at the company cafeteria. Ida bakes delectable goodies, but she won't serve them to priggish Stuart Hertzog, the paper's legal counsel, who happens to be engaged to Amy, known as the T.O.D. (tyrannical office despot) to Kate and her best friend and co-worker Jen. Sweet Ida sues for wrongful termination, and Stuart charges his younger brother, Mitch, with handling this delicate matter. But Mitch actually cares about justice more than his brother's bitchy fiancée (he's only working at the family firm at his sick father's request), and he quickly confounds Kate's expectations with his Rocky and Bullwinkle tie and "tie-him-to-the-bed" good looks. When the T.O.D. tries to lay the blame for her HR blunder on Kate, Mitch goes to the furthest reaches of lawyerly chivalry to save his ladylove. Studded with humorous details poking fun at social climbers and corporate drones, this book is less a novel than a collection of lighthearted barbs, gleeful clichés and panicky (but comic and brief) freakouts. Cabot's 20-something fans will likely devour this fluffy, fun urban fairy tale.

December 1, 2003
Twentysomething Kate Mackenzie, who works and lives in New York City, is a typical chick-lit heroine: she hates her boss and has just broken up with her longtime boyfriend because he can't commit. Her job as a human resources representative at the New York Journal brings her to the center of controversy when her boss makes her fire the popular Dessert Cart Lady, Ida Lopez, whose desserts are so divine that she decides she can withhold them from anyone she pleases. When she refuses to serve pie to Kate's boss's boyfriend, the Dessert Lady is done for. The grievance suit that ensues brings Kate in contact with the perfect guy, but he's a lawyer, so it takes Kate a while to realize that they're meant to be together. The creative way the story is told-exclusively through email, office communication, answering machine messages, and other inventive means-makes this otherwise typical tale a fun, quick read from the author of the "Princess Diaries" series. Recommended for all public libraries.-Karen Core, Enoch Pratt Free Lib., Baltimore

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2004
Kate, an earnest young human resources representative at the" New York Journal," must handle a dreadful case. Her evil boss, Amy, is forcing her to fire the beloved Ida Lopez, whose desserts are famous in the senior staff room, just because Ida refused a second dessert to the detestable Stuart Hertzog, Amy's beau and the paper's lawyer. When Ida Lopez sues the paper for wrongful termination, the case goes to Mitchell, Stuart's handsome, unconventional brother. Kate is charmed by Mitch, despite the fact that she is sure he is just like his brother. He is certainly nothing like her ex-boyfriend, Dale, who is still trying to get her back though he still doesn't want to get married. Despite the forces standing in their way, Mitch and Kate are falling for each other until Mitch tries to catch Amy in a lie during a deposition, which has disastrous consequences for Kate. Told in a series of e-mails, phone messages, instant messages, and journal entries, Cabot's novel is delightfully fun to read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)