Honeymoon Suite

January 17, 2005
Fourteen-year-old Missouri rich girl Dory Lambert worshipped Chase McKay, the chauffeur's son, even after she saw him with his hands down her beautiful older sister Jill's pants. After the incident, Chase was packed off to college by the girls' father only to eventually become an incredibly wealthy architect. When Chase returns from New York to visit his father, Charles, 16 years later, he finds himself struck once again by Jill's beauty—and also by Dory's good looks and maturity. But after he bungles an attempt to bribe Dory into making his father retire, Jill launches Operation Cockroach. If Jill's scheme succeeds, Chase will marry her, and his money will refill her family's depleted coffers. Even as Chase falls in with Jill's plan, he finds himself attracted to Dory and wondering if he's chasing the wrong sister. Throw in an eccentric cast of characters, including a sweetly wicked little boy and a nerdy FBI agent who fires Jill's engines, and you've got... romance? Hardly. Chase doesn't emerge as a viable or even likable hero until the last quarter of the book, and readers will find it hard to believe that the object of his affections is someone he's never even kissed. Michaels (Mother of the Bride
, etc.) has a gift for humor, but this Sabrina
homage comes across as more silly than romantic. Agent, Stephanie Kip Rostan at the Levine Greenberg Agency.

January 1, 2005
With a newly minted MBA, Dory Lambert is determined to restore her banking family's good name and recover the fortune they lost when a larcenous cousin absconded with $35 million years earlier. In order to make ends meet and care for the family's longtime staff, she sets about turning her family home into an elite hotel. But when her childhood crush, wealthy architect Chase McKay, returns to check on his ailing father who works for Dory's family, the action heats up. Staying one step ahead of the FBI, keeping their heads above water, and trying to recoup their losses and reputations keep Dory and her family hopping in this funny, sassy, off-beat romp that features zingy dialog, nice pacing, and an abundance of eccentric characters. Michaels (Return Engagement) lives in Independence, MO

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2005
Dory Lambert is born to wealth and privilege as the younger daughter of a long-standing Kansas City banking family, but she is not happy. At 14, she is a short, pudgy bookworm with a crush on the studly chauffeur's son, Chase McKay, who in turn lusts after Dory's older beauty-queen sister, Jill. But a few years later, the family is bankrupt and living hand-to-mouth after James, a sleazy cousin, embezzles millions from the family's securities firm and frames Dory's father. Fast-forward to the present: Dory is still trying to find James, recoup the money, and restore her family's reputation when Chase, now a successful millionaire with his own architectural firm, reenters her life. Marvelously quirky supporting characters and wickedly pointed dialogue and description add up to a wildly improbable yet hilarious scenario--Dory's FBI shadows have been with her so long that they present her with a gold pen when she receives her MBA--in a well-told romp that will delight fans of Jenny Crusie's " Bet Me" (2003).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)