Are you addicted to reality TV
shows? Do you also love to read romantic comedy? Then look no further – Lisa
Plumley’s ‘Perfect Together’ is the ideal combination of both.
Marley Madison, a style-obsessed actress best
known for her glamorous and frivolous portrayal of Tara in a long-running and currently
defunct soap, is facing the worse fate that can befall any actor – she’s been
typecast and not only that, she’s become a has-been typecast! Unable to get serious
roles, Marley’s choices have dropped to choosing between ‘community theater for
preschoolers' or 'infomercial purgatory’. Trapped, Marley reluctantly agrees to
participate incognito in the latest hit reality TV show ‘Dream Date’, with the
idea of using the show’s tapes to impress and rejuvenate Hollywood’s dwindling
interest in her. To adopt her ordinary girl persona, Marley takes over her twin sister
Meredith’s life and apartment and begins a zany and highly comical way of trying to
become ordinary.
Jake Jarvis, KKZP’s youngest sportscaster is
stunned to find that the station’s attempts to woo over the female audience include
promoting him as ‘L.A’s studliest sportscaster’ and splashing his
good-looking mug and sexy physique anywhere and everywhere. Things rapidly become
intolerable for this single father of a four-year old when even the moms at his son’s
playschool start hitting on him. And then a deeply irate Jake is given the ultimatum of
participating in ‘Dream Date’ and win besides, if his contract is
to renewed. A cornered Jake reluctantly goes to the sets and there meets Carly (a.k.a
Marley in her ordinary girl persona) and somehow they end up paired for the duration of
the show. Then begins a laugh-out-loud series of dates with both of them trying their
level best to become the winning pair with humorous and romantic consequences. Is their
‘perfect together’ thing just for the show or is it ‘really real’?
Someone once said that it’s the most
difficult thing in the world to make people laugh. But Lisa Plumley has made her readers
laugh and laugh some more with one hit romantic comedy after another. The fact that she
makes it all look so easy and flowing, only testifies as to her greatly impressive writing
skills. After hits like ‘Falling for April’ and ‘Reconsidering Riley’,
readers expect more of the same non-stop, screwball, zany comedy and will find that ‘Perfect
together’ has all that and more besides. Incorporating the current craze for
reality TV shows with her unique brand of love and humor, Lisa Plumley has fashioned a
sure-fire hit in this latest book of hers which caters to a varied range of reading
tastes. The behind-the-scenes look at this reality TV show, shows how truly
‘real’ they are. It also reveals the true motivation behind why these people are
willing to reveal their innermost thoughts and feelings, and share their most intimate
moments with the whole nation. Marley is a typical Hollywood star, whose insecurities and
inability to cope with real life situations are funny and sad, but true nevertheless.
Jake, with his compulsive need for his son, his private longings and secret anguish, is
also a very likeable and convincing. Together the two of them make the reader laugh, cry
and desperately hope for a happy ending. Of side characters there are plenty and
they’re as unique as the main protagonists themselves and it is to be hoped that Ms.
Plumley is kind enough to give some of them their own books.
All in all - a slick plot, enticing
characterizations, plentiful humorous moments, and pulsating romance, make ‘Perfect
Together’ simply perfect for the readers.
Reviewed By Rashmi Srinivas for The Road to
Romance
March 3, 2003
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