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Justin Kane is in a
bind when his girlfriend of six months dumps him only days before an
important business deal. The very same deal that requires him to show
stability in both business and his personal life. Not one to give up his
life’s work on a technicality, he comes upon the idea to find a
substitute girlfriend!
Magee Sinclair has
worked in her father’s ad agency for the last few months. At first,
everything worked out fine. That is, until she starts to bumble the
client accounts. Now, three clients have left, the company is in the red
and it’s all her fault. To save her job, to prove she is competent, she
has to land the next client, by any means necessary.
Justin meets with
Magee for a business dinner. And for Justin, everything falls into
place. She can pretend to be his girlfriend; her resume shows she has
all the qualities he needs. And the farce continues from there. Justin
starts scheming immediately, planning a practice date to get all the
details down pat. Nothing can go wrong this weekend. Only, nothing goes
right! He is starting to fall for Magee and if that is not enough, his
old girlfriend shows up to complicate matters. Magee has her own
problems. She is starting to fall in love with a man who is only
concerned with his business. And if that is not enough, her lies start
to eat at her conscience. The need to confess, to both Justin and to the
prospective buyers, grows each day. Their lies lead them down a slippery
slope, one that can lead to their ruin or … love?
Cindy Procter-King
is a master storyteller. Not only do her characters invite the readers
into the drama, the humor is non-stop. Comedy is a hard genre to write
but Cindy Procter-King does it easily. This is one of the better, if not
the best, novels in this genre available. She effectively keeps the
readers turning the pages and leaves us with a comedy of believable
errors that moves the story forward at a fast pace. Keep an eye on this
author, for if this novel is any indication, you will be seeing a lot
more from her in the future.
Reviewed by Stacey
Brutger for The Road to Romance
October 2, 2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NovelBooks, Inc
Published 2002
HEAD OVER HEELS, by Author Cindy Procter-King is an amusing tale of
how one lie perpetuates another, but two people who make it work.
Advertising exec Magee (Pronounced McGee) Sinclair has been having a run
of bad luck lately. She's being groomed by her father to take his place
in the family advertising business. But over the past year, things just
seem to keep fouling up, and going wrong. What Magee needs is to make a
big Score! Just one.
Enter Justin Kane. His CycleMania high performance cycle stores are
doing so well that he's looking to expand and he and Magee have been in
contact, considering concepts and negotiating for two months. Things
seem to be progressing nicely until Justin's girlfriend breaks up with
him just before the all-important weekend with a client who is
considering investing in his project. The Willoughby's believe in
family, and Justin showing up without his significant other just isn't
an option if he wants to sign with the conservative company.
Justin needs the investors in order to expand, which in turn, will
employ Magee's agency to do the advertising on the bigger venture.
Because the Willoughby's only know "Tina" by name, Justin enlists Magee
to pose as the errant girlfriend. They can help each other if Magee will
pose as Tina for the weekend. Simple, right? Wrong!
From the moment Justin and Magee begin planning their masquerade, things
go downhill. They manage to keep their focus on landing the account, but
something else happens that turns them both HEAD OVER HEELS.
Justin kisses Magee and in that instant, he feels more for this woman
than he's ever felt for his ex-girlfriend, or any woman in his life! How
can he tell Magee that his show of affection might just be real? But
Magee is so evading and standoffish that Justin keeps mum about the
emotions rolling over him every time she's near.
Magee, on the other hand, can't stand Justin touching her. Maybe it's
because "Tina" would be getting all the attention if she were in Magee's
place. But really, she's just too vulnerable when Justin so much as
holds her hand, and she reacts like a shrew and shy away in order to
guard her heart against the powerful sexual lure she feels.
Will these two be able to pull off the girlfriend switch and clinch the
deal? And will their mutual attraction come to fruition? Or will the
secret Magee harbors and the lie Justin has tangled her in turn them
against each other?
Or…will they fall HEAD OVER HEELS in love? Enjoy the ride through their
bumpy, unconventional relationship and find out! Ms. Procter-King's
novel had me chuckling at the predicaments that Magee found herself in
time and time again. And poor Justin hadn't a clue which way was up at
times! Their "get acquainted" date set the tone for the whole story, it
had disaster written all over it! I was glad to read Magee's confidence
build as her patience wore thin. Justin's not so subtle attempts to make
them appear a loving couple made me laugh every time Magee yanked her
hand away. It put me in mind of physical comedy, and I love that! I
could just "see" Justin looking at her in confusion, and exasperation!
A recommended read, and a fun "week in the life of " two delightful
characters trying to find the truth in themselves while trying to keep
their bluff simple, and simply not succeeding!
Reviewed by Morgan Arce for the Road to Romance
May 21, 2002 |
