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Four years later and with some help from her
shrink, Amy Sheridan is only now coming to terms with having lost her
fiancé to her best friend, the beautiful blonde prom queen and ultimate
user, Tara Messer. Currently Amy’s working at publishers’ Lowry and
Trammel in Manhattan as a publicity director, a job at which she’s good
and one she loves. But one day, Amy has the misfortune to run into Tara,
who’s now married to Amy’s ex-fiancé, and listen to Tara boast and gloat
about her wonderful and luxurious married life. So when Tara asks her
about her love life, instead of admitting that she doesn’t have a
boyfriend, Amy lies that she’s getting married in six months.
When she goes to work the next day, Amy’s the given
the assignment to drum up publicity for the lifestyle book that Tara’s
written and which Lowry and Trammel have acquired hoping that Tara will
turn out to be the next Martha Stewart. This means that not only does
Amy now have to promote her nemesis, but also pay for her impetuous lie
as Tara insists on meeting with Amy’s fiancé. Still unwilling to come
clean, Amy desperately searches for a temporary fiancé with whom to
impress Tara but the only one who’s even the least bit suitable is the
famous mystery author, Tony Stiles. Only problem is Tony and Amy have
never liked each other in the least. Will Amy give up, will she take the
high road and forget the past or will she take revenge?
Jane Heller’s droll new novel is replete with the
tongue-in-cheek kind of observations and humorous witticisms which have
become her trademark and which time and time again, hold the readers
captive. The plot at first appears to be thin one – former best friends
are now best enemies and revenge is the order of the day. So far there’s
nothing new or exceptional about this book. But the author has more
surprises in store for her readers. Suffice to say, that the story takes
a sudden twist in the middle and the second half of the book is not only
novel, but also a treat to read. Ms. Heller cleverly shows that there’s
more than one side to the same story, and that in life, there is not
such clear cut thing as black and white. While Amy is undoubtedly the
central character, both her and Tara’s characters are explored in detail
- their past, their present and how they’ve influenced one another,
becomes a crucial part of the story. There is also some tepid romance
and a very intriguing little mystery to spice up the story. Humor is
integral to the story and it mainly comes from the characters’ trying to
keep up appearances and pretending to be what they aren’t. This
obviously leads to a lot of witty subterfuge, inventive lies and
confusion which only further the amusement. This Jane Heller novel is
guaranteed to lift the spirits of its readers.
Reviewed By Rashmi Srinivas for The Road to
Romance
January 26, 2004 |
