"Lighthearted contemporary romance"

Four months ago Jenna McBride ended her engagement to Brandon Rice. To provide a bit of elbow room since they traveled similar circles, Jenna left Boston for Seattle where she joined her best friend Candice Hammond in a partnership, Canna Interior. However, Brandon refuses to accept no.

The IPS Detective Agency is flat broke due to one of the partners Reggie Sandhill defrauding the firm and several clients. Tyler Reeve is left cleaning up the mess as he believes his reputation and more is at stake. He refuses to turn to his family, owners of the Reeves-DuCartier International. Brandon hires Tyler to determine whether his fiancee Jenna is cheating on him. The job is relatively easy because his older brother purposely hires Canna Interior to decorate the Quayside Hotel. However, Jenna and Tyler are attracted to one another from the start of his surveillance and soon fall in love, but he knows how precarious their relationship is once she learns whom their matchmaker is.

Readers who enjoy a lighthearted contemporary romance will gain much pleasure from NEXT TO NOTHING. The story line is relatively simplistic yet fun to follow as Tyler struggles between work ethics and his growing desire for Jenna. Though Brandon is a caricature of a control freak (a nose job -- read the book), fans will Barbara Dunlop's warm tale due to the delightful lead couple and a strong supporting cast (her friend and his family).

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted October 15, 2002