"Chick lit"

Monique St. Cyr dreams of becoming an investigative reporter, but currently works the obituary column for the Portland Enquirer. Next door lives her mother Anne Marie, who is better known as erotic fiction writer Busty Galore. As Busty, Anne Marie uses her daughter's identity to seem sexier and to obtain information on online dating for her new novel. One day after Monique leaves for work, Anne Marie enters her daughter's house to check the email as she put out a feeler for men to contact Monique. However, Monique comes home, hears a noise, panics and calls 911. Police officer Jake Dube answers the call that turns out to be a false alarm.

Jake starts dating Monique, as he is very attracted to her. To stay out of trouble at work, Monique concocts a plot where she pretends to have a street informer looking for money for information. Her editor funds her to buy the information. Monique hides her loot in a birdcage, but her foul-mouthed fowl chews the money into pieces. As she struggles to find a survival path, Monique dives from one problem into a deeper dilemma while losing Jake because the man she loves no longer trusts her.

Though the lies told by Monique will bother some readers, this chick lit tale is enhanced by the lead character's online dating fiasco. Jake is a wonderful hunk and Monique's mother is a work of art, but the tale belongs to the lead heroine who goes at one speed: full warp into an abyss of spiraling trouble regardless of personal consequences.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted March 30, 2003