"Delightful Beginning to A Very Promising Trilogy"

THE SPARKLING ONE opens with a delightful prologue featuring 3 giggling young Marcelli sisters daring each other to kiss a frog. Katie actually does and dreams that someday her prince will ride up on a white charger and they will live happily everafter.

As the story opens many years later, Katie has kissed a lot of frogs; but hasn't found her Prince yet. Enter Zach Stryker her stunning new client. Katie is immediately dazzled both by Zach's good looks and the boost to her company's business planning his law firm's Charity event will bring.

What Katie doesn't know until later that day is that Zach selected her because his 18 year old son is engaged to her 18 year old sister. Zach is sure that Katie and the Marcelli family will back him up in his belief that the kids are too young for marriage. Zach is in for a shock when over dinner he discovers that the Marcelli's are all for young marriages and that the family Patriarch is frantic for a Great-grandson to take over the winery.

Zach is frank with Katie about his belief Mia and David are too young and about to make a mistake that will change their lives. Katie disagrees, but does listen to Zach's arguments and finds herself gradually slipping under his spell.

Katie is also trying to help her sister Brenna cope with divorcing her cheating spouse. No one in the Marcelli family has ever been divorced and Brenna is having a terrible time coping with her husband's infidelity and the disapproval of her grandparents at her marriage's demise.

In THE SPARKLING ONE Susan Mallery has created a family that while eccentric are both lovable and interesting. The relationship between the four sisters is wonderful. Their dialogue is believable and the tale of how each came to have a nickname is both sweet and funny. To divulge more would be a spoiler that would cheat readers from discovering this fun tale themselves.

In Zach Stryker, Mallery has created a unique hero. Zach is a divorce lawyer, a real shark for his clients and completely ruthless in the bargain. His one soft spot is his son David and he will do anything to keep David from ruining his life. David was born when Zach was 17 and when David's Mother ran out, Zach took over completely. Zach is smart, funny and very sexy. The love scenes here are both hot and creative. Watching Katie and Zach battle each other and the Marcelli's was such fun that I can hardly wait for Brenna and Francesca's stories to appear. This trilogy looks to be a real winner with Mallery's delightful humor, believable characters and an unusual couple who's happily everafter seemed very believable.

Reviewed by Linda Hurst
Posted September 1, 2003

Summary

A party planner extraordiinaire, Katie Marcelli loves her big, boisterous family - even when their chronic matchmaking drives her crazy! In the Marcelli household, fine wine and good food are as celebrated as true love, so when her eighteen-year-old sister announces her engagement, Katie promises her the perfect wedding. there's only one hitch: the father of the groom, Zach Styker, who is adamantly opposed to his son marrying so young. Now, despite her instant attraction to the handsome, arrogant attorney, Katie must approach with caution: Zach, who hired Katie for a major fundraiser, holds the fate of her business in his hands - and how can she trust a man who is willing to break her sister's heart? It will take a passionate battle of wills to determine if wedding bells will ring for a Marcelli bride, and to unlock the deepest desires - for family, love, and home - inside a strong- willed man's heart.