"Delightful contemporary romance"

Hollywood agent Vivienne Varner finds former heartthrob Noah Patrick deciding whether to kill himself after he self-destructs his career with booze. However, she offers the former TV star, a second chance, which he accepts. Years ago Noah co-starred with Vivienne's daughter Lindsay Varner West on the popular show Betwixt and Be Teen. However, Lindsay hated it and left town. Now Lindsay's sister Jolie has persuaded her to perform in a play she wrote. Vivienne's plan includes Noah joining Lindsay on stage in a PR mega triumph of where are they now.

Vivienne has a hidden agenda after years of playing the cold hearted bi*ch. She feels she owes Jolie who she ignored as untalented and wants to make it up to her by insuring her play and theater is a success. She feels she hurt Lindsay by pushing her into TV and she needs to help Noah regain his former self minus the booze because she needs to prove she is human. She also wants her beloved grandson to have two parents. Encouraged by the machinations of her relatives, Noah and Lindsay's RETURN ENGAGEMENT includes love, but the teen secret she hid from him makes a permanent relationship seem impossible.

Readers will enjoy this delightful contemporary romance that focuses on redemption and second chances. The story line engages the audience as the lead couple and Vivienne seek to fix relationships. Though the teen tale has been used too often and adds some tension, it is an unnecessary sidebar. Still Lynn Michaels provides her audience with a strong novel that centers on mending fences as much as it does on love.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted October 9, 2003

Summary

Act One: Girl Leaves Boy Lindsay West may have the face of a Hollywood starlet, but the demanding life of a teen celebrity never suited her. So nearly twenty years ago, she left her hit TV show and returned to her hometown of Belle Coeur, Missouri. Now Lindsay takes a role in a new play at a regional theater, unaware that she'll be sharing the stage with her former cast mate, one-time heartthrob Noah Patrick. Act Two: Boy Tries to Win Back Girl Noah Patrick took the gig at the Belle Coeur Theater hoping it would help revive his stalled career--but it was his heart that got the jumpstart. Playing opposite the beautiful and enigmatic Lindsay, he begins to understand that fame is fickle and fortune is fleeting but true love lasts. Growing up together on the set of the show that made them both stars, Noah didn't give Lindsay much thought. But now she has grown into someone impossible to forget. Act Three: Anyone's Guess Fighting off man-eating bears, Lindsay's quirky family, and a pretty serious case of pneumonia, Noah will do whatever it takes to prove that this former bad boy has turned into a man Lindsay can love . . . before the curtain falls!