"Laugh out loud misadventures of finding the perfect mate"

35 and single, high school drama teacher Kathryn 'Kitty' Lamb enrolls in the Six in the City matchmaking service which guarantees five matches or she receives her money back. Unfortunately for Kitty, she is immediately attracted to the owner's son, Walker 'Bear' Hart, who is temporarily managing the business while his much-married mother is off on another honeymoon. Bear, a highly respected financial analyst, is understandably marriage shy and although willing to have an affair with Kitty, Bear decides instead to focus on finding Kitty the perfect bachelor. As their relationship progresses from strictly business to temporary roommates, Kitty and Bear find it increasingly difficult to remain just friends. Since Bear won't consider anything permanent, Kitty continues on a series of dates that range from scary (she is caught in a shootout and arrested as a hooker while having dinner with an undercover cop) to creepy (an English teacher invites Kitty home to meet his long-dead mother). But how can Kitty expect to meet the perfect mate when Bear is always on her mind?

I laughed out loud at the funny dialogue and crazy situations in this contemporary romance. The author has created quirky but memorable characters in Bear, Kitty, their friends, and assorted family members, especially Rushie, Bear's eccentric mother. Leslie Carroll's fresh and original novel will appeal to readers of Elizabeth Bevarly, Susan Andersen, and Rachel Gibson and I eagerly look forward to her next book.

Carroll

Reviewed by Doris Losey
Posted May 8, 2002

Summary

High school drama teacher Kathryn Lamb, at the insistence of a pushy neighbor, enrolls with Six and the City, a dating service that guarantees her five fix-ups with eligible bachelors, all of whom are ostensibly interested in commitment. But from the second she meets Walker "Bear" Hart, the hunky manager of the matchmaking service, sparks fly and sexual tension crackles. The problem is that Kathryn has come to Six in the City to find a husband.

Bear has never seen a happy marriage in his life. His mother, the oft-married actual owner of Six in the City, keeps fixing herself up with her own clients and jetting off on honeymoons. And Bear finds nothing more depressing than matching up desperate singles. But his attraction to Kathryn makes him begin to question his firm conviction to remain a bachelor forever. And it's his job to find her five other possible husbands. Keeping his jealousy in check is nearly impossible.

Bear matches Kathryn up with an assortment of eligibles: a bad boy rock 'n' roller, an undercover narcotics detective, a Very Famous Actor, a high school English teacher, and an airline pilot. Any time things go dizzily wrong, guess who's there to rescue her?