Betsy Burke Hardly Working

Hardly Working

Betsy Burke

Red Dress, Nov 2005, $12.95, 288 pp.

ISBN: 0373895429

The workers at the Vancouver office of Green World International are concerned with the front office sending hatchet man Ian "Mr. Darkside" Trutch to shake up the place; in his last site in Ottawa, several empty desks appeared over night. Thirty year old public relations specialist Dinah Nichols, finds herself fascinated with Ian, and soon they sleep together. However, she and others become concerned with a water deal that Ian is working on, that seems ethically wrong.

Meanwhile Dinah, who is seeing a psychologist over a need to know the identity of who sired her, decides to search for her dad, although her mother offers no help. Dinah is also attracted to her neighbor Jon, who she believes is gay, even though they slept together once. He is always frequenting gay bars, and hugging his sometime roommate Kevin. Finally when the water deal seems a sure thing that will hurt people, Dinah and the "Eco-girls" form to warn the public through small "Eco-terrorist" acts.

The environmental issue adds a serious tone to what otherwise is a lighthearted romantic romp. The storyline moves on three plot lines with the impact on the staff, by the downsizing vulture Trutch, and the water deal converging, while the third is more a parallel chick lit subplot focusing on the relationship between Dinah and Jon. Dinah matures during the tale, as she learns some things are worth risking security for, as she goes from HARDLY WORKING to a fully deployed person.