Hester Browne, Little Lady, Big Apple

Little Lady, Big Apple

Hester Browne

Pocket, Feb 2007, $23.00

ISBN: 1416514930

In London, using the false persona of Honey Blennerhesket, Melissa Romney-Jones runs The Little Lady Agency that assists helpless bachelors with every possible service a girlfriend could provide except for sex. Though her male clients salivate over Honey, her boyfriend, American realtor Jonathan Riley loves Melissa. He returns to New York, but misses his beloved so he invites Melissa to spend a month with him in the Big Apple. However, though she misses her cherished American, business is booming, her family is as always in crisis, and the blonde wig seems so appealing.

Finally she accepts because the time with her beloved sounds so appealing. In New York, Jonathan nudges Melissa to become his fianc e, but she has doubts as her life, her family, and her business is on the eastern side of the big pond. Worse, his first marriage keeps surfacing, making her feel inadequate as number two can try harder but never be equal to number one. Finally, with Jonathan working so much, Melissa begins a Big Apple equivalent of her Little Lady agency that leads to an angry argument between the lovers. She returns home alone wondering how she can mend her broken heart.

The sequel to the charming LITTLE LADY AGENCY is a wonderful chick lit tale that is as good if not better than the first Honey novel. The lead couple's relationship is fun to follow, but it is the observation asides of Melissa that makes for an amusing deep look at life in Manhattan from the viewpoint of a Londoner. Readers will enjoy eating Hudson River sediment bagels in Central Park with Melissa, watching Honey help the seemingly helpless and sharing cocktails with the heroine as she takes a bite out of the Big Apple.

Harriet Klausner