Mia King, Good Things

Good Things

Mia King

Berkley, Feb 2007, $14.00

ISBN 0425213714

In Seattle, TV show host of the successful Live Simple, forty-year-old Deidre McIntosh, feels on top of the world. Her show is on a five year run that looks like it will continue indefinitely and she shares a terrific apartment with a close friend. On top of that, her investment portfolio is blooming.

Her world crumbles rather quickly as her show is canceled, her investments tank, and her friend moves in with his gay lover. She has no job, no money and no place to live as she can no longer live in her current abode. She meets Kevin Johnson, who offers her his vacation home in rustic Jacob's Point. Thinking this will buy her time to regroup, she travels to the backwater town. Though feeling like a fish out of water, Deidre brings in income by selling gourmet goods to Lindsey Miller, owner of a local eating spot. After a few months of hiatus, Deirdre has a plan to get back on the air in Seattle, but that means leaving behind friends, particularly Kevin, who is beginning to own her heart.

Deirdre is a combination energizer bunny/Pollyanna as she believes she will be back on top of the game shortly. The storyline focuses on her "I will return"; but the second time around she has a new dilemma, Kevin. During her five-year stay at the top, she had no personal life and assumes that is the norm. Will she pick career or love? In spite of Kevin insisting she can have both, Deidre thinks otherwise. Though perhaps too sweet, GOOD THINGS is a fun, contemporary romance that fans who enjoy a lighthearted fare will appreciate.

Harriet Klausner