Jennifer Crusie, Manhunting

Manhunting

Jennifer Crusie

Harlequin HQN, Feb 2007, $16.95

ISBN: 0373772513

Thirty-five years old Kate Svenson is a successful businesswoman, pretty and healthy but as she counts her blessings she is bored. When she tells her best friend Jessie Rogers that she is near the top of her list of personal blessings; the Audrey Hepburn look alike retorts that she is pathetically at the top. Three horrible engagements in three years have left her fearful of ever finding the right man. Jessie further states that Kate hates her job and has not been happily employed since she left the Small Business Administration. Realizing how good she is at planning business ventures and with Jessie bullying her, Kate develops a plan with specific objectives to find her Mr. Right.

Jessie selects The Cabins Resort in Kentucky as a likely place to meet bachelors, who possess more money than she will inherit so wealth is not an issue, ambition to achieve life goals, and look reasonably decent is. At the resort she meets a horde of males who meet her criteria. Mellow Jake Templeton, whose brother owns the place, is sick of these inane fools half drowning in the pool because of her. Kate finds jackass Jake as the Mr. Right while he struggles to hide his attraction to kiss me Kate while love hijacks both of them.

Manhunting is a humorous chick lit romance starring a depressed woman who in spite of her successes feels like life is passing her by and the hunk who tries to ignore her, but when that fails he attempts to masquerade his desire with indifference. The storyline will have readers laughing due mostly to the antics of the wannabe mates at the cabins who will don anything inane to gain Kate's attention. Fans of lighthearted fun tales will want to visit the Kentucky cabins where the bantering between the lead "antagonists" is worth the admission price.

Harriet Klausner