The minute we meet Lizzie Guidry and Martin Taylor, they hate each other so much that you just know they're going to wind up together at the end of the book. She works for the mayor; he's a newspaper publisher -- who just happens to refer to Lizzie as the "mayor's pooper-scooper" in an editorial. Yep, that's an auspicious beginning.
We soon learn that Martin's newspaper is in dire financial straits ... and that Lizzie has a winning lottery ticket (although she doesn't know it yet) stuck to the front of her fridge with a magnet. Because Martin knows it's a winning ticket (view spoiler), he decides that pretending to be interested in Lizzie will be a good way to convince her to part with some of the money to help him out.
This book is riddle with editorial errors, like Martin "exhuming charm" instead of exuding it -- although I suppose he could be trying to dig it up after it's died. Lizzie also "balls her eyes out" instead of bawling, and she spends a lot of time "starring" at things instead of staring. The author also can't seem to decide whether Lizzie has auburn hair or brown hair ... and the two are not interchangeable.
And yet, I kept reading ... because I was curious about how the author would resolve the matter of the lotto ticket. Toward the end of the book, I was really sorry I did. Martin and Lizzie actually start to develop feelings for each other, and one night when she is inebriated she makes a confession to Martin about her lack of experience in the bedroom. (view spoiler)
Anyway, everything winds up resolved some far too convenient ways, and I spent the rest of the book ticked off at both of the main characters.
I just can't recommend this book.
2
 - Cherie Claire)
