Boy Meets Girl
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Overview
Meet Kate Mackenzie. She:
- works for the T.O.D. (short for TyrannicalOffice Despot, also known as Amy Jenkins,Director of the Human Resources Divisionat the New York Journal)
- is sleeping on the couch because herboyfriend of ten years refuses to commit
- can't find an affordable studio apartmentanywhere in New York City
- thinks things can't get any worse.
They can. Because:
- the T.O.D. is making her fire the most popularemployee in the paper's senior staff dining room
- that employee is now suing Kate for wrongfultermination, and
- now Kate has to give a deposition in front ofMitch Hertzog, the scion of one of Manhattan's wealthiest law families,who embraces everything Kate most despises ... but also happens to have a nice smile and a killer bod.
The last thing anybody — least of all Kate Mackenzie — expects to findin a legal arbitration is love. But that's the kind of thing that canhappen when ... Boy Meets Girl.
Synopsis
Meet Kate Mackenzie. She:
- works for the T.O.D. (short for Tyrannical Office Despot, also known as Amy Jenkins, Director of the Human Resources Division at the New York Journal)
- is sleeping on the couch because her boyfriend of ten years refuses to commit
- can't find an affordable studio apartment anywhere in New York City
- thinks things can't get any worse.
They can. Because:
- the T.O.D. is making her fire the most popular employee in the paper's senior staff dining room
- that employee is now suing Kate for wrongful termination, and
- now Kate has to give a deposition in front of Mitch Hertzog, the scion of one of Manhattan's wealthiest law families, who embraces everything Kate most despises ... but also happens to have a nice smile and a killer bod.
The last thing anybody — least of all Kate Mackenzie — expects to find in a legal arbitration is love. But that's the kind of thing that can happen when ... Boy Meets Girl.
Publishers Weekly
This latest adult novel by the prolific Cabot (she's responsible for the ever-popular Princess Diaries franchise) unfolds, like 2002's The Boy Next Door, entirely through e-mails, journals, instant messages, phone mail, deposition transcripts, notes scribbled on menus, to-do lists and other hallmarks of a modern girl's life. Kate Mackenzie, an idealistic HR representative at the New York Journal, has just been forced by her evil boss, Amy Jenkins, to fire Ida Lopez, the wildly popular dessert cart lady at the company cafeteria. Ida bakes delectable goodies, but she won't serve them to priggish Stuart Hertzog, the paper's legal counsel, who happens to be engaged to Amy, known as the T.O.D. (tyrannical office despot) to Kate and her best friend and co-worker Jen. Sweet Ida sues for wrongful termination, and Stuart charges his younger brother, Mitch, with handling this delicate matter. But Mitch actually cares about justice more than his brother's bitchy fiancee (he's only working at the family firm at his sick father's request), and he quickly confounds Kate's expectations with his Rocky and Bullwinkle tie and "tie-him-to-the-bed" good looks. When the T.O.D. tries to lay the blame for her HR blunder on Kate, Mitch goes to the furthest reaches of lawyerly chivalry to save his ladylove. Studded with humorous details poking fun at social climbers and corporate drones, this book is less a novel than a collection of lighthearted barbs, gleeful clich s and panicky (but comic and brief) freakouts. Cabot's 20-something fans will likely devour this fluffy, fun urban fairy tale. (Jan.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewMeg Cabot, a New York Times bestseller known for her historical romances and her popular Princess Diaries series, turns her attention to the challenges of the modern age in this humorous tale of life and love gone wrong. Kate Mackenzie, human resources representative at a big New York photo-newspaper, has hit rock bottom. Her boyfriend of ten years has announced he cannot commit; she can't find an affordable studio on her measly salary; and her loathsome boss has asked her to fire Ida Lopez, the creator of the best chocolate chip cookie on the planet and the most popular employee in the staff dining room. When Ida sues the paper, Kate is forced to give a deposition in front of Ida's lawyer, Mitch Herzog, who just happens to be the brother of the man her tyrannical boss is about to marry. But if Mitch is against her, why does he keep asking her out? Cabot employs the formats of emails, phone messages, instant messages, to-do lists, and internal memos to deliver the plot, along with a big dash of contemporary office culture. Ginger Curwen
Booklist
"Cabot’s novel is delightfully fun to read."“You’ve got murder, romance,and mistaken identity, and the license to read in public—what else can you ask for?”
“You’ve got murder, romance,and mistaken identity, and the license to read in public—what else can you ask for?”
This latest adult novel by the prolific Cabot (she's responsible for the ever-popular Princess Diaries franchise) unfolds, like 2002's The Boy Next Door, entirely through e-mails, journals, instant messages, phone mail, deposition transcripts, notes scribbled on menus, to-do lists and other hallmarks of a modern girl's life. Kate Mackenzie, an idealistic HR representative at the New York Journal, has just been forced by her evil boss, Amy Jenkins, to fire Ida Lopez, the wildly popular dessert cart lady at the company cafeteria. Ida bakes delectable goodies, but she won't serve them to priggish Stuart Hertzog, the paper's legal counsel, who happens to be engaged to Amy, known as the T.O.D. (tyrannical office despot) to Kate and her best friend and co-worker Jen. Sweet Ida sues for wrongful termination, and Stuart charges his younger brother, Mitch, with handling this delicate matter. But Mitch actually cares about justice more than his brother's bitchy fiancee (he's only working at the family firm at his sick father's request), and he quickly confounds Kate's expectations with his Rocky and Bullwinkle tie and "tie-him-to-the-bed" good looks. When the T.O.D. tries to lay the blame for her HR blunder on Kate, Mitch goes to the furthest reaches of lawyerly chivalry to save his ladylove. Studded with humorous details poking fun at social climbers and corporate drones, this book is less a novel than a collection of lighthearted barbs, gleeful clich s and panicky (but comic and brief) freakouts. Cabot's 20-something fans will likely devour this fluffy, fun urban fairy tale. (Jan.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kate McKenzie, a left-leaning Kentuckian social worker transplanted to the New York Journal's HR department, struggles to do right by her employees, but it is not easy. Her "Tyrannical Office Despot" of a boss, Amy Jenkins, forces Kate to fire Ida Lopez, the paper's beloved but eccentric pastry chef, who then sues the Journal for breach of contract. In addition, Kate has just left her boyfriend of ten years, a commitment-phobic wannabe rock star, so she is staying with her best friend, Jen Sadler. But Kate's workplace, relationship, and housing woes are nothing compared to the wackiness that ensues after she meets Mitch Hertzog, the Journal's seemingly soulless corporate drone of an attorney in Ida's case against the paper. Readers will know instantly that Mitch is a total catch—he wears superhero neckties given to him by his nieces, after all—but it takes Kate nearly the entire book to get it. And that is just as well, because half the fun of Cabot's books is following her heroines from initial cluelessness to rapturous true love. A breezy Pride and Prejudice for the digital age, this novel boasts a soap operatic plot full of entertainingly convoluted twists, double- and triple-crosses, and a huge chorus of tertiary characters. The speedy pacing never falters, every character's voice is sharply defined, and the all e-mail format imbues the story with an immediate, conversational tone. This towering confection of a novel will please fans of Cabot's previous Journal-set novel, Boy Next Door (Avon, 2002), and will leave them clamoring for more. VOYA Codes 3Q 4P S A/YA (Readable without serious defects; Broad general YA appeal; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12;Adult-marketed book recommended for Young Adults). 2004, Avon/HarperCollins, 383p., Trade pb. Ages 15 to Adult.
—Sophie Brookover
Twentysomething Kate Mackenzie, who works and lives in New York City, is a typical chick-lit heroine: she hates her boss and has just broken up with her longtime boyfriend because he can't commit. Her job as a human resources representative at the New York Journal brings her to the center of controversy when her boss makes her fire the popular Dessert Cart Lady, Ida Lopez, whose desserts are so divine that she decides she can withhold them from anyone she pleases. When she refuses to serve pie to Kate's boss's boyfriend, the Dessert Lady is done for. The grievance suit that ensues brings Kate in contact with the perfect guy, but he's a lawyer, so it takes Kate a while to realize that they're meant to be together. The creative way the story is told-exclusively through email, office communication, answering machine messages, and other inventive means-makes this otherwise typical tale a fun, quick read from the author of the "Princess Diaries" series. Recommended for all public libraries.-Karen Core, Enoch Pratt Free Lib., Baltimore Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.