Synopsis
A hilarious tale of girl meets boy, girl falls in lust, girl discovers boy is not playing with a full deck...
When Kas meets William while on safari in South Africa he seems perfect-a gorgeous park ranger, both kind and brave (he saved the tour from certain death by water buffalo). Her two best friends, Max, an endlessly scheming personal trainer, and Libby, a jobless bombshell, would like to get their hands on William...but he's only interested in Kas, an editorial assistant at a struggling New York literary agency who thinks William is out of her league. The two have a fling, and Kas returns home to New York wondering if she'll hear from William again. So when he finally sends an email, she's delighted.
Until she opens it.
The email is not quite the love missive Kas expected. Did she misjudge William? A miscommunication ensues, triggering a rapid-fire series of comic developments that, within days, bring William to New York, now under the impression that Kas has offered him a place to live. As he unveils his big plan to take Manhattan by storm and make his fortune, Kas finally recognizes how limited William's intellectual capabilities are: He makes Kevin Federline look like Albert Einstein.
Readers are along for the outrageous ride as Kas copes with her new roommate's eccentricities, including a preoccupation with the Psychic Friends Network and a passion for collecting Big Apple-themed souvenirs, and the realization that her dream man is a comic nightmare.
"Elaine Szewczyk is smart and funny, and knows that New York bars and African safaris have something important in common: When it comes to dating, it's a jungle out there. If you savor Sophie Kinsella or Lauren Weisberger, you'll want to add her to your reading list."—-Chris Bohjalian, author of MIDWIVES, THE DOUBLE BIND, and SKELETONS AT THE FEAST
"Spirited, irreverent, bilious, and above all funny, Elaine Szewczyk's bitter cocktail provides a much-needed antidote for the chick-lit genre..."—-Adam Langer, author of Ellington Boulevard, Crossing California, and The Washington Story
Publishers Weekly
Szewczyk's entertaining debut novel chronicles a one-night stand gone wrong. Kas Sienkiewicz and her buddy Libby are whisked away by their rich layabout friend, Max, on a luxurious South African vacation. At the posh resort, Kas catches the attention of hunky ranger William Johnson. Nursing a wounded ego after learning that her ex was cheating on her (and his fiancée), Kas heeds her friends' urgings and has a fling with William. When he later turns up in New York, the well-meaning if culturally backward William convinces Kas to take him in, and he gets to work on an ill-fated book. Scenes involving Kas's Polish immigrant parents and their reactions to the new presence in Kas's life are stellar. Subplots involving an arrogant and wealthy tube sock heir and Max's ongoing revenge campaign against Kas's ex simmer, sometimes hilariously, and Szewczyk, an editor at Kirkus Reviews, keeps the story moving briskly with breezy prose, witty one-liners and goofball antics. (July)
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