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Queen Takes King by Gigi Levangie Grazer — book cover

Queen Takes King

by Gigi Levangie Grazer
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Overview

Jacks Power: The prodigal son, heir to millions, built his own Manhattan real estate empire and revels in seeing his moniker on glittering skyscrapers around the city. Here’s a man who always loved to see his name in ink. Until now.

Cynthia Hunsaker Power: The epitome of elegance and society, the former prima ballerina met a struggling painter, fell in love, and only later learned she’d won the Power lottery.

The morning after the Power silver anniversary gala at the Waldorf, Jacks appears twice in the New York Post—once gallantly dancing with his wife of twenty-five years; and once hand-in-hand with Lara Sizemore, morning television star, exiting her Upper West Side apartment building that very same night.

Let the Divorce Games begin.

Whether they’re changing the locks on each other in their Park Avenue triplex or sabotaging each other’s dinner parties, the Powers’ split-up will trump the most scandalous divorces known to polite New York society. It’s a battle of wits, of charm, of two of the biggest egos—and personalities and bank accounts—in Manhattan, and neither side will go down without a fight.

Synopsis

Jackson Power. A name like the man himself: aggressive, ambitious, bullish. The prodigal son, heir to millions, built his own Manhattan real estate empire and revels in seeing his moniker — Power! — on glittering skyscrapers around the city that never sleeps. Beneath his desk in the towering Power headquarters, Jacks has a stack of newspapers and photographs of himself, shaking hands with the most famous men and women of his generation. Here's a man who's always loved to see his name in ink. Until now.

Cynthia Hunsaker Power. She is the epitome of elegance and society. The perfect foil for a man of Jacks's stature — his first and only wife, he'd proudly tell any of his Master of the Universe (read: Gargoyle) friends. The former prima ballerina arrived in New York at eighteen, off the bus from Missouri, brimming with talent, beauty, and drive. She met a struggling painter, fell in love, and only later learned she'd won the Power lottery. Now she sits on the New York Ballet Theater board, effortlessly outdoing herself with one gala after another. But the press coverage of the Power silver anniversary party at the Waldorf takes the cake.

Jacks Power appears twice in the New York Post the next morning — once gallantly dancing with his wife of twenty-five years, Cynthia; and once hand in hand with Lara Sizemore, morning television star, exiting her Upper West Side apartment building that very same night.

To Jackson Power, Lara is ever ything his wife Cynthia is not — wild, voluptuous, mysterious, and selfsustaining. A new passion has swept Jacks off his well-shod feet — and she is Lara Sizemore. He is ready for the divorce, ready to marry his mistress, America's Sweetheart. But Cynthia isn't ready to be swept out of the picture quite so easily.

Let the Divorce Games begin.

Whether they're changing the locks on each other in their Park Avenue triplex or sabotaging each other's dinner parties, it's The People's Billionaire vs. The Ballerina, in a split-up that will trump the most scandalous divorces known to polite New York society. Cynthia's got their twenty-five-year-old artist daughter, Vivienne, in her camp; Jacks has the young bartending playwright Adrian, whom he intends to pay to seduce Cynthia into an easy split. But Cynthia might have a few tricks up her well-tailored Chanel sleeve, and she — like Jacks — is prepared to use every weapon in her divorce arsenal to win the game. It's a battle of wits, of charm, of two of the biggest egos — and personalities and bank accounts — in Manhattan, and neither side will go down without a fight.

From beloved and best selling author Gigi Levangie Grazer comes a sexy, sassy, smart new novel, Queen Takes King.

Publishers Weekly

It's War of the Roses fought by The Real Housewives of New York in this hilarious if overlong morality tale of young love, old fools and happy endings. After 25 years of marriage-most of it squandered on unspoken disappointment, stifled grief and wasted affection-ex-ballerina Cynthia Power and real estate tycoon hubby Jackson are headed for divorce. At the same time, Jackson's latest condo project is teetering and Carolyn's ballet board is in turmoil. Though lesbian daughter Vivienne counsels Cynthia to "think three moves ahead," Jackson, torn between his ambitious and reckless lover and imperious father, is staying in the game by sheer grit. In the end, these volatile emotional wrecks learn to rely on their hearts. Grazer (The Starter Wife) has Hollywood cred and brings a rollicking romantic-comedy tempo to her story of busting up and moving on, even if the cast is strictly celluloid: lovely to look at and unlike anyone walking this planet. (June)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author, Gigi Levangie Grazer

A sassy, brassy practitioner of the "write what you know" technique, screenwriter/novelist/Hollywood wife (of movie producer Brian Grazer) Gigi Levangie Grazer dishes the dirty details of divorce, rehab, and Tinseltown tactics in buzzed-about bestsellers like Maneater and The Starter Wife.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

It's War of the Roses fought by The Real Housewives of New York in this hilarious if overlong morality tale of young love, old fools and happy endings. After 25 years of marriage-most of it squandered on unspoken disappointment, stifled grief and wasted affection-ex-ballerina Cynthia Power and real estate tycoon hubby Jackson are headed for divorce. At the same time, Jackson's latest condo project is teetering and Carolyn's ballet board is in turmoil. Though lesbian daughter Vivienne counsels Cynthia to "think three moves ahead," Jackson, torn between his ambitious and reckless lover and imperious father, is staying in the game by sheer grit. In the end, these volatile emotional wrecks learn to rely on their hearts. Grazer (The Starter Wife) has Hollywood cred and brings a rollicking romantic-comedy tempo to her story of busting up and moving on, even if the cast is strictly celluloid: lovely to look at and unlike anyone walking this planet. (June)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Reviews

Grazer, author of the novel-turned-TV series The Starter Wife (2005), limns two modern American archetypes, the real-estate mogul and his bored socialite wife, doing battle on the moneyed playing field of Manhattan. Jacks and Cynthia began with visions of an artistic life (she was a ballerina, he a struggling painter), but when she got pregnant, he lost himself in his father's real-estate empire. Twenty-five years later, at the anniversary gala for a few hundred of their closest friends and enemies, Jacks shows up late, and livid Cynthia smiles for the cameras. The next day, after seeing a photo in the Post of Jacks embracing his latest girlfriend, morning news anchor Lara, Cynthia tells him she wants a divorce, and Jacks moves into the guest quarters. There is little love left between them, but the real estate they share-now that's something to fight for. They both want the penthouse, and Cynthia is willing to prolong the divorce for years to get it. So Jacks comes up with a scheme straight out of a screwball comedy to pay a handsome young bartender to woo his wife. Meanwhile, Cynthia is becoming an independent woman for the first time since her marriage. With the help of her Zorba-like therapist and straight-talking lesbian daughter, she takes over the directorship of a ballet company. Her experiences reinforce what she already suspected: The life of a socialite isn't all it's cracked up to be. Jacks, an amusing caricature of a powerful man with an ego of glass (he's also terrified of his geriatric father), can't seem to lure Lara into marriage; he's found the one woman in Manhattan who would rather cover news on the frontlines in Afghanistan than marry a billionaire. Too much ofeverything is not quite enough for happiness, Grazer cogently demonstrates, but before she gets too serious, romance redeems everyone. A sly, observant report from a rarefied world that's sure to be another big hit.

Book Details

Published
July 1, 2010
Publisher
Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Pages
367
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9781416524410

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