Sunday, July 18, 2010

Perfect Blend-Sue Margolis

Perfect Blend
Sue Margolis
Bantam, Aug 3 2010, $15.00
ISBN: 9780385339018

In London Amy Brown left the public relations field to raise her son Charlie as a single mom. Now that he is six years old and in school, she has returned to work planning to become a freelance reporter, but fails to obtain any work in the field. She works at her friend Brian Potter's Café Mozart coffee shop.

Brian has a commitment phobia as he goes through women faster than his customers can drink a cup of coffee. Amy’s other best friend Bel is a struggling actress who earns a living doing electronic messages. She always meets brutes. Amy believes her two BFFs are meant for each other.

When her opinionated sister Victoria opens her mouth most people including her parents and their significant others ignore her. Architect Sam Draper challenges Victoria’s latest assertion. Even though he is building a nearby mega coffee shop for a client, Amy instantly likes and admires him for speaking back while he is attracted to her. However, she also knows that when her boyfriends meet Charlie, they flee.

This is a fascinating slice of life in modern day London with Amy as the anchor of the entertaining story line. Each of the key players has issues that frighten them, but the underlying premise is as bad as these seem the world will breathe tomorrow. That enchanting generalization also detracts slightly from the specificity of the tsuris like Brian’s terror of going bankrupt, Victoria’s fear of inadequacy and Amy’s efforts to be a working single mom. Still fast-paced with a touch of jocularity, fans will enjoy this lighthearted contemporary.

Harriet Klausner

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