Meredith's Wish (Heartspell) [Mass Market Paperback]

Meredith Montgomery is a businesswoman with a problem: she needs a pretend husband and she needs one quick. In a heated competition for a key promotion, the vice-presidency of the company will go to whichever of the two rivals acquires a previously specified client first. The trouble for Meredith is that the potential client she was given to lure into the company fold is none other than Duchess Hertzenstein, a woman that has a reputation for doing business with only women who are married.

So what's an unmarried woman to do? Meredith decides she needs to find a man to pass off as her "husband" to the duchess, but has zero luck in the effort once she sets out to do so.

Enter into the picture "Jim", a sexy comedian of a genie who is determined to grant Meredith's wishes for her. At first "Jim" the djinn tries to pair Meredith off with men that might foot the bill, but eventually he begins to develop feelings for the mortal in his life. Unfortunately, falling in love with a mortal isn't allowed and the protagonists will be faced with some tough decisions to make. Will they be able to tempt fate and stay together?

Okay, okay...that question was a no-brainer. If the answer was no, this wouldn't be a very solid romance and the rating listed above would be a 1 instead of a 4. But whether or not the main angst of the novel is a given, the fact remains that this is a very cute book. Karen Lee has a knack for creating humorous character dialogue that brings quite a few smiles to the face. I even giggled a time or two...to me there is no greater compliment than that. I'll definitely be looking for Lee's next book.

Sexual Content: PG-13 (see profile for break-down)

Meredith is a hard working young woman hell-bent on attaining a vice presidency position. She figures she has the promotion nailed but her boss has other ideas and decides to have a little fun by turning the job opportunity into a contest. Now she has to play beat-the-clock with her rival and secure a contract from an eccentric client who will only deal with married woman. The trouble is, Meredith is as single as they come with no prospects in sight. Frustrated beyond belief she weeps into her cell phone and, handily, out pops a hunky genie to answer all of her prayers.

Okay, so I never said this was a realistic story, did I?

Jim has been a naughty genie and has only thirty days to prove to the Chairmen of the Genie Board that he is a useful addition to genie society. Meredith is his final task and if he fails to grant her heart's desire he will cease to exist. Her wish to find true love is, unfortunately, one of two that he is unable to grant so he is forced to improvise. And his improvisation results in some very hilarious situations and blind dates.

Personally, I'm bone tired of grumpy, bossy, brooding heroes. I can't stand `em in real life and am finding them terribly difficult to stomach in my pleasure reading. Jim, much to my relief, turned out to be quite the opposite of the typical romance hero. He's fun-loving, lives to create mischief and has a terrific sense of humor. He never takes himself seriously and perfectly complements practical and workaholic Meredith.

Meredith's Wish is cute but never cloying and single-handedly pulled me out of a depressingly long "bad book" slump. It's not a perfect book though. The conflict is as light as they come and, as a result, the story loses momentum at the midway mark. Still, this weakness is easy to overlook because of the good humored hero and the sense of fun that permeates the story.

I can easily recommend this to any romance reader tired of the same old stale story-lines overcrowding most bookstores. Karen Lee is an author with a fresh new voice who clearly knows that romance can be sexy and fun. Ahhh, if only all debuts were this charming!