Synopses & Reviews
Rebecca Fine is a feisty, single, thirty-something freelance newspaper reporter, determined to one day unearth a story that will bring down governments and topple captains of industry...but in the meantime, she's making ends meet by writing a newspaper beauty column and struggling to sound permanently upbeat about endless potions, lotions, and all manner of magical cosmetics.
It wouldn't be so bad, if her love life weren't so dire that her Jewish grandmother is taking matters into her own hands and sending Rebecca's profile to online dating services. Meanwhile, her widowed father announces his engagement -- to a girl nicknamed Lipstick, whom Rebecca not only went to school with, but envied and despised with all her adolescent heart. And, as if life couldn't get worse, Rebecca discovers that the newspaper's hotshot new reporter, Max, is not only smashingly sexy (with a seemingly endless stream of women calling), but has exactly the kind of investigative journalism position she covets. Rebecca resolves to hate him.
At a fancy launch-party for a new wrinkle cream, however, Rebecca finds herself embroiled in a story that may turn out to be an international scandal -- and the making of her career. Along the course of her madcap investigation, she begins to reconsider whether she was wrong about both Lipstick and Max, and just how much she -- or anybody -- should suffer for beauty!
Synopsis
From the author who brought you
Spin Cycle and
Neurotica comes a hilarious new novel about falling in love, hating your job, and getting what you want out of life---without ever mussing your lipstick!
When it comes to men, beauty columnist Rebecca Fine always seems to be on the scruffy end of the mascara wand. But all that changes the morning she meets Max Stoddart, her new colleague at the Daily Vanguard. With his upscale suit, Hugh Grant hair, and obscenely sexy good looks, hes a single womans dream come true. Finally, her grandmother can stop surfing the Net for eligible Jewish males. But is Max the catch of the decade---or just a major babe magnet?
Meanwhile, Rebeccas old high school nemesis has resurfaced, a former blond bombshell called Lipstick who is now engaged to Rebeccas widowed dad. And its good-bye to articles on toe cleavage when a hot tip sweeps Rebecca to the center of the Paris cosmetics world, where a miracle anti-wrinkle cream is about to be launched. That is, until she blows the whistle on a scandal that could set the beauty business---and the future of world peace---reeling. Will Rebecca win the recognition---not to mention the Pulitzer---she yearns for...and get the man of her dreams? Stay tuned.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
About the Author
Sue Margolis was a radio reporter for fifteen years before becoming a novelist. She is the author of three previous novels:
Breakfast at Stephanie's,
Neurotica, and
Spin Cycle.?
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Author Q&A
1. What’s the best moment for you in the process of writing a novel?
Getting to the end! It's a bit like giving birth - particularly since a novel takes me about nine months to write and there's a fair amount of pain and shouting and cries of 'this is the last time I will ever go through this', along the way. At the same time, it's also sad because I get really attached to the characters--only to abandon them.
2. If you weren't a writer, what career would you want to have?
Easy--maybe I'm getting a bit carried away with the birth metaphors here, but I would love to be a midwife. I can think of nothing more fulfilling or rewarding than helping to bring new life into the world.
3. What scene in your own books are you most surprised you wrote?
All the sex scenes. Although I have a very relaxed and open attitude to sex, have always found it easy to talk about, and love writing these scenes, they still make me blush when I read them
4. What’s your secret vice?
Eating the remains of the previous night's take-out curry for breakfast--straight from the fridge.
5. What do you give yourself when you need a pick-me-up?
Curry! I'm an addict. I could live on Chicken Tikka Masala.
6. What was your most memorable date (good or bad)?
For our first date, this guy took me out for the most wonderfully romantic dinner. The food, the atmosphere, the location - everything was perfect. It cost a fortune. Afterwards we were in his car, about to drive home when he suddenly opened the door and threw up over the road. It turned out the crème brulee had been too rich. But it didn't put me off. I ended up marrying him!
7. What is your favorite quote?
It has to be this from Samantha in Sex and the City:
'You men have no idea what we're dealing with down there. Teeth placement, and jaw stress, and suction, and gag reflex, and all the while bobbing up and down, moaning and trying to breathe through our noses. Easy? Honey, they don't call it a job for nothing.'
From the Trade Paperback edition.