CATCH OF THE DAY

Author: Christina Hamlett ISBN: 0759924244 7/2005 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: HARD SHELL WORD FACTORY

Will do anything legal for $50,000. When a beautiful young heiress answers his ad for emergency funds to repair his boat, it's practically a dream come true for Nantucket native Kevin Dunbar. Unfortunately, it's the worst nightmare imaginable for the spoiled and self-absorbed Rachel McCarrick. Intent on temporarily passing Kevin off as her fiancé in order to orchestrate a marriage to the real love of her life, the last thing Rachel ever expected was that both her mother and her cynical grandfather would actually warm up to this guy. Her father, of course, plays true to form, enlisting the aid of one of Rachel's former beaus to expose Kevin as nothing more than a fortune hunter. Unbeknownst to all save Rachel's grandfather, however, the only fortune Kevin has his sights on right now has absolutely nothing-and everything- to do with the girl whose heart was his from the very first night they met.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

CATCH OF THE DAY is a cutesy, lighthearted bit of whimsy with offbeat characters and a somewhat crazy premise. The story, in fact, reads like a screwball comedy—of sorts.

This story, however, is almost as superficial as its heroine, Rachel McCarrack. And wealthy, spoiled, self-centered, egotisical Rachel is about as superficial as they come. Rachel makes Paris Hilton look nice...

I can't decide if I kept reading CATCH OF THE DAY to see if Rachel would undergo a transformation during the story and become human. Or if her callous disregard for her fellow man would grow on me.

Unfortunately this character failed on both counts.

Rachel's scheme to introduce a hired fiancee to her family in order to later return to her Spanish bohemian boyfriend was, well, slightly farfetched. Why not stay in Spain and marry the heartthrob bum? In addition, Rachel's pining for her 'beloved Jose' who had 'manly' attributes had me rolling my eyes.

This story's hero, Kevin, fared better. Although he started out acting goofy, his character did grow on me. And Kevin had a scheme of his own. He was playing a pretend fiancee to finance a lifelong dream.

CATCH OF THE DAY is fairly predictable but nonetheless fun. The sunken treasure subplot had some great possilities, but really didn't go anywhere. Although Ms. Hamlett's writing style is breezy and extremely readable, I wish she had made her heroine more likeable.

Debbie Jett