A Novel with Thoughts and Ponderings

WHAT MEN WANT

Author: Deborah Blumenthal ISBN: 0373895690 2/2006 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: RED DRESS INK

What Men Want by Deborah Blumenthal

Q. How does a thirty-five-year-old reporter with a vanilla-sounding name like Jenny George know so much about men?

A: She really doesn't. Not since her live-in boyfriend traded up for the model he met in the ad campaign she created!

But Jenny is about to be clued in. When her newspaper sends her to the Caribbean to write an expose, she's pitted against the man who is the bane of her professional existence, Slaid Warren. Slaid takes issue with Jenny's quest to be the best and sets out to show her 1) There's more to life than just work; 2) They're stronger when they work as a team and not at cross-purposes and 3) He really does live up to all his hype. Armed with these new insights—and a killer tan—Jenny suddenly couldn't care less about what men want. She's way too busy shedding her own cocoon and becoming the self-assured woman she wants to be!

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

WHAT MEN WANT begins with a good premise—rival newspaper reporters tackle city corruption while a romance blooms between them—but I felt the plot diverged from that and went off on tangents that took away from interesting characters. I really would have preferred to see more flirting and interaction between Jenny and Slaid, especially the phone conversations. That was quite clever and reminiscent of a 30's romantic comedy. Jenny's investigation, while important to moving the story along, seemed too convoluted and tied the reader down too much. I just wanted to skim over all that and get back to the romance. Ms. Blumenthal's novel is solid, but there is room for improvement.

Kendra Patterson

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