All About Evie
by Beth Ciotta
A scandalous Mrs. King for a con artist
Scarecrow!
Publisher: HQN (May 2007)
All About Evie
is a humorous contemporary romance with a dynamic hero and heroine that
grew on me as the romance progressed. The action is fast-paced and
suspense abounds as the reader and the characters try to identify the
con artists. The choice of first person narrative is a bold and daring
chice in romance --- and the perfect choice for this comedy romance.
Evie Parish is a 40 year old singer, emcee, dance motivator and
character actress. After several rejections due to lack of youth
appeal, she finally loses it at an audition. She opens her shirt and
bares herself in a last ditch act of defiance. Thinking her rashness
has jeopardized her career, Evie seizes the next job opportunity that
suddenly opens up, all without asking too many questions. She plays
Sugar Dupont, ditzy former Vegas showgirl Sugar Dupont to Arch now
known as Charles Dupont, aging writer and doting husband. Who is
Charles Dupont underneath the disguise and will his mysterious past
exposure her to danger of the deadly kind? Evie jumps for the job and
signs up for eight days on a Caribbean Cruise and without knowing it,
also signs up to play a role in sting to catch a grifter (con artist).
One sexy leading star (at least underneath the make-up) might just lead
to romance --- if she can only survive the unfolding disasters.
Imagine that television classic Scarecrow and Mrs. King (one of my
favorites even in reruns) updated for today's audience with gutsy
offbeat Miss King as a former character actress instead of a housewife.
Imagine Scarecrow as a con artist turned good. Make it mildly
hard-boiled, parboiled or just plain heated up and modernized with
scandalus comic situations. There you have Beth Ciotta's All About Evie. The role of Sugar
Dupont could not be more different than Evie but in playing it, Evie
begins to risk it all and in doing so discovers herself. The Sugar
Dupont/Evie Parish split magnifies the already humorous tone of the
bold first person narrative. A wonderful zany contemporary romance
riddled with light suspense!
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