Staying Single

Morelli Sisters #1

by Millie Criswell

"Engaging men" are lining up for Francesca Morelli, thanks to her enterprising Italian mama. The very able and controlling Josephina has arranged three -- count 'em, three -- weddings so far for her 29-and-pushing-it daughter. Unfortunately, all three had gone off, uh, without a hitch.

No wonder. Francesca has a thing about the m word. The only vow she's taking is to stay single!

But best man Mark Fielding is going to turn the tables on this woman who discards fiances like out-of-style shoes. His MO? Charm the sexy brunette into bed. Woo her to the altar with promises of happily ever after -- then plot his getaway.

Except...Mark hasn't counted on falling in love....

And Francesca hasn't figured "The Wedding March" really is her new theme song....

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Chick Lit

219 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

National bestselling author Millie Criswell didn't start out to be a writer. Instead, she had aspirations of joining the Rockettes as a toe-tapping member of their dancetroop, or tapping her heart away in one of those big, corny MGM musicals. Of course she was only ten at the time, had absolutely no talent as a dancer, and cannot be blamed for her failure to succeed.

To date, Ms. Criswell has written twenty-one historical, category, and contemporary romances. She has won numerous awards, including the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award, the Reviewers' Choice Award, the National Reader's Choice Award, and the coveted MAGGIE Award from Georgia Romance Writers.

Ms. Criswell resides in Virginia with her husband of thirty-two years. She has two grown children, both lawyers, and one neurotic Boston terrier

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars! ~ Francesca has a problem --- she can't seem to get herself to walk down the aisle. Three times now she's become engaged, worn the dress, and wammo, can't do the walk. She has a meddling Italian mother who keeps pushing men on her and setting wedding dates. Mark is astonished that Francie has so little regard for her grooms, esp. groom number three, his step-brother. So he vows to get even. The plan is, move into her apartment building, hire her PR firm, and seduce her into walking down the aisle. And once she does the walk, he'll do the running. But as Mark gets to know Francie, he sees she's torn up about hurting her three fiancé's and that she means it when she says she's going to stay single. There's alot of heart to Francie and alot of sex appeal. He needs to recruit Momma Morelli to help push her daughter down the aisle and when she gets there he doesn't want to run.

I really enjoyed this one. At first when I read the "Runaway Bride" scenario I went argh, but this one came through. Although this wasn't the laugh out loud kind of book I expected, Ms. Criswell definitely had me grinning.

[Sherri Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Millie Criswell delivers yet another highly entertaining and humorous story! I laughed out several times! I wasn't sure if I was going to take to the hero since he set out to deceive the heroine and his intentions were less than honorable, but it worked out in the end.

The characters were quick, witty and engaging. I was reeled in right from the very beginning. I enjoyed the heroine's roommate, Leo, who was a riot.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

A pretty much unremarkable book... Harlequin suggests that the flipside series is more like chick-lit than your typical romance novel but I still didn't find much of those characteristics in this book. I really don't even remember the story...

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was fast, easy reading. Humorous and just a touch "out there". I look forward to reading other Criswell books.

[Leslie aka StoreyBook Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute fluff book that was like Runaway Bride...the bride kept leaving men at the altar until she met the one that really stole her heart!

[Tin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shallow characters. Or just maybe not given a better character development. Overall, it doesn't suck, but personally, i felt i wasted half a week reading this.