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How to Trap a Tycoon
The author of a best-selling guide to marrying a millionaire, staid sociology professor Dorsey MacGuinness transforms herself into a sultry bombshell in order to do research on the subject, never expecting to fall in love with one of her "research subjects," Adam Darien, the elusive, wealthy publisher of one of America's leading men's magazines. Original.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 2000
9 people are currently reading
308 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Bevarly
377 books155 followersElizabeth Bevarly was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky and earned her BA with honors in English from the University of Louisville in 1983. Although she can’t recall ever wanting to be anything but a novelist-oh, all right, she toyed briefly with becoming an archaeologist, until she realized how awful she looked in khaki and flannel, and there was a brief fling with the interior decorator thing, until she realized she had trouble distinguishing chintz from moiré, and… (Where was I? Oh, yeah. My brilliant career.) Anyway, her career side trips before making the leap to writing included stints working as a bartender, a waitress, a movie theater cashier, a soap-hawker for Crabtree & Evelyn, an apparel-hawker for The Limited, and a bridal registry consultant for a major department store. She also did time as an editorial assistant for a medical journal, where she learned the correct spellings and meanings of a variety of words (like microscopy and histological) which, with any luck at all, she will never use again in this life.
She wrote her first novel when she was twelve years old. It was 32 pages long-and that was with college rule notebook paper-and featured three girls named Liz, Marianne and Cheryl, who explored the mysteries of a haunted house. Her friends Marianne and Cheryl proclaimed it “Brilliant! Spellbinding! Kept me up past dinnertime reading!” Those rave reviews only kindled the fire inside her to write more.
Since sixth grade, Elizabeth has gone on to complete more than 60 works of contemporary romance. Her novels regularly appear on the USA Today and Waldenbooks bestseller lists, and The Thing About Men was a New York Times Extended List bestseller. She’s been nominated for the prestigious RITA Award, has won the coveted National Readers’ Choice Award, and Romantic Times magazine has seen fit to honor her with two-count ‘em TWO-Career Achievement Awards. Her books have been translated into two dozen languages and published in three dozen countries, and there are more than ten million copies in print worldwide. She has claimed as residences Washington, DC, northern Virginia, southern New Jersey and Puerto Rico, but she now resides back in her native Kentucky with her husband and son and two very troubled cats where she fully intends to remain.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
June 27, 2013
Ummm...WHAT THE EFFING EFF???
Here was the main point of the book (as well as the book within this book) summarized in a few lines spoken by the protagonist:
"How to Trap a Tycoon is a book that tells women how to go about getting ... nice things, things that they don't already have because they've been denied them by men."
How has this book not ended up on the banned list for this nonsensical premise!!?? Surely this is a more dangerous book than Lolita ever was? It's basically saying that because traditionally women have tended to be at an economic disadvantage, the way to even out that difference is to WHORE THEMSELVES TO A MAN WITH MONEY?? How does that not just EXACERBATE the bloody problem? Oh, so you don't have economic power so why don't you just make yourself so desirable a nice rich man will fall for you and then you can have everything you want, baby! Are you kidding me?
Nothing about educating yourself so YOU can claim economic advantages for YOURSELF? How about arming yourself with the tools to acquire economic power (a fulfilling job, the capacity to provide for yourself, retaining control of your body etc)? You really think trapping a man is going to solve the whole gender power distribution thing?
Yes. I know this is "just fiction", just some lighthearted fun and games. But I just can't let this type of silliness go. It hurts my brain.
I managed a more detailed rant here but right now, I just CAN'T go on... http://theromanticalskeptic.blogspot....
Here was the main point of the book (as well as the book within this book) summarized in a few lines spoken by the protagonist:
"How to Trap a Tycoon is a book that tells women how to go about getting ... nice things, things that they don't already have because they've been denied them by men."
How has this book not ended up on the banned list for this nonsensical premise!!?? Surely this is a more dangerous book than Lolita ever was? It's basically saying that because traditionally women have tended to be at an economic disadvantage, the way to even out that difference is to WHORE THEMSELVES TO A MAN WITH MONEY?? How does that not just EXACERBATE the bloody problem? Oh, so you don't have economic power so why don't you just make yourself so desirable a nice rich man will fall for you and then you can have everything you want, baby! Are you kidding me?
Nothing about educating yourself so YOU can claim economic advantages for YOURSELF? How about arming yourself with the tools to acquire economic power (a fulfilling job, the capacity to provide for yourself, retaining control of your body etc)? You really think trapping a man is going to solve the whole gender power distribution thing?
Yes. I know this is "just fiction", just some lighthearted fun and games. But I just can't let this type of silliness go. It hurts my brain.
I managed a more detailed rant here but right now, I just CAN'T go on... http://theromanticalskeptic.blogspot....
May 29, 2012
I lost interest in this book very, very quickly but made a point of struggling to the end, for no other reason than to analyse my negative reactions and compose an informed if not balanced review.
The cover of How to Trap a Tycoon screams CHICK-LIT, as do the metatags on most of Ms Bevarly's long backlist of similar novels. The book starts off in character, introducing a cheerful and intelligent heroine who's holding down two jobs: Teaching assistant at a small women's college, and bartender at an exclusive men's club. We discover that she's also the secret author of the eponymous How to Trap a Tycoon best-seller, which she often discusses with her Sociology 101 students in college and hottie Adam Darien, a real-life publishing tycoon who frequents the exclusive men's club at which heroine Dorsey MacGuiness ("Mack") works the evening shift.
Sales of Mack's book escalate and her publisher insists that she adopt the persona of the fictional author and begin to work the promotion circuit. Mack reluctantly agrees to go through with the charade as the profits from the book are intended for her tycoon-trapping mother Carlotta, who is quickly running out of patrons and sugar daddies and uncertain about her financial future. Carlotta also happens to be the inspiration and informant for the book, most of which is based on experience gained from a lifetime of horizontal liaisons with the rich, famous...and married.
From this point on, the narrative could have gone in one of several directions. Ms Bevarley could have focused on the improbable but entertaining double-life that Mack is forced to lead, or the parallel between the calculated tycoon-trapping in her book and the natural attraction that's developing between Mack and Adam. Instead, she brings two side characters to the fore and the story begins to lose balance. Lucas, the top writer for Adam's flagship Man's Life magazine, proposes an expose of the 'real' author of How to Trap a Tycoon. Adam decides he'd like to do it himself and assigns Lucas to spoof the best-seller with a feature on How to Trap a Female Tycoon. Lucas has little success in his venture, mainly because he's too besotted with Edie, another bartender at Mack's club. Adam stalks 'Lauren Grable-Monroe', Mack's alter persona, on her lecture and book-signing tour, and the reader has to swallow the premise that an itchy blond wig, heavy make-up, bra padding, and killer clothes are sufficient to make Mack unrecognisable to someone who's spent most evenings chatting with her over a bar counter.
Instead of cranking up the action, Ms Bevarly slips into extremely long and very tedious internal monologues from each of the four leading characters: Mack, Adam, Lucas and Edie. She then throws in broken homes, adoption, abuse, prostitution, emotional trauma and an oppressive deadweight of other plot devices that belong in another genre and, more unfortunately, don't make sense.
What could have been a light-hearted romantic comedy morphs into a bipolar pastiche of a mainstream romance, and a poor one at that.
I've no idea how or why an established writer could have let narrative and characterisation get so out of hand. Carelessness? Haste?
And how could the multiple iterations of 'Ghandi' instead of 'Gandhi' have made it through the editorial process?
The cover of How to Trap a Tycoon screams CHICK-LIT, as do the metatags on most of Ms Bevarly's long backlist of similar novels. The book starts off in character, introducing a cheerful and intelligent heroine who's holding down two jobs: Teaching assistant at a small women's college, and bartender at an exclusive men's club. We discover that she's also the secret author of the eponymous How to Trap a Tycoon best-seller, which she often discusses with her Sociology 101 students in college and hottie Adam Darien, a real-life publishing tycoon who frequents the exclusive men's club at which heroine Dorsey MacGuiness ("Mack") works the evening shift.
Sales of Mack's book escalate and her publisher insists that she adopt the persona of the fictional author and begin to work the promotion circuit. Mack reluctantly agrees to go through with the charade as the profits from the book are intended for her tycoon-trapping mother Carlotta, who is quickly running out of patrons and sugar daddies and uncertain about her financial future. Carlotta also happens to be the inspiration and informant for the book, most of which is based on experience gained from a lifetime of horizontal liaisons with the rich, famous...and married.
From this point on, the narrative could have gone in one of several directions. Ms Bevarley could have focused on the improbable but entertaining double-life that Mack is forced to lead, or the parallel between the calculated tycoon-trapping in her book and the natural attraction that's developing between Mack and Adam. Instead, she brings two side characters to the fore and the story begins to lose balance. Lucas, the top writer for Adam's flagship Man's Life magazine, proposes an expose of the 'real' author of How to Trap a Tycoon. Adam decides he'd like to do it himself and assigns Lucas to spoof the best-seller with a feature on How to Trap a Female Tycoon. Lucas has little success in his venture, mainly because he's too besotted with Edie, another bartender at Mack's club. Adam stalks 'Lauren Grable-Monroe', Mack's alter persona, on her lecture and book-signing tour, and the reader has to swallow the premise that an itchy blond wig, heavy make-up, bra padding, and killer clothes are sufficient to make Mack unrecognisable to someone who's spent most evenings chatting with her over a bar counter.
Instead of cranking up the action, Ms Bevarly slips into extremely long and very tedious internal monologues from each of the four leading characters: Mack, Adam, Lucas and Edie. She then throws in broken homes, adoption, abuse, prostitution, emotional trauma and an oppressive deadweight of other plot devices that belong in another genre and, more unfortunately, don't make sense.
What could have been a light-hearted romantic comedy morphs into a bipolar pastiche of a mainstream romance, and a poor one at that.
I've no idea how or why an established writer could have let narrative and characterisation get so out of hand. Carelessness? Haste?
And how could the multiple iterations of 'Ghandi' instead of 'Gandhi' have made it through the editorial process?
Read
February 22, 2010WOW. Riddled with mispellings and a blatant error on the back cover...did anyone even edit this piece of crap????
August 27, 2017
A fun read, but with moments that didn't make a lot of sense.
I liked the story in this book. It was fun and engaging with moments where I actually was curious about certain characters at times.
Dorsey MacGuinness has a secret. She is the highly sought after author of How to Trap a Tycoon, only she would rather be known for her sociology work rather than that novel she wrote, which is why a pen name as Lauren Grable-Monroe is so important. As she is doing research for her sociology dissertation, she is starting to feel more than just academic interest in one of her "research subjects."
Adam Darien is the publisher of Man's Life, one of the nation's leading men's magazines. He finds Dorsey incredibly interesting and sexy, but he is not a fan of Lauren. His plan is to expose Lauren for the fraud she is while trying to find a way to make Dorsey a fixture in his bedroom and his life. Little does he know that Dorsey and Lauren are one in the same.
I found the hidden identity dynamic kind of interesting. Dorsey wants to distance herself from Lauren so much that where Lauren is a blonde bombshell in a mini skirt, Dorsey is a brunette in a flannel shirt. It is an interesting scenario, but not one I haven't read before. Dorsey starts off a bit of a stick-in-the-mud kind of character, focusing strictly on the academic and trying to ignore the woman side of herself. So much so that when she is a bartender at Drake's, a prestigious men's club, gathering information for her dissertation, she wears a wedding ring to make it seem like she is married. Of course, that would have been a very interesting plot to follow along with the Lauren storyline, but it is quickly dropped when Dorsey and Adam begin their relationship, almost like it never happened.
Dorsey's transformation throughout the story as she begins to embrace bits of Lauren start to meld her into a more likable character that we are able to enjoy. It just takes a moment to get there.
Adam is the same in many ways as well. He starts off with this intense hatred of Lauren and this passing interest in Dorsey. When he thinks she is married, he doesn't pursue her because he doesn't want to be the cause of a marriage to fall apart like his own had already done. He starts to change slightly as he begins to develop feelings for Dorsey beyond physical desire. It is really sweet how much he wants to be with her and almost becomes a bit clingy as well.
There is also a small romance between Adam's right hand man, Lucas, and Dorsey's co-worker, Edie. At first I really enjoyed watching this side romance start to blossom. Slowly you learn more about Lucas' and Edie's back stories, which start to show that there are is more to the cynical Lucas and the sunny Edie. What I didn't expect and what pulled me out of the lighthearted story I was reading before was the full revelation of Edie's backstory. Although it is hinted at that there is more to Edie than meets the eye, when the full story is revealed it took me almost completely out of the story because it seemed almost too dark for a character that when you first meet her is reading the How to Trap a Tycoon book like all the other young women. I didn't hate it, but it did pull me completely out of the story with how dark her backstory became.
Overall, I liked the story a lot, but it does take a minute to get into since Dorsey starts off being so bland and the interesting plot line of Dorsey being "married" is dropped so early on. I know that the main deception needed to be the fact that Dorsey and Lauren were one in the same and she hadn't revealed that to Adam, knowing his feelings about Lauren, but I felt like it was a wasted opportunity. As already stated, the Edie backstory in the side romance was just too dark for such a bright character in my opinion.
I would read this story again, but it won't be anytime soon.
I liked the story in this book. It was fun and engaging with moments where I actually was curious about certain characters at times.
Dorsey MacGuinness has a secret. She is the highly sought after author of How to Trap a Tycoon, only she would rather be known for her sociology work rather than that novel she wrote, which is why a pen name as Lauren Grable-Monroe is so important. As she is doing research for her sociology dissertation, she is starting to feel more than just academic interest in one of her "research subjects."
Adam Darien is the publisher of Man's Life, one of the nation's leading men's magazines. He finds Dorsey incredibly interesting and sexy, but he is not a fan of Lauren. His plan is to expose Lauren for the fraud she is while trying to find a way to make Dorsey a fixture in his bedroom and his life. Little does he know that Dorsey and Lauren are one in the same.
I found the hidden identity dynamic kind of interesting. Dorsey wants to distance herself from Lauren so much that where Lauren is a blonde bombshell in a mini skirt, Dorsey is a brunette in a flannel shirt. It is an interesting scenario, but not one I haven't read before. Dorsey starts off a bit of a stick-in-the-mud kind of character, focusing strictly on the academic and trying to ignore the woman side of herself. So much so that when she is a bartender at Drake's, a prestigious men's club, gathering information for her dissertation, she wears a wedding ring to make it seem like she is married. Of course, that would have been a very interesting plot to follow along with the Lauren storyline, but it is quickly dropped when Dorsey and Adam begin their relationship, almost like it never happened.
Dorsey's transformation throughout the story as she begins to embrace bits of Lauren start to meld her into a more likable character that we are able to enjoy. It just takes a moment to get there.
Adam is the same in many ways as well. He starts off with this intense hatred of Lauren and this passing interest in Dorsey. When he thinks she is married, he doesn't pursue her because he doesn't want to be the cause of a marriage to fall apart like his own had already done. He starts to change slightly as he begins to develop feelings for Dorsey beyond physical desire. It is really sweet how much he wants to be with her and almost becomes a bit clingy as well.
There is also a small romance between Adam's right hand man, Lucas, and Dorsey's co-worker, Edie. At first I really enjoyed watching this side romance start to blossom. Slowly you learn more about Lucas' and Edie's back stories, which start to show that there are is more to the cynical Lucas and the sunny Edie. What I didn't expect and what pulled me out of the lighthearted story I was reading before was the full revelation of Edie's backstory. Although it is hinted at that there is more to Edie than meets the eye, when the full story is revealed it took me almost completely out of the story because it seemed almost too dark for a character that when you first meet her is reading the How to Trap a Tycoon book like all the other young women. I didn't hate it, but it did pull me completely out of the story with how dark her backstory became.
Overall, I liked the story a lot, but it does take a minute to get into since Dorsey starts off being so bland and the interesting plot line of Dorsey being "married" is dropped so early on. I know that the main deception needed to be the fact that Dorsey and Lauren were one in the same and she hadn't revealed that to Adam, knowing his feelings about Lauren, but I felt like it was a wasted opportunity. As already stated, the Edie backstory in the side romance was just too dark for such a bright character in my opinion.
I would read this story again, but it won't be anytime soon.
July 24, 2024
This book can't make up its mind what it's trying to be. The primary romance is exactly the sort of light fluffy fun you'd expect from the back-of-book blurb. Except that, for some reason, the author tries to fake you out in Chapter 1 - as if you haven't actually read the back-of-book blurb. But then there's a secondary romance that isn't anything resembling light or fluffy. Don't get me wrong; I liked those secondary characters but it felt a bit like whiplash every time you swung from one couple to the other. I think each really needed their own book; the happy endings wound up feeling a little too easy, and I think that was because of space limitations.
September 12, 2022
And, as her front door clicked softly shut, he knew it wasn't going to be goodbye, either. Not yet. Not by a long shot.
"The seven PMS dwarfs. You know Grumpy, Crampy, Moody, Bitchy, Hungry, Angry, and Doc.
"You're asking for too much, Lucas. You might as well be asking for the moon." "It's next on my wish list," he told her with a tentative smile. "Right after Edie Mulholland's heart."
"The seven PMS dwarfs. You know Grumpy, Crampy, Moody, Bitchy, Hungry, Angry, and Doc.
"You're asking for too much, Lucas. You might as well be asking for the moon." "It's next on my wish list," he told her with a tentative smile. "Right after Edie Mulholland's heart."
September 26, 2020
Cute summer beach read.
July 21, 2024
I love this book. It was very fun to read.
February 20, 2011
This book was remommended and lent to me by a friend. It's about a girl who writes a "How To" book about bagging a tycoon. She writes it under a pseudonym and all the profits go to her mother. Unexpectedly, the book becomes a national best-seller, throwing her life into an uproar while she is trying to keep her pseudo-self separate from her work self, separate from her real self. I guess the overall theme of the book is self-discovery/acceptance. I also like the fact that the secondary characters are multi-dimenssional. We get a glimpse into the other characters' lives and find out how they were developed. Now, reflecting back on what I just said about the book, I do want to say that this is a "randy little romance novel"! It is certainly not for the sheepish or easliy embarassed. There are some parts that get rather explicit. I applaud Elizabeth Bevarly for being so brave! I could never write like that! I thouroughly enjoyed this book. It was a perfect balance of comedy, drama and romance. Well written!
-recommended
-recommended
March 8, 2013
I only gave this book 2 stars because it had potential, but could have been better. First off, the over abundance of qualifiers, character asides and run on sentences was annoying. I can see how the author was using this as her style, but it was the equivalent of beating me over the head w/said style. Second, there are really two stories going on in this book, the one about Dorsey (the main character) and half way through she gets into Edie's story, which, in my opinion, was far more interesting than Dorsey, who repeatedly said things like "goodness!" and "heavens!" as exclamations. The only women I know who say such things are well into their 80s. It just didn't seem appropriate for Dorsey's age. The Edie story was far more interesting! I found myself skipping ahead to read about her and once her story ended, I went back and trudged through Dorsey's.
July 28, 2011
This is my very first of Elizabeth Bevarly. The only reason I decided to read it merely because of the cover.
But it turned out that the story was good, too.
I always love theme where one of the character had to live a double identity. Guess it because of the adrenaline of being afraid of getting caught up. :)
I'd give 4 stars for the story. But I really loved the cover so I gave it 5 stars. ^^
But it turned out that the story was good, too.
I always love theme where one of the character had to live a double identity. Guess it because of the adrenaline of being afraid of getting caught up. :)
I'd give 4 stars for the story. But I really loved the cover so I gave it 5 stars. ^^
March 24, 2017
It's not the first time I have read this, but i will read it again and again every couple of years just to put that smile on my face and a little fuzzy romance in my heart. This is a fun book for entertainment value alone but for deep profound truths. The romance is sweet, the love scenes are not explicit, just enough comedy not to be a comedy and each character is developed just enough to keep the storyline moving. Another feel good novel by Elizabeth Bevarly.
November 23, 2008
Dorsey is a struggling TA and bartender that writes a best selling "how to" book on how to trap a tycoon. However, no one knows that she is the one that wrote the book and would like to keep it that way. However, her publisher has other ideas.
This is a cute book, fluff and not too in depth or hard to read. very enjoyable
This is a cute book, fluff and not too in depth or hard to read. very enjoyable
June 3, 2013
A nerdy girl uses her flamboyant mother's experiences to write a book on how to trap a millionaire never imagining in a million years the impact it will have on her life. Loved the casual easy relationship the main characters fall into. Much like real relationships that aren't formal and structures.
October 25, 2012
I would have liked more with the characters interacting with each other rather than thinking about the other. The subplot was good, but I would have liked it to be faster paced. But it was a mindless read.
July 19, 2008
A fun flirty read.
August 7, 2015
This is a quick and fun read, and great addition to any bookshelf, Elizabeth Bevarly doesn’t disappoint.
September 25, 2009
Modern
June 17, 2011
A light entertaining read.
http://florida-house.ecrater.com/p/11...
http://florida-house.ecrater.com/p/11...
May 17, 2012
eugh. didnt finish, tried to but didnt like the characters unfortunately
October 23, 2011
Another “hidden author” type book, where the author of a bestseller is actually someone else. In this one, the dialog and setup is classic screwball, and done quite well.
November 28, 2011
I always love a quick go-to beach read. They are simple and fun. This is one of them.
October 18, 2014
Cute girly book if not totally predictable. Rom/Com.
March 11, 2016
Very funny
May 7, 2009
Thanks Rachel! This book reminded me a bit of Down With Love, which was quite an enjoyable movie.
April 18, 2017
Do you know what Chic Lit is? This is it. Many will not get the humor behind this book, its an entirely different generation that has nothing to do with millennials. Why would I say that? Because you can't read this and actually enjoy it with a politically correct radar on high alert or feminist views ready for battle. It's simply, women do stupid things for stupid reasons. Men can be chauvinistic even if they don't say it out loud and sometimes. Books like this mock that entire mentality and you go with it for the entertainment value. "Oh! It's not fair it not right women are independent and don't need tips on how to snag a millionaire" (yeah right) what universe do you live in? Keep sheltering your mind from the realities of this world.
You may be wondering why the uproar. Well, as the years go by, you see peoples opinions about books change with the times. For some reason this book has become controversial. Why you ask? Because it's called How to Trap a Tycoon, hence the story is about women who want to trap rich men and a book on how to do it. Yes it's stereotype and unrealistic (also debatable) but it's a war of the Roses type comedy (men vs. women vs. women).
So we have Dorsey McGuiness a cheerful and highly intelligent woman who's a teaching assistant at a small women's college during the day and bartender at an exclusive men's club in the evenings, tricking club members into believing she is married, to avoid being hit on. TO clarify one thing, Dorsey is a simple woman with simply needs, she is no way materialistic but a scholar at heart that believes she doesn't need a man to bring fulfillment to her life.
Out of necessity (not for herself but as a favor for her mother) Dorsey becomes the author of the eponymous How to Trap a Tycoon. In short it's an instruction manual based on her mothers life-long experience as a mistress to rich men (ridiculous I know, but the best comedies usually derive from ridiculous situations). This becomes the foundation for Dorsey's Sociology dissertation, although she wrote the book it represents everything she despises and Dorsey uses her position at the men's club in order to study them and better test her theories.
In comes Adam Darien, a men's magazine tycoon and member of the exclusive club. His magazine publication represents everything Dorsey and any feminist hates, but their interaction is respectful while both pretend not to notice how attractive the other is.
As How to Trap a Tycoon gains national attention, eventually becoming a best seller Dorsey is pushed by her mother and publishers take on the persona of the allusive author to go on book tours to promote the book. That's where the fun begins.
Adam and his number one journalist are determined to uncover the secrets behind the mysterious author, never realizing that the woman hidden under the blonde wig and stiletto heels was their favorite bartender Dorsey. A comedy of errors takes over as Dorsey goes back and forth between bombshell author and feminist college grad. All the while fighting her attract to Adam.
The downside to this book: It should have been editing with a lot more care. Secondly, Elizabeth Bevarly introduces more characters with side stories that were too heavy for this lighthearted comedy and distracted you from the story at heart. It became a little too exhausting and did not offer anything to the original story line that belonged to Dorsey and Adam.
On the upside, the characters in this book are quirky, colorful and fun to read. It's like mixing together a modern version of Pride and Prejudice and Adam Sanders Just Go With It. Too funny. I would give this 3-4* with a side note that too many people take these books to heart when really you're supposed to be focusing on the comedy of the situation. Get over it.
You may be wondering why the uproar. Well, as the years go by, you see peoples opinions about books change with the times. For some reason this book has become controversial. Why you ask? Because it's called How to Trap a Tycoon, hence the story is about women who want to trap rich men and a book on how to do it. Yes it's stereotype and unrealistic (also debatable) but it's a war of the Roses type comedy (men vs. women vs. women).
So we have Dorsey McGuiness a cheerful and highly intelligent woman who's a teaching assistant at a small women's college during the day and bartender at an exclusive men's club in the evenings, tricking club members into believing she is married, to avoid being hit on. TO clarify one thing, Dorsey is a simple woman with simply needs, she is no way materialistic but a scholar at heart that believes she doesn't need a man to bring fulfillment to her life.
Out of necessity (not for herself but as a favor for her mother) Dorsey becomes the author of the eponymous How to Trap a Tycoon. In short it's an instruction manual based on her mothers life-long experience as a mistress to rich men (ridiculous I know, but the best comedies usually derive from ridiculous situations). This becomes the foundation for Dorsey's Sociology dissertation, although she wrote the book it represents everything she despises and Dorsey uses her position at the men's club in order to study them and better test her theories.
In comes Adam Darien, a men's magazine tycoon and member of the exclusive club. His magazine publication represents everything Dorsey and any feminist hates, but their interaction is respectful while both pretend not to notice how attractive the other is.
As How to Trap a Tycoon gains national attention, eventually becoming a best seller Dorsey is pushed by her mother and publishers take on the persona of the allusive author to go on book tours to promote the book. That's where the fun begins.
Adam and his number one journalist are determined to uncover the secrets behind the mysterious author, never realizing that the woman hidden under the blonde wig and stiletto heels was their favorite bartender Dorsey. A comedy of errors takes over as Dorsey goes back and forth between bombshell author and feminist college grad. All the while fighting her attract to Adam.
The downside to this book: It should have been editing with a lot more care. Secondly, Elizabeth Bevarly introduces more characters with side stories that were too heavy for this lighthearted comedy and distracted you from the story at heart. It became a little too exhausting and did not offer anything to the original story line that belonged to Dorsey and Adam.
On the upside, the characters in this book are quirky, colorful and fun to read. It's like mixing together a modern version of Pride and Prejudice and Adam Sanders Just Go With It. Too funny. I would give this 3-4* with a side note that too many people take these books to heart when really you're supposed to be focusing on the comedy of the situation. Get over it.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews