cover image School of Fortune

School of Fortune

Amanda Brown, Janice Weber. St. Martin's Griffin, $15.99 (342pp) ISBN 978-0-312-36673-5

Legally Blond author Brown's collaboration with Weber features Pippa Walker, a smart, spirited heroine trapped in a plot that doesn't do her justice. Pippa's mother, Thayne, has planned her daughter's fabulous Texas wedding to Dallas Cowboy quarterback Lance down to the last solid gold spoon. But Pippa calls off the wedding last-minute after learning a disastrous secret about her husband-to-be. Disowned and reeling from the sudden death of her grandfather, who leaves Pippa a fortune on the condition that she earn a diploma, Pippa tries a variety of moneymaking schemes, from clown class to driving school. An eventual romance pairs Pippa with a valet who, like the heroine, is not what he seems. Fans of Brown's or Weber's earlier works may be disappointed with this effort. While the ending is an enjoyable mixture of farce and fairy tale, there are a surfeit of inconsequential plot detours along the way.