cover image Real Women Don't Wear Size 2

Real Women Don't Wear Size 2

Kelley St John, . . Warner Forever, $6.50 (380pp) ISBN 978-0-446-61721-5

In St. John's sexy contemporary, staid size 10 Clarise Robinson, top salesperson at Eubanks Elegant Apparel, is determined to use the company retreat to go after her secret love, best friend and boss, Ethan Eubanks. Self-consciousness has kept her from pursuing him in earnest, but as Clarise turns 30, she decides it's "high time she at least tried to locate her wild side," and the office trip is the perfect opportunity: Tampa, Fla.'s Gasparilla Pirate Festival (think Mardi Gras on peg legs). With a new, body-hugging wardrobe and a sexual to-do list, Clarise decamps to Tampa, and while she drunkenly flashes her "Robinson Treasures" for trinkets, Ethan discovers his feelings for her are quite different outside the office. Amid plentiful and inventive sex, though, those old inhibitions take hold of Clarise and Ethan, who can't quite come clean about their sticky feelings. The hot fun is occasionally dampened by some distracting purple dialogue, and hobbled by a too-long ending. Still, this is steamy reading that should appeal to those in the Sex and the City crowd who aren't getting their fill from standard chick lit. (Sept.)