cover image SUMMER IN THE CITY

SUMMER IN THE CITY

Robyn Sisman, . . Plume, $13 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-452-28612-2

Originally published in the U.K. in a slightly different form and with the title Perfect Strangers (1998), this spirited story by the author of the bestselling Weekend in Paris features a romance that blossoms thanks to a transatlantic apartment swap. Londoner Suze Wilding swears she'll never get married; New Yorker Lloyd Rockwell has the perfect girlfriend. They both work for the ad agency Scheider Fox, but Suze is a bit low on the totem pole on the U.K. side and Lloyd's sort of a hotshot in Manhattan. What will bring them together? How about a month-long job exchange that also has them living on each other's turf? Everything's going swimmingly until golden boy Lloyd gets accused of leaking confidential company information and is fired, and Suze's love life implodes. The two start talking on the phone, and they decide to clear Lloyd's name. There's never any doubt that they will—and that they'll find love along the way—but Sisman offers plenty of twists and turns, and both surprisingly sad and wickedly funny scenes along the way. (Mar.)