LEAVE IT TO CLEAVAGE

When 38-year-old Miranda Smith comes across a photo of her husband of 15 years in a black lace teddy and thong panties with another woman's hand on his butt, her life begins to cartwheel out of control. Soon after, she learns that he's not only a womanizing cross-dresser, but a thief; he has skipped town with a bucketload of cash, leaving her family's 100-year-old business, Ballantyne Bras, on the verge of bankruptcy. So begins Wax's frothy but deliciously entertaining confection—and Miranda's quest to keep her company afloat. Gathering up her courage, her dusty MBA and the schmoozing skills she learned as a former beauty queen, Miranda tries to cover up her husband's absence while convincing Ballantyne's board members to trust her ideas for taking the company in a new, more profitable direction. Now, if it weren't for the constant surveillance of handsome police chief Blake Summers, who senses she's hiding something, she just might be able to pull it off. Wax is a relative newcomer to the romance genre (her first book, 7 Days and 7 Nights , debuted in 2003), but you wouldn't guess as much from reading this surefooted romp. The banter between Wax's protagonists contains just enough bite to keep the narrative buzzing like a live wire, and her characters are enchanting. Agent, Pam Stickler. (Aug.)