Drawing on a formula similar to the one used in her previous book, Record Time, Brandt dishes up another lighthearted office romance touched with humor and suspense. Rich, pampered Katya Morgan finds herself without money, clothes and a means to support herself when her father dies and leaves everything to her stepmother. Katya is determined to come up with enough cash to contest the will and regain her party-girl lifestyle, but first she must find a job. Salvation comes in the form of handsome hotel manager Alex Sheridan, a rescuer of damsels-in-distress who happens to have an opening in housekeeping. As Katya struggles to learn how to clean toilets, ride the bus and make her own food, she strikes up a sexual relationship with Alex that quickly turns serious. The one thing standing in their way is her fear of intimacy. An unlikely subplot involving a hotel saboteur adds little suspense (Brandt's laughable villain brandishes a baseball bat instead of a pistol), and the author's tendency to reiterate her characters' motivations will wear on readers.
Overall, however, this is fun, breezy beach reading. (May 6)
