Been There, Done That

When Kathy Hopkins' ex-boyfriend Tim calls, she never figured he would suggest an undercover assignment for his political journal and her publication, Salad magazine. Kathy's new job as the Boston-based magazine's education editor needs a jump-start, and Tim's proposition proves tantalizing, even if it is a bit embarrassing. So Kathy moves into a dorm room at Mercer College, exploiting her youthful face to pose as a freshman. Her mission is to uncover a student prostitution ring. But what begins as a predictable chick lit novel takes a fresh turn when Kathy, surrounded by self-conscious 18 year olds, comes to terms with being single and 32 years old. Her youthful classmates remind her of what being 18 was like (not all bliss), and help her realize she has outgrown Tim, whom she fell for in college. And while the investigation seems to go nowhere, Kathy gets action in the bed of a 22-year-old R.A. Snow's humorous, wise debut serves up romance with a bit of social commentary on the state of singledom and the benefits of maturity in a youth- and romance-obsessed society.