Harmel's modern-day fairy tale, her debut novel, takes a look at celebrity worship and women's magazines through the somewhat starstruck, somewhat skeptical eyes of self-described "nice girl" Claire Reilly, a 26-year-old entertainment editor at Mod
magazine. After Claire catches her freeloading boyfriend, Tom, sleeping with another woman, she goes on an uncharacteristic bender, drowning her sorrows in tequila shots. At the bar, she runs into movie star Cole Brannon, whom she interviewed that morning for Mod
. Cole kindly ministers to a weepy, drunken Claire and even follows her home to make sure Tom is gone. Cole is so perfect he's almost dull––and Claire's nemesis, beauty and fashion director Sidra DeSimon, is cartoonishly malicious, but Claire's frenzied narrative keeps the story interesting. Sidra leaks a rumor about Claire and Cole to the tabloids and fabricates a Mod
article—with Claire's byline attached—about their alleged one-night-stand. But a red carpet confrontation sets Claire and Cole's reconciliation in motion, and the young editor has to weigh her job against the possibility of lasting love. Mod
never had a chance. (Feb.)
