MISS MATCH

When 35-year-old drama teacher Kathryn Lamb joins her nosy neighbor's dating service, Six in the City, she meets brilliant entrepreneur Walker Hart, the temporary head of Six. He's living in his mother's penthouse and running her company while she's in Europe getting married—or is it divorced?—yet again. Though the two share an undeniable chemistry, Walker's serial-marrying mama has made him the poster boy for confirmed bachelors everywhere, and Kathryn's unwilling to settle for anything less than wedding bells. And so Kathryn embarks on a series of disastrous dates with other men, and Walker remains nearby enough to drive them both crazy. Carroll's debut is precisely what Ivy touts it as—"Chick-lit meets contemporary romance." With its many encounters between the heroine and men other than the hero, this cutesy comedy will appeal more to fans of the former category. However, even chick-lit readers and hip Manhattanites (the book's target readership) will tire of the characters' aimless repartee, which is more scripted than sincere, and the numerous references to the trendy and designer. Despite an obvious allusion to Sex and the City, this dialogue-driven drama isn't likely to hook fans of that series. (Mar.)