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Date You Can't Refuse, A

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"A Date You Can't Refuse" is the latest in the misadventures of Wollie Shelley, the greeting card artist. This time she accepts a job at MediasRex, a media training company, not by choice but by the persistence of the FBI. But also pays well, and she needs the cash. Harley Jane Kozak creates such amusing characters and the story makes you wonder what is going to happen next. Will Wollie survive these foreign clients that she is paid to teach and also keep in line? Will she ever hook up with her boyfriend? And what is up with the owner of MediasRex? The book is a fast paced thriller that makes me yearn for the next book.

This is the fourth of Harley Jane Kozak's books featuring Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Wollie for short, a six-foot-tall buxom blonde remarkable for honesty, loyalty, a warm heart and a kind of zany intelligence. Both Kozak and Wollie are in top form in this book.

A greeting card artist by profession, Wollie has also earned a certain minor celebrity by dating men on cheesy reality TV shows. She meets her next employer in court. As a member of the jury, she has just acquitted Yuri Milos in a slip-and-fall case.

Yuri runs a company that trains celebrities from Eastern Europe to deal successfully with the American media. Wollie will date the male celebrities, teaching them proper behavior according to American dating rituals.

While Yuri is recruiting Wollie, so is the FBI. They want her help as a civilian to figure out what Yuri is really up to inside his gated community.

Wollie's boyfriend Simon is an FBI agent on a totally different undercover assignment that makes it almost impossible for them to meet. Their stolen moments frantically coupling in parking lots are high points in a plot full of high points.

Wollie gets persuaded into her dubious double employment because of her concern for her paranoid schizophrenic brother P.B. As his sole support, she needs the money for his treatment.

With no flair at all for spying, Wollie snoops, plants bugs and steals evidence in a perpetual state of terror mixed with bravado. She's also congenitally indiscrete. Her two best friends Joey and Fredreeq very quickly wheedle out of her all the things she's supposed to be keeping secret.

I recommend reading the Wollie Shelley mysteries from the beginning and in order, so you'll have the back story on all the wonderful characters. The first book is Dating Dead Men.

The FBI assigns greeting card graphic artist and tyro espionage agent Wollie Shelley undercover work at MediasRex, a California media training company. MediasRex owner Yuri Milos hires Wollie to teach etiquette to their socially-impaired clients and as needed fill in at dates at public functions.

Wollie's boyfriend FBI agent Simon Alexander is upset with her assignment although the pay is great; not that he wants to be the social trainee to miscreants even for $50,000 for three months of training. However, he knows Yuri has deadly connections to Eastern European politicians and mobsters. Inside the firm's Calabasas, California headquarters, Wollie finds out her predecessor died in a car accident that the late predecessor's boyfriend claims was a homicide.

The latest Wollie's woes (see DEADLY EX, DATING IS MURDER and DATING DEAD MEN) is an amusing zany investigative thriller as the heroine gets in trouble in her personal and professional lives. The story line has a humorous undertone but Simon is simply right with the amount of danger engulfing Wollie as Yuri's secrets re his East Europe community connections could prove fatal. Once again Harley Jane Kozak provides a lighthearted romp inside a potential deadly scenario starring a former serial dater on her first knockout date arguing over who drives.

Harriet Klausner

I have good news and bad news. The good news is that this fourth mystery in the Wollie Shelley series is another fantastic, hilarious, nail-biting read. The bad news? Rumor (please, let it be just that!) has it that this is the last book in the series.

Greeting card artist Wollie Shelley is on jury duty when she finds the defendant, Yuri Milos, riveted on her every move. This puzzles her because she is hardly the most beautiful or youngest female member of the jury. After the case is over, with Yuri decreed not guilty, he approaches Wollie, who blurts that she is in a relationship (she doesn't mention, of course, that Simon, her boyfriend, is an FBI agent). To her amazement, she finds that Yuri knows of her from her stint as a star in the TV shows "SoapDirt" and "Biological Clock." Wollie is hardly proud of having anything to do with those productions, and she is stunned to hear that "SoapDirt" has a huge following in Belarus, Moldova, Slovakia and Ukraine. Yuri is from that area of the world and has many friends who are big fans of Wollie. Who knew?

At any rate, Yuri doesn't want a romantic partner. He would like Wollie to come work for his media training company, MediaRex, which teaches celebrities, usually from Europe, all about American culture and how to deal with the media. Yuri believes Wollie would be a perfect social coach. Wollie tries to turn down the job, but when Yuri offers her $50,000 (plus living expenses) for three months' work, she wavers even though she particularly detests one of the job descriptions: "dating surrogate." Yuri assures her that she will simply teach foreign men how to date American-style, without any unsavory nuances or strings.

No sooner does Wollie reluctantly begin to mull over Yuri's lucrative offer than she is approached by another would-be employer. An FBI agent, one she has never met, informs her that the federal government is interested in Yuri and his company. He insists that she not only has to accept the social coach job at MediaRex, but she must work undercover for the FBI, which has been unable to place an agent in the company. Again, Wollie refuses to seriously consider the MediaRex position, until the FBI agent convinces her by explaining that he is able to help Wollie's mentally ill brother remain in the caretaking home in which he currently resides. Wollie just can't turn down a chance to help P.B. stay at Haven Lane where he is safe and content. She agrees to accept Yuri's job offer, even though she does not believe the FBI agent when he suggests she won't be in any danger.

Her disbelief, as it turns out, is quite correct. Wollie is expected to live on the MediaRex compound, a gated community with a fence and a guardhouse. Here, among the extended Milos family, she is coached in how to instruct foreign celebrities in American social graces. Donatella, one of Yuri's ex-wives, is in charge of Wollie's "visual presentation," which includes hair, walk, shoes and clothing. Wollie is startled to discover that the fine designer wardrobe Donatella insists she wear was once worn by Chai, the previous social coach. She is shocked when she learns that young Chai died in a car accident ---- and curiously, no one at Yuri's company seems to want to talk about her. Wollie's uneasiness increases as another death and a mysterious disappearance occur at the compound, even as she ineptly sneaks around to spy on the Milos business doings for the FBI.

There is nothing not to love about A DATE YOU CAN'T REFUSE, another stellar mystery from Harley Jane Kozak. Wollie Shelley is one of the most likable and sympathetic (not to mention hilarious) characters around. Readers will root for her as she bungles her job as a double agent. In addition, the plot is well-paced, the mystery is puzzling, and a romantic subplot adds a little spice to the mix.

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon

A Date You Can't Refuse is the fourth book in the series about greeting card entrepreneur, Wollie Shelley. Although this can be a stand-alone book, I recommend reading the other three first just to get the background, and because they're pretty good. This one was by far my favorite of the series so far.
Wollie takes a job as a "social coach" for up-and-coming stars from other countries, although she's actually cooperating with the FBI spying on the agency she works for. She soon realizes that there is something shady going on, and as dead bodies begin to pile up she begins getting nervous. She's also having relationship issues with her boyfriend, Simon, that she barely gets to see because he's working deep undercover for the FBI.
I couldn't put this book down! Between wanting to find out if Wollie and Simon were going to work things out and trying to figure out what the big mystery was surrounding her job/spying, I was up late into the night reading. The action was fast paced and there was always something happening throughout the book. Plus, this book had me laughing out loud at times. The characters are great, the dialog witty, and the story line intriguing. I'd definitely recommend this book!

Wollie never expected to transition her jury duty service into a new job, but that's just what happens when Yuri Milos offers her a job at MediasRex. The company trains Europeans on how to be American media darlings, and Wollie's job would be part driver, part dating/social setting coach. Further complicating things, the FBI rope her into spying on the MediasRex employees in exchange for guaranteeing that her brother will stay at his half-way house.

She has hardly moved into the MediasRex complex when she discovers that her predecessor died in a car crash that no one is willing to discuss. Was it the accident everyone says it is or murder? A body in a nearby canyon only increases the stakes. Can Wollie get out alive?

This is a fast paced romp that left me turning pages. Every time I had to stop, it was with great reluctance. The set up may be complicated, but Ms. Kozak keeps all her balls in the air quite nicely. In fact, this may be the most polished book in the series. The climax wasn't quite what I like, but that was a minor complaint.

The characters are at their best here as well. Yes, we do get to see all the regulars, and they add nicely to the story. The new ones are instantly memorable, which is nice since there are a lot of them.

And the book is very funny. I found myself laughing several times.

While knowing the characters certainly helps, if you aren't already familiar with Wollie and her friends, you can certainly jump in here and still enjoy every minute of the action.

...but I love Wollie even more. She may be my all-time favorite female fictional character. She is kind, conscientious, loyal, full of integrity, and so funny! This book, and all the others in this series, are a consistent mix of exciting suspense and laugh out loud moments. The depth of character development is satisfying and true. I wish I had her 2 best friends and an Uncle Theo! He is so wise, love the way he talks, love the way he took in the Greek family--and I love his fashion sense!! And of course, Simon! There is a great scene in an earlier book where Wollie's mom--still a selfish hippie after all these years--is thoughtlessly cruel to Wollie during Thanksgiving; sexy, undercover FBI agent Simon, her new love interest, just touches Wollie's shoulder and makes it better. I love him--he will not let her down in what looks like their big future. Although when he made love to her in the parking garage--it was a hot, passionate scene, yes, but it made me feel he didn't quite appreciate how precious she is.
I like the way the author describes Wollie's brother's mental illness in this series--something unique in the many books of this genre I've read. Wollie treats him with great compassion, love, and respect, which we in turn feel. When he finally gets on a medication that allows him to concentrate enough to read--and he's such an intellect--it really brought home some of the horrible effects of schizophrenia.
I fell for Yuri, too--I hope he comes back in a future Wollie book!

I think it's cool that Harley was one of my favorite actresses on Guiding Light back when I used to watch it--I specifically remember a scene where she and her boyfriend pretended to be having wild sex for the benefit of someone listening at the keyhole--they were laughing so hard-it was a riot!

Thanks for a great series, Harley, looking forward to the next book!

This might sound a little weird, but I wanted to read A DATE YOU CAN'T REFUSE by Harley Jane Kozak because I remember watching Ms. Kozak on Guiding Light (many years ago.) I was addicted to the daytime soap and I just loved her character Annabelle. Ms. Kozak went on to star in many other movies including Parenthood, The Favor and Arachnophobia, but I'll always remember her best for her role on Guiding Light. When I learned that she was an author (and supposed to be a good one at that), I just knew I had to read one of her books.

I absolutely loved this book! I haven't read a lot of mysteries the past year or so, but A DATE YOU CAN'T REFUSE has convinced me that I shouldn't have stopped reading that genre. This book was terrific. This novel is the fourth book in the Wollie Shelley series and I am so excited that there are three more books out there for me to read.

This book hooked me in right from the start, and I think it's because I adored Wollie. She is not your typical detective, crime-solving character -- she's actually a greeting-card artist. She does not consider herself to be overly adventuresome, yet she finds herself in very strange circumstances with very strange people. I thought Wollie was hilarious. The book was told from her point-of-view, and I can't even tell you how much I laughed at her antics.

I also thought the mystery aspect of this story was wonderful. The storyline kept me guessing and I was pretty surprised when all was resolved at the end of the book. There were many twists and turns, and I found myself questioning characters that I thought I trusted (so did Wollie.) If you enjoy the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich, then I'm betting that you will love this novel too!

As you can tell, I am absolutely sold on this book and dying to read the rest of the books in this series. Ms. Kozak's first book in the series DATING DEAD MEN won the Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. The big question I keep asking myself is why I've never read any of these books before! Ms. Kozak has a terrific website, and she also writes for the grog (a group blog) The Lipstick Chronicles. If you aren't following this grog, you really should! Ms. Kozak along with her five best writer friends take turns blogging on a variety of subjects.

This book sounded intriguing and I hadn't read any of the author's previous books. Normally I don't like to read a book out of sequence in a series but this one worked. You're aware there is history but the book works alone. Love the heroine and thought process/internal struggles of right/wrong and everything else in between. It's a fun read, fast-paced, page turner type of book.Highly recommended.

Whether or not the reader has treated herself to the previous titles, this is just fun stuff...but it should surely make folks go hunt up the priors in the series if this is their first.

Kozak's descriptions, situations and characters(especially, of course, Wollie, whose thoughts and reactions often induce Coffee Out The Nose syndrome), keep the promise of entertaining fiction.