Man Trouble [Mass Market Paperback]

Melanie Craft (Author)

Book Description

Series: Warner Forever | Publication Date: May 2004

Screwball comedy finds a sparkling voice in this debut novel.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Readers who look beyond the harebrained antics of Craft's (Trust Me) sympathetic, if not very sensible, characters, will glimpse a truly sweet romance-one that's worth the patience required to get through the first half of this book. In the unlikely set-up, history professor Molly Shaw becomes involved in a half-baked scheme to help a friend snag an exclusive interview with playboy billionaire Jake Berenger. Reluctantly, Molly dons four-inch stilettos, a platinum wig and a heavily padded bra and thrusts herself upon Jake, but the plan falls apart when Jake realizes the deception and discovers Molly's own secret-she wrote a lusty pirate romance under the pseudonym Sandra St. Claire. Instead of kicking Molly off his resort island, Jake coerces her into helping him revamp his image by pretending to be his fiancée for three months. The affection that develops between the pair is gradual and believable, unlike some of the story's details. Molly's debut romance, for example, hits the Times bestsellers list, and the revelation of her identity receives major media attention. Indeed, with one book, Molly achieves a level of fame equivalent to that of a minor movie star. But this is a fantasy, after all, and though the romance takes a while to rev up, readers will happily put themselves in Molly's shoes once it does.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Molly has a thing about pirates. A history professor who knows everything about real pirates and their exploits, she is also the author of a steamy pirate novel that she wrote as a lark under a pseudonym so as not to jeopardize her academic career just when she is up for tenure. Meanwhile, an old friend asks her to do him a favor. He wants to get the inside scoop on Jake Berenger, a reclusive playboy billionaire. Molly agrees in spite of having major doubts. Ensconced at said playboy's Caribbean resort, Molly adopts the role of her nom de plum, Sandra St. Claire, platform shoes, bustier, and all. Jake's kingdom is teetering, and he needs a major image overhaul. Once he figures out that Sandra is really Molly, he comes up with a plan: Molly will pretend to be his fiancee. Although neither fully trusts the other, they try to make it work in Craft's madcap yet touching story of fiction becoming fact. Maria Hatton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Forever (May 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446612847
• ISBN-13: 978-0446612845
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,085,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Man Trouble is all about fun!, June 20, 2004

By 

Sarah W "Sarah W" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Man Trouble (Mass Market Paperback)

Man Trouble is the story of Professor Molly Shaw and her double life as writer Sandra St. Claire. She's the author of the New York Times bestseller Pirate Gold, but nobody knows that but her close friend and colleague Carter McKee. Now he has a favor to ask her: seduce resort millionaire and playboy extraordinaire Jake Berenger. Carter wants the scoop on the ever so handsome and seductive Jake, a man notorious for his privacy. So begins Molly's crazy quest to help her friend. Though she is very reluctant to go along with Carter's plan, she finally concedes because he has always been there for her when she has needed him. Molly also thinks she deserves to spend some time on a Caribbean island at Jake's resort, Gold Bay. She also hopes it will help her research for her next book. She never dreams about the amazing discovery she will make.

Jake finds the odd Sandra St. Claire charming, if a touch odd. But it is the intriguing Professor Molly Shaw who really interests him, especially when she tries to get a part of his resort classified as a historical site. Then he just finds her annoying... and oh so attractive. She seems to be the perfect candidate to help him clean up his playboy image, to make him seem more like a family man. Until he discovers her deception as Sandra St. Claire and her plan with Carter, and a messy situation just gets messier. Will Jake and Molly manage to come clean with each other so that their newly budding relationship can blossom fully into love?

Melanie Craft's story is a great read, very emotional, and full of lots of interesting historical details about pirate life. Jake and Molly were both very real characters, very three dimensional and full of love, warmth, creativity, and a zest for each other and the causes they are trying to help. Man Trouble has lots of great secondary characters too who the reader will either love or hate. Jake and Molly both have some troubles they have to work through but in the end it is their love and happiness that they find to be most important, creating a very satisfying ending to a very good book.
Sarah W--http://www.fallenangelreviews.com

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sweet and playful!, May 13, 2004

By 

Joan F Hocking (Portola, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Man Trouble (Mass Market Paperback)

What a sweet and playful book this is. I read this author's other book (TRUST ME) last fall and found it charming (I am an animal lover and TRUST ME featured a lot of animals, which was fun for me). MAN TROUBLE has a different tone, but is very entertaining. The heroine starts out mousy, tries to force glamor, and finds herself somewhere in between. And I always like when a man isn't so much as "tamed" by a good woman, but becomes comfortable enough with himself because of her that he finds himself all on his own. Much more believable that way. My only complaint with MAN TROUBLE was that it didn't last the whole weekend for me -- I read it straight through.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!, May 3, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Man Trouble (Mass Market Paperback)

Ok, I am an oddball reviewer, a man who reads romance novels. Well, not all romance novels, mostly just the ones my wife leaves lying around the house...Jane Krenz, stuff like that. She handed me this one over the weekend, and said "read this...it'll make you laugh". Four hours later (yeah, I'm fast), and after lots of loud guffaws, I am pleased to say that this is a great read, and hard to put down. If you like loopy modern stories with a sort-of Shakespearean comedic-edge, try it out. If you want heaving bosoms and gallant men in tights, this may not be your thing...the author seems to be writing romance novels for the rest of us! Highly recommended.