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Queen Takes King: A Novel
 
 
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Queen Takes King: A Novel [Hardcover]

Gigi Levangie Grazer (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)


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Featured Author: Gigi Levangie Grazer
Read an excerpt from Gigi Levangie Grazer's Queen Takes King [PDF].

Book Description

June 16, 2009
Jackson Power. A name like the man himself: aggressive, ambitious, bullish. The prodigal son, heir to millions, built his own Manhattan real estate empire and revels in seeing his moniker -- Power! -- on glittering skyscrapers around the city that never sleeps. Beneath his desk in the towering Power headquarters, Jacks has a stack of newspapers and photographs of himself, shaking hands with the most famous men and women of his generation. Here's a man who's always loved to see his name in ink. Until now.

Cynthia Hunsaker Power. She is the epitome of elegance and society. The perfect foil for a man of Jacks's stature -- his first and only wife, he'd proudly tell any of his Master of the Universe (read: Gargoyle) friends. The former prima ballerina arrived in New York at eighteen, off the bus from Missouri, brimming with talent, beauty, and drive. She met a struggling painter, fell in love, and only later learned she'd won the Power lottery. Now she sits on the New York Ballet Theater board, effortlessly outdoing herself with one gala after another. But the press coverage of the Power silver anniversary party at the Waldorf takes the cake.

Jacks Power appears twice in the New York Post the next morning -- once gallantly dancing with his wife of twenty-five years, Cynthia; and once hand in hand with Lara Sizemore, morning television star, exiting her Upper West Side apartment building that very same night.

To Jackson Power, Lara is everything his wife Cynthia is not -- wild, voluptuous, mysterious, and self-sustaining. A new passion has swept Jacks off his well-shoed feet -- and she is Lara Sizemore. He is ready for the divorce, ready to marry his mistress, America's Sweetheart. But Cynthia isn't ready to be swept out of the picture quite so easily.

Let the Divorce Games begin.

Whether they're changing the locks on each other in their Park Avenue triplex or sabotaging each other's dinner parties, it's The People's Billionaire vs. The Ballerina, in a split-up that will trump the most scandalous divorces known to polite New York society. Cynthia's got their twenty-five-year-old artist daughter, Vivienne, in her camp; Jacks has the young bartending playwright Adrian, whom he intends to pay to seduce Cynthia into an easy split. But Cynthia might have a few tricks up her well-tailored Chanel sleeve, and she -- like Jacks -- is prepared to use every weapon in her divorce arsenal to win the game. It's a battle of wits, of charm, of two of the biggest egos -- and personalities and bank accounts -- in Manhattan, and neither side will go down without a fight.

From beloved and best selling author Gigi Levangie Grazer comes a sexy, sassy, smart new novel, Queen Takes King.


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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

It's War of the Roses fought by The Real Housewives of New York in this hilarious if overlong morality tale of young love, old fools and happy endings. After 25 years of marriage—most of it squandered on unspoken disappointment, stifled grief and wasted affection—ex-ballerina Cynthia Power and real estate tycoon hubby Jackson are headed for divorce. At the same time, Jackson's latest condo project is teetering and Carolyn's ballet board is in turmoil. Though lesbian daughter Vivienne counsels Cynthia to think three moves ahead, Jackson, torn between his ambitious and reckless lover and imperious father, is staying in the game by sheer grit. In the end, these volatile emotional wrecks learn to rely on their hearts. Grazer (The Starter Wife) has Hollywood cred and brings a rollicking romantic-comedy tempo to her story of busting up and moving on, even if the cast is strictly celluloid: lovely to look at and unlike anyone walking this planet. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"A sly, observant report from a rarefied world that's sure to be another big hit." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Hilarious... Grazer (The Starter Wife) has Hollywood cred and brings a rollicking romantic-comedy tempo to her story of busting up and moving on." -- Publishers Weekly --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 367 pages
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster (June 16, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0743291999
  • ISBN-13: 978-0743291996
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #754,244 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gigi Levangie Grazer is the author of three prior novels: Rescue Me (2000), Maneater (2003), and The Starter Wife (2006). The Starter Wife was adapted for an Emmy Award-winning USA Network miniseries starring Debra Messing, and later for a television series; Maneater was adapted for a Lifetime miniseries starring Sarah Chalke in May 2009. In addition, Gigi wrote the screenplay for Stepmom, starring Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon. Gigi's articles have appeared in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Glamour. She lives in L.A. with her two children and three miniature dachshunds.

 

Customer Reviews

63 Reviews
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3 star:
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2 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.3 out of 5 stars (63 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Good fun, clever story, characters I was rooting for, August 23, 2009
This review is from: Queen Takes King: A Novel (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Queen Takes King is a lovely "coming into your own" story about a woman who's had enough of fitting into a mold, and decides to finally step out on her own and divorce her philandering husband. It's also about the husband, who's narcissistic and in love with a national news anchor. And that news anchor, who wants more than to be a bauble on his arm. And the daughter of the philanderer and his wife, who's not sure what to do given her life of privilege.

It's a very fast read, very clever, and I liked that I could root for each of the characters. Even the philandering husband had some redeeming qualities.

Recommended as a good beach read. Nothing serious, nothing heavy - just a good story about people taking charge of their lives.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Well narrated entertaining bit of fluff, October 27, 2009
By 
Sandy Kay (Twin Cities, Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   
This review is from: Queen Takes King (Audio CD)
My review is of the audio CD narrated by Phil Gigante and Tanya Eby; I have not read the printed book.

Part of the reason I chose this book is that I expected the plot to be light and not too involved. I wanted to listen while doing something else and not be distracted by too much plot. Basically I was not looking for serious literature and I was not disappointed.

The best part of the narration was that the publishers decided to use two different narrators, male and female. Even the best narrators don't do very well with voices for characters of the opposite gender and it made the book a much more enjoyable listening experience than if one narrator had tried to do all the characters. Both narrators did a good job; I felt they captured the essence of the characters.

The plot is light and amusing. The divorce fight never gets particularly nasty and the reader (or listener) never gets the feeling that either party is particularly invested in the marriage. Even the cheated on wife never feels hurt and betrayed enough for you to hate the husband and his girlfriend. It seems more of a game between the characters than real emotional content. For my purposes, it was just what I wanted. If you want some entertaining fluff based in the high income bracket world of New York, this may fit the bill. If you want something deeper, you may not be as satisfied with this book as I was.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars DIVORCE, NEW YORK STYLE, July 24, 2009
This review is from: Queen Takes King: A Novel (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
The characters and circumstances in Gigi Levangie Grazer's latest book QUEEN TAKES KING", could have been taken directly from the pages of your favorite supermarket tabloid.......or perhaps The New York Post's PAGE SIX.

Jackson "Jacks" Power wants a divorce from Cynthia, his wife of 25 years, in order to marry Lara, a potential "trophy wife". Jacks, being Jacks, doesn't want to face the possibility of losing his tri-plex at 740 Park Avenue in the divorce so he devises a plan to ensure he retains possession of the family homestead. Cynthia, it seems, has a few plans of her own.

Jacks persona is easily recognizable. He is part Donald Trump, part Tony Robbins and part Muhammad Ali in his youth (I am the greatest). Where "The Donalds" combover has been the subject of many a snarky remark, Jacks hair also seems to be a topic for discussion as illustrated by Jacks father who states, "You know that hair of yours looks ridiculous".

It appears that Ms. Grazer has drawn on the invaluable resources contained in the idiosyncrasies and foibles of individuals in her inner circle and has created a cast of characters whose antics are hilarious. You will love Cynthia's shrink, Goldie with his Zorba the Greek philosophy of life and her New York Ballet Theater BFF, Margot, she of the salty language. The are just two of the colorful characters who dance through the pages of this amusing tale.

With the help and encouragement of their lesbian daughter Vivi, Cynthia transforms herself and shows Jacks that she too is a "Power to be reckoned with". (pun intended). From the title Ms. Grazer gave her book it is obvious that she sees divorce as a chess game played out on the big board of life. I, however, saw it more as a game of Monopoly that attempts to answer the age old question, "Can you really be happy and fulfilled without owning Boardwalk and Park Place"??
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