This Must Be Love [Paperback]

Kasey Michaels (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2003

Good girl Jane Preston is getting ready for her annual July ritual. The one where she packs up the insect repellent and binoculars and heads off to the mountains...with her parents. It's not exactly a scintillating prospect, so when her madcap cousin Molly bursts into her office with a crazy scheme, Jane's like putty in her hands. Silly putty that's been out in the sun too long...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

To help out her irresponsible but irresistible cousin Molly, who's in danger of losing her newspaper job unless she gets a spectacular scoop, good girl child care worker Jane Preston agrees to take the bad girl's place as a hired escort/undercover reporter. Janie's mission: to attend a prestigious week-long Cape May retreat for rich intellectuals and politicos (many of whom may remember Molly from her disastrous interlude as a D.C. intern) and find out whether charismatic senator Aubrey Harrison is planning to run for president. What Janie doesn't know is that her employer, nerdy professor John Romanowski, is actually bestselling mystery writer J.P. Roman, and he's determined to get the goods on the mysterious, and possibly murderous, senator. In this first of a two-book series, Michaels (Can't Take My Eyes Off of You, etc.) demonstrates her flair for creating likable protagonists who possess chemistry, charm and a penchant for getting into trouble. In addition, her dialogue and descriptions are full of humor ("John lifted one hand, undoubtedly to push his fingers through his hair, but stopped as his fingertips initially contacted his slicked-down patent leather head...."). Although it's hard at times to know whether this sexy, sinister and playful story is targeting readers' hearts, fear receptors or funny bones, it hits the bull's eye on all accounts.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Mousy Jane Preston is blackmailed by her glamorous cousin, Molly, to go undercover as an escort to a conference in Cape May, New Jersey, to get the dirt on Senator Harrison, a potential presidential candidate. Jane reluctantly goes to meet Professor John Romanowski, who is also perpetrating a charade to discredit the Senator. Actually the reclusive author of political thrillers, he has an axe to grind with the potential candidate: he blames him and his sexual misconduct with his mother as the cause of her mental breakdown and, ultimately, her death. John and Jane agree to help each other without disclosing the full details of each other's mission, then end up finding out intimate details about each other as well as getting intimate. Filled with wit and just plain fun, this very humorous escapade by talented Michaels will leave the reader hard-pressed to find two more likeable characters and eagerly waiting for Molly's story in the next installment. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Zebra (February 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821771183
• ISBN-13: 978-0821771181
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,501,479 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars enjoyable amateur sleuth romance, February 2, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: This Must Be Love (Paperback)

Though she knows every time she does a favor for her cousin Molly Applegate she gets into trouble, pre-school owner Jane Preston agrees to pose as her relative at the Sixth Annual Intellectual Retreat in Cape May, New Jersey. Molly admits she cannot attend because her face is too well known as that disastrous intern, but she needs to report a scandal involving a potential presidential candidate Senator Aubrey Harrison or lose her position as a reporter.

John Romanowski also attends the event. John, better known as author JP Roman, wants to find mud to not just abort Harrison's run, but to destroy the SOB who unceremoniously dumped his mother after a love affair for a better political wife. His mother never recovered so John was orphaned as a teen.

Singles are matched up with John and Jane assigned to one another. They are immediately attracted, but their mutually exclusive inquiries cause problems for the dueling Js. If they are to succeed on their endeavors and come away with a loving relationship, one of them must step forward and trust the other with the truth.

Though coincidence brings the lead protagonists together, readers will applaud this amateur sleuth romance. The story line is very amusing as John and Jane trip over one another in their efforts to find the loaded gun that will destroy Harrison. Jane especially is an intriguing character because she is the classic amateur sleuth as she stumbles from one mistake (except for loving John) to another. Together they make for a delectable novel.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Humorous dialogue/disappointing plot, March 8, 2005

By 

Donna K. "bookcrosser" (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Must Be Love (Paperback)

While I found this book to be full of good-natured humor, and the bantering dialogue between the couple was well-written, the plot was seriously lacking and the circumstances weren't very believeable. The beginning of the story dragged on-and-on. It was at least half-way through the story, if not further, before Jane and John began confronting the problem. From that point on, I found the clues too vague and the unravelling of the situation too confusing to follow. I'm still not sure exactly how it was resolved...the detective work at the end was rushed, especially compared to the slow-moving beginning to the story. Not well-balanced at all.

As well, Jack and Jane fell in love way too quickly, especially considering how mismatched they were. It's hard to imagine that after spending less than a week together, they were ready to marry "immediately" and live happily ever after.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad by a long shot.., March 21, 2004

By 

Meg "Livin la vida loca in Maine!" (Caribou, ME, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: This Must Be Love (Paperback)

The only problem I had was the fact I read the book that comes after this one "This Can't Be Love" before I read this one! Anyodd, it was a great read. I enjoyed the charactors, even though I pretty much knew what was going to happen because of reading "This Can't Be Love First". My view of Jane as a character changed immensely with this book, and I found her to be much like her wacky cousin Molly, only a tad more reserved. In the other book, Michaels portrays Jane as a dull stick in the mud spinster. These two books have made me quite the fan of Michaels works, and I will continue to read her books. I recommend this as a light read, nothing too heavy in it, take it with you on a beach vacation!