365 books in 365 days Challenge ... book #101

If the Red Slipper Fits... - Shirley Jump
Mills and Boon RIVA
Harlequin Mills and Boon, 2011
ISBN: 9780263883725




My rating





From the back cover:

"Missing: One Red Stiletto,Reward For Safe Return.
New York gossip writer Sarah Griffin has lost a shoe. However, this isnt just any shoe it is a custom-made design that she was supposed to be taking care of (not wearing!) and losing it could mean her job.
When notorious playboy Caleb Lewis, best known for creating column inches in the paper Sarah writes for, shows up at her office with a dangerous glint in his eye, Sarah is suspicious. It seems her shoes kidnapper is none other than this unconventional Prince Charming.Now Caleb, owner of the most deliciously wicked reputation in New York, has a proposition for Sarah one she cannot turn down.
Let her modern-day fairytale begin."


This was my last Glastonbury Festival read! I read it on the coach on the way home, I was sad the festival was over but this book brought a smile to my face!

The heroine Sarah is a gossip columnist for a New York magazine, but she is desperate to get a job with the publishers sister fashion magazine. She gets offered the chance to write a report on an exclusive new shoe design by a popular designer. Her sister throws one of the shoes out of the window in anger and Sarah is unable to find it. Until she discovers Caleb, the hero, found it. Caleb is CEO of fashion house LL designs, his mother's company, which he took over after his mother became seriously ill. He has struggled with the floundering business and his grief over his mother, to escape his dark thoughts he is often found in the hottest New York nightspots, something which Sarah often writes about.
He plans a revamp of LL designs collection and asks Sarah to write a report on this in exchange for the shoe. Sarah agrees and as they spend time together they grow close and begin to fall in love but Sarah's job and Caleb's secrets could ruin everything.

First of all, this was set in Manhattan and had a wonderful New York vibe to it, so it already had my thumbs up! The characters are wonderful; Sarah being truly three dimensional, she is neither over confident nor a martyr. In this book Shirley Jump deals with a very difficult situation her character face with sensitivity and aplomb.
On a slightly negative note, I couldn't stop thinking that Sarah's father is extremely similar to the character of Martin Crane (Frasier's dad) from the TV show Frasier - named Martin, ex-cop, had to move in with Sarah as he's unable to live alone, comes complete with battered recliner, shaving foam warmer... It's a bit off putting.

But, this is a heart warming and fun romance that felt like a true fairy tale.

Recommended.

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