You Dropped a Blonde on Me

From Publishers WeeklyLaunching the Ex Trophy Wives series, Cassidy aims for slapstick comedy but misses the mark. After Maxine Cambridge's husband trades her in for a younger model, Maxine is reduced to working at a fast-food restaurant. Even worse, she and her son are stuck living with her mother in a senior citizens' retirement village. Enter Campbell Barker, a former high school classmate of Maxine's who's morphed from geeky to sexy. Campbell remembers the sassy prom queen that Maxine used to be and urges her to stand up to her soon-to-be ex-husband. Even though Maxine has sworn off men, she finds herself attracted to Campbell. Straddling the line between romance and women's fiction, Maxine's journey to empowerment is meant to get readers cheering, but her irritating antics and constant overreactions make it hard, as do the abundant clichés. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. From BooklistTaking a break from her paranormal series, Cassidy (Accidentally Dead, 2008) veers into contemporary romance with the story of Maxine, trophy wife of car-dealer Finley Cambridge, who is trading her in for a newer model. Because she unwittingly signed a prenuptial agreement, Max and her son, Connor, are living with her mother in a retirement village. In a state of shock at being ripped from life’s luxuries and now having to support herself and her son, Max struggles to find herself, like herself, and finally empower herself. Fortunately, Campbell Barker, once her science partner in high school, helping with maintenance in the village his father owns, is there to bolster her. Meanwhile, her best friend, newly widowed Lenore Erickson, dives into a sexual liaison with a stranger. Cassidy’s upbeat style and wicked sense of humor see both Max and Len through their periods of insanity, and will enchant readers whose lives may not be in so much turmoil. --Pat Henshaw