Vanity Fare

Set in present-day New York, Caldwell's new novel concerns insecure Brooklynite Molly Hagan, a soon-to-be-single mother heading up an important marketing campaign for sexy celebrity dessert chef Simon Baxter; in the process, she becomes smitten with his colleague. After her erstwhile husband announces that he won't be able to pay child support, Molly accepts an assignment writing copy for a celebrity pastry chef from John, a mutual friend of her and her husband's. But there's more to the job than writing; John wants Molly to "keep an eye on" his cold, shady partner, Natalie Duran, who lands the kind of high-profile clients that John has "only dreamed of." Simon's business partner, Nick, is suspicious of Molly's credentials, but his good looks and soft-spot for Molly's Pok%C3%A9mon-obsessed son make Molly swoon. Will all the flirting%E2%80%94between Molly and John, Simon and Molly, and Molly and Nick%E2%80%94get in the way of Molly's work, both covert and otherwise? Caldwell, who writes romance novels as Megan Frampton, has a good feel for New York City, name-checking institutions and peopling her world with multiethnic characters. Though the usual chick lit tropes, like convenient coincidences (how many times can Molly run into her husband and his new girlfriend?), make it necessary to suspend one's disbelief, Caldwell's story flows, and although Molly's constant self-doubt and whining can be grating, readers will identify with her attempts to rise from the ashes. Agent: Louise Fury, L. Perkins Agency. (Jan.)