cover image How to Be Cool

How to Be Cool

Johanna Edwards, . . Berkley, $21.95 (310pp) ISBN 978-0-425-21384-1

Returning from Your Big Break and The Next Big Thing , Edwards tracks Chicago-based image consultant Kylie Chase. Having been an overweight outcast in high school, Kylie works to save others from her younger self's fate: she talks one client out of wearing a Star Wars costume on a first date and keeps another from starring in a porno. But Kylie's deep dark secret is that she still imagines herself as a high school pudgette, and when hunky journalist Ty Benedict is assigned to cover her career, Kylie has to face the real person behind the carefully constructed image. Lame affirmations ("You are exactly who you think you are") and corny one-liners are less than cool, but Edwards makes Kylie's voice immediate and winning as she puts her through her success-doubt-success paces. (June)