cover image Would I Lie to You?

Would I Lie to You?

Sheila Norton, . . Kensington/Strapless, $12.95 (342pp) ISBN 978-0-7582-0950-4

A housekeeper sweeps her way to bliss in Norton's snappy, sweet debut. Beth Marston, a 29-year-old divorcee with a four-year-old daughter, Ellie, isn't exactly living her dream: she cleans fancy houses for a living, her best hope for romance is with the fellow who lewdly propositions her every time she takes out her broom, her daughter wants a dog (and a daddy), and her mother just can't shut up about how great Beth's siblings are doing. Why does everyone else's life seem so much easier? Her best friend, Fay, has a lovely marriage, two sweet kids and plenty of money; even her employers—who can't keep their houses clean to save their lives—seem to have it all. But of course nothing is what it seems, and trouble (and promise) lurk around every corner. One day, when attending to the spotless, seemingly uninhabited flat of wealthy executive Alex Chapman, Beth decides to borrow his computer and start writing a script. Will she get found out as a dishonest employee—or discovered as a new literary light? The road to happiness is bumpy, but it's clear that Beth—and dashing Alex, who soon pops into the picture—will make it there together. (Dec.)