cover image CHERRIES IN THE SNOW

CHERRIES IN THE SNOW

Emma Forrest, . . Three Rivers, $13 (288pp) ISBN 978-1-4000-5365-0

Sadie Steinberg needs a makeover—a life makeover. While the 24-year-old British heroine of Forrest's unsurprising third novel has a knack for naming cosmetics (Sophisticated Inebriate, Sexy Rabbi, Jet Lag) at her friends' trendy New York makeup company, Grrrl, she can't seem to remember the name of her favorite fruit (is it a mango or a papaya?), get started on the Great American Novel she's been meaning to write or stop falling for older men who resemble her dad. When Sadie finally does meet the right guy—a former graffiti artist turned yoga-practicing corporate art consultant—she nearly loses him by trying to out–temper tantrum his eight-year-old daughter. Hijinks involving soy milk, a tutu, plastic surgery, a cat named Sidney Katz, trips to Los Angeles, and, of course, face paint, ensue, and the narrative meanders toward a conventional denouement. Taking her title from a shade of lipstick by Revlon, Forrest (Namedropper ) jazzes up her edgier version of chick lit with clever sleaze (an ex-lover has a "genius penis"), though most of the pop-culture references have the shelf life of the latest eye shadow. Like Sadie's beloved Ding Dongs, the novel is low in nutritional value, but readers who've dreamed of being the "model New York City single girl" will eat it up regardless. (Feb.)