October '07 pick: LITTLE LADY, BIG APPLE by Hester Browne

The sequel to the April 2006 Lit Chick pick THE LITTLE LADY AGENCY (Browne's debut novel), LITTLE LADY, BIG APPLE is new in paperback this month (after coming out in hardcover earlier this year). Nearly 400 pages of madcap adventures pick up where Browne's heroine left off last year.

In the prequel to LITTLE LADY, BIG APPLE, Londoner Melissa Romney-Jones launched the Little Lady Agency, a London-based "freelance girlfriend" business where she posed as the self-confident and seductive "Honey" and helped men do everything from matching their socks to buying holiday gifts for their mothers. While posing as Honey, Melissa met American bachelor Jonathan Riley who, by the end of the first book, had become her boyfriend.

In LITTLE LADY, BIG APPLE, Melissa follows Jonathan across the pond to New York and eventually (and somewhat inadvertently) starts to use her dating expertise on American men. A delightful look at dating in America from an outsider's viewpoint, LITTLE LADY, BIG APPLE will have you laughing at scenario after madcap scenario. And if you've ever dated on this side of the Atlantic, you'll find yourself laughing along with some of the dead-on observations Browne's Melissa makes about American society.

While trying to appease American clients and associates, Melissa is also trying to juggle her business back in London, her wayward sisters, her loose-moraled Parliament member father, her new boyfriend's demanding ex-wife, and a yippy little dog named Braveheart whom she might just come to love. Fun, frothy and fast-paced, LITTLE LADY, BIG APPLE is BRIDGET JONES meets SEX AND THE CITY. Browne deftly juggles hilarity and heartbreak and she steams forward to a very satisfying conclusion indeed, leaving the door open for the third novel in the trilogy, THE LITTLE LADY AGENCY AND THE PRINCE, coming in February.

SHOPAHOLIC author Sophie Kinsella calls the novel "deliciously witty," and Redbook magazine calls in "hilarious." You won't be disappointed. It's a steal at just $11.20 on amazon.com.


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READER QUESTIONS (for your book club):

1. How do you think American men differ from British men? Do you agree with the observations that Melissa makes in the book?
2. Melissa sometimes has trouble standing up for herself, instead choosing to smother people with kindness and politeness. Does this ultimately work for her, or does it backfire?
3. Jonathan, Melissa's boyfriend, doesn't always think things through fairly, especially when it comes to her business dealings. Should Melissa stand her ground earlier in the book, or does she play her cards correctly?
4. In what ways are Jonathan's and Melissa's views of the perfect future different? How does this impact their relationship?


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