A Prince of a Guy

I read this book last year and could not remember what it was called. I wanted to know because I loved the author and I loved the overall story line. It was adorably written. So, when I came to thinking about it I knew it had a frog on the cover and the lady's name was Dr. Kate. So I searched it and found the book again. I would not have gone through the trouble if I didn't know that this is an amazing book and that Rabe is an amazing author. I have remembered every little detail today and still want to read it again. It's amazing!

Doctor Kate is a radio talk show host who has avoided jocks and sports like the plague after the death of her husband - a certified sports nut. So she is none-too-happy when a fellow talk-show host moves in next door. She is even more unhappy when he makes friends with her young son and encourages his love of baseball. Jeff is handsome, funny, intelligent, and good to her child - what more could Kate want? Unfortunately, she doesn't see these things and instead keeps looking for Mr. Perfect.Meanwhile, Kate thinks she has found the man of her dreams. Grayson White is handsome, successful, classy - and interested in things other than sports. He takes her to the opera and to expensive restaurants - literally sweeping her off her feet. She's immediately smitten.I have known women like Kate - heck, she could be me! More than once in my single days what I thought I was looking for wasn't what I really needed. . . And so it is with Kate. She thinks Grayson is the man of her dreams when her real prince is sitting right next door - literally. Unfortunately, Kate very nearly gets herself in over her head with Grayson before the shocking truth about him is revealed. I applaud Sheila Rabe for not sticking with the "rules" of romance and, instead, making this book into something that is REAL. And she does this with her trademark wit and humor. Those who continually find fault with the romance genre should certainly take a look at this book. These things can happen in real life - and do. Thank you Sheila for another wonderful read.

I adored this book. This author writes with warmhearted humor about REAL people dealing with REAL flaws, just trying to get by. I respect the writer's choice to portray Kate realistically, as a cranky know-it-all career woman, rather than to turn her into a mealy-mouthed "heroine." Kate strikes me is very true-to-life; maybe that's why some readers seem uncomfortable with this character. The appearance of another man in her life was a great plot point and a way for her to find her way back to Jeff. It made their reconciliation much more believable. He, by the way, is a COMPLETE guy--you can tell the author did her research. Read this book. It's completely charming.

I don't know about anyone else, but I *know* women who have tried to be "logical" and pick the "correct" guy when Mr. Right-But-Uncomfortable was staring them in the eye--and this is their story. I thought this book was a great read.Sheila Rabe strikes again with a funny, touching story about a real woman with all her quirks and blind-spots. True, there's no Cinderella here, but then I like a story with more to it than two perfect people going fight-fight-fall-into-bed. As long as she keeps writing like this--and as long as her heroines finally end up with the right guy at the end--Ms. Rabe stays on my must-buy list.

Best selling author of the Frog with the Glass Slipper, Dr. Kate Stonewall makes it quite apparent to her Seattle radio audience what she thinks of sports potatoes. After having been married to one fanatic and thankfully divorced, Kate warns women about men who live, breath and die for sporting events. She particularly detests her radio station's sports guru Jeff Hardin whose higher rated show often bounces part of her advice show off the air. Resenting Jeff at work is bad enough, but finding that he has moved next door to her on Bainbridge Island is a calamity. Jeff wants more than a neighborly relationship with Kate even as though she treats him like a swamp frog. Still she acknowledges, though not to him, that he is quite good with her son, who adores him. As she compares his habits to her Mr. Perfect, she finds herself dreaming more of slob-frog rather than her flawless prince. However, will she realize that there is room in her life for a man who she thinks betting on the Niners is a tad less enjoyable than kissing Kate? A PRINCE OF A GUY is an amusing romantic romp centering on opposites attracting to one another, making for an odd couple with Jeff being Oscar and Kate being Felix-ette. Though the story line never takes itself too seriously, the plot digs deep into the emotions of two people and that of their tentative relationship. Fans who derive joy from a humorous contemporary romance will feel Sheila Rabe is a princess of a writer.Harriet Klausner