Jinxed

Kit Mallory is a total klutz! The director of R & D at International Toy Company, her job is on the line when there's another lab mishap. While waiting in Steven Sinclair's office to be chewed out, his mother lights the trash on fire with her cigarette. Looking beyond her accident-prone ways, Steven is charmed by her kooky family and Kit's sweet personality. Their mutual attraction blooms, but when they have conflicting ideas of women having careers after getting married, their relationship is on the rocks. Can Kit make him understand how important her job is, and more importantly, how much she loves him? This was a pleasant surprise. The beginning of the book was well scripted and very funny. There were a lot of visual gags during the accident scenes and I was laughing out loud after the fire sprinklers kicked on, soaking everyone. The facial expressions were so over exaggerated, I couldn't help but find them amusing. I didn't entirely buy into the conflict between the leads. Come on, you caveman, it's the 21st century! Women can have a successful marriage, raise a family, and still find fulfillment in a career! How else can one afford gas in this day and age? Seriously, if someone wants to work, part of loving them is accepting that they are an individual outside of the relationship... As previously mentioned, the art was light-hearted and very humorous. The style really fit well with the story. I hope more of the line features stories that put an emphasis on humor; I'm really tempted to track down the original book, to discover if it's as amusing.

Industrial Toy Company President Steve Sinclair is upset with the unsafe practices of his R & D section. He informs his R & D Director Kit Mallory this will change or else. When an incident occurs involving his mother he accuses her of sabotage. She is hurt because she cares about the firm and loves her job. The next day he apologizes as his mother said she caused the problem and that he realizes Kit is valuable to the company. He persuades her to let him accompany her when she visits her family. They kiss and soon become engaged as both confess their love for one another. However, he demands she quit working especially after a child is born while she feels she can do both. His childhood with a workaholic mother leaves no room for compromise; Kit breaks off from Steve and quits the company. This is a cute tale that targets twelve to thirteen years old girls as Manga art is combined with a fun wholesome romance with the subtle message to treat people as individuals and not stereotypes though recognizing that the childhood experiences shapes the adult. The art and text of this graphic book is excellent though readers will have to adjust to the right to left story line even with an instruction page included. As with NO COMPETITION, a paradigm is needed to accept manga in romance instead of the usual fantasy. JINXED is a fun, amusing, well written and well drawn tale. Harriet Klausner

Back cover reads: Their relationship began with a bang Whoever said that playing with toys all day was child's play had never worked for Stephen "the Iceman" St. Clair. Kit knew he didn't approve of her as his toy company's new head of Testing and Research. So she was ready for a chilly reception after the unfortunate explosion in the lab. But she wasn't ready for the bizarre chain of mishaps that proved she was jinxed. Just as she wasn't prepared for the storm of reaction that proved Stephen St. Clair was more like a volcano than an iceman when it came to dealing with her.