Who Wants to Marry a Heartthrob?

Advertising executive Richard Wells thinks he has created the perfect reality TV show, one that will ensure the creation of his own agency. His idea: take a soap opera hottie and have 15 gorgeous women duke it out to become his wife. But when a "cosmetic enhancement" complication keeps one of the contestants from being on the show, Richard is in a panic. Everything is set up for 15 contestants, not 14! He manages to convince his assistant, Bridget Connor, to fill in for the missing beauty, never guessing that she would make it past the first cut. But she does...and Richard finds himself insanely jealous, although he doesn't know why! Bridget Connor has had a crush of Richard for a while, but she hasn't admitted that to anyone, not even to herself. So when he convinces her to go on his reality show, she only does it to show herself - and maybe to show Richard - that other men can and do find her attractive. When she makes the first cut, she's ecstatic, but it puts a strain on her friendship with Richard. As Bridget is continually picked for the next rounds and creeps closer to becoming a heartthrob's wife, can she find the courage to tell Richard her feelings? This book had some truly funny moments in it, and some very interesting secondary characters. Fluff-head Raquel, who means well but usually says the wrong thing at the wrong time, and Raquel's "ex"-boyfriend Lars with the fake Swedish/French accent were both amusing characters. The dynamics behind the reality show were interesting, as none of the characters truly wanted to marry a heartthrob off camera (of course, they said something different on camera). Most of them were using the show to further their own acting careers. The book pokes a lot of fun at the reality tv phenomenon and the people who take the shows very seriously. The romance between Bridget and Richard didn't really sizzle that much. Richard, I must admit, was a jerk. He tried to rationalize everything he felt for Bridget away, and even when it looked like he and Bridget were getting close to one another, Richard had to deliberately ruin it all. Bridget spent much of the book wondering why Richard didn't love her and/or trying to decipher what he was saying to her. Eventually the romance got kicked up a few degrees, but this book is more of a funny story than a romance.

VIP Advertising Agency ad exec Richard Wells expects to gain his freedom and independence with the anticipated success of the reality show WHO WANTS TO MARRY A HEARTTHROB? However, just prior to shooting, he learns he lost one of the fifteen female bimbos hustling after soap opera hunk Brock Brickman due to a boob injury. Because everything is laid out with perfect symmetry for fifteen females, he turns to his plain assistant of three years Bridget Connor to join the horde of women. Richard figures Bridget will be gone in the first round, but the former star of The Many Days of Life Brick seems to like her. Soon, to his chagrin, Richard finds he is jealous over the attention Brick and the crew provide towards Bridget. However, he cannot do anything except suffer if he wants the sponsor Breathe Better Mouthwash and other firms to applaud his venture even if he knows that he loves Bridgett. Though there have been a rash of reality shows and some recent novels using that theme, fans will laugh out loud at the antics of the staff especially the women and their interplay with one another and the hunk. Richard is a go getter who never stops to smell the flowers unless it is part of a campaign to sell products and ultimately sell his skills. His toughest campaign has just begun and it has nothing to do with mouthwash as he must persuade Bridgett that she should drop Brock for him. A final twist adds an ironic rock to an amusing contemporary romance. Harriet Klausner