February 13, 2012
In her newest (after The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic), Kinsella pens her most lovably neurotic protagonist yet, throws her into a thoroughly modern romantic love triangle, and creates a laugh-out-loud comic caper. Physical therapist Poppy Wyatt is engaged to Magnus Tavish, a pseudo-celebrity academic and author of a book on cultural symbolism. A week before they're to be married, Poppy loses her emerald engagement ringâa Tavish family heirloom. In a hard-to-believe twist of fate, she ends up finding a stranger's cell phone in a garbage bin, which belonged to the former personal assistant of a handsome executive, who agrees to let her hold onto the mobile (whose number she's already given to everyone who might have information on the ring) until she gets her jewelry back, as long as she forwards any and all important messages his way. As Poppy continues her frantic quest to plan her wedding and impress her fiancé and his equally erudite parents, her life begins to intertwine with the mysterious exec in a way she never thought possible. Fresh, fast-paced, and fiercely funny, Kinsella proves once again that in chick-lit, it's less about the predictably feel-good dénouement, and more about the rollicking good ride it takes to get there.