THE CINDERELLA PACT

Overweight and overlooked, Nola Devlin secretly recreates herself as the nation's sexiest advice columnist.

When Nola learns that the tabloid where she works as an editor is looking for a hot advice columnist, she eagerly applies for the job. However, thanks to her bulging belly and frumpy clothes, she is quickly dismissed. On a whim, she resends the company her résumé—this time with a new name, Belinda Apple, a London address and a sexy, mostly fake photo. Her bosses eat it up. Next thing she knows, she's churning out copy from London (wink, wink) and is the next big British sensation to hit the States. Absolutely everyone loves her wit, her charm and those cute pink cowboy boots she wears in her photo. In the meantime, back in the real world, Nola and two of her equally overweight friends have decided that it's time to curtail the cheesecake. The three enter into a pact—based on advice Belinda suggested in one of her columns—to lose weight and get healthy. As Nola struggles with her diet, she's also starting to feel crushed beneath the weight of her secret. None of her friends or family is aware of her alternative identity. And trouble is looming when she receives a note from the publisher saying that he is beginning to doubt that Belinda exists. All of a sudden, everyone, from the publisher's sexy son to Hollywood movie studios, is clamoring for a meeting with Belinda. Can Nola pull it off?

Delightful frolic from the author of the Bubbles series (Bubbles Betrothed, 2005, etc.), featuring an authentic woman who can't help but dabble in a little bit of fantasy.