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To a casual observer, Londoner Alex Hill is every inch the calm and collected executive of a global sportswear company. In reality, she's constantly frantic, with barely enough time to take out the trash. When her demanding mother, a 1960s style icon, has a bad fall and has to move in with her indefinitely, Alex realizes she needs someone more committed than a maid-what she needs is a wife. An ad in the local paper soon produces a young woman who seems both enthusiastic and capable. But something odd is definitely happening behind the scenes of Alex's new, perfectly ordered existence. Someone distinctly male is charming her mother as well as doing all the ironing. He's no one Alex would ordinarily ever notice, never mind date. But now she can't help wondering if her new "wife" could perhaps have husband potential...
Its title alone should win this frothy fantasy a following among harried gals juggling craven ambition and goddesslike domesticity. It can't hurt that Sanders, the pseudonym for Brit writing partners Annie Ashworth and Meg Sanders, has been there and done that (Goodbye, Jimmy Choo). Here, the duo take traditional gender roles and turn them upside down with busy sportswear marketer Alex and perennially out-of-work actor Frankie. Alex realizes she needs somebody to cook, clean, run errands and babysit her imperious mom, Bean, and through a series of mishaps she ends up with Frankie-a wacky twist that plays out with all the predictable pratfalls. But a tepid love story gets a shot of adrenaline from strong supporting characters, including diva Bean, who strikes just the right balance between fragile and fierce. Delightfully harebrained, there's a method to everyone's madness and an unwavering moral compass: follow your heart, trust your family and friends-and don't be too quick to judge the hired help. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.inNeedOfWife
Posted December 13, 2009
I thought this book touched on all of the crazy things that we single girls deal with every day trying to shuffle all of the parts of our lives. The best part was knowing that I was not imagining all of the things going on my life. After I finished reading it I sent it to my married sister and she enjoyed it as much as I did.
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Posted September 19, 2009
Very cute. Almost predictable but then it isn't. This is a book where you would like another chapter or two. Take it to the beach. Definite chick lit, very light and fun.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Marketing executive Alex Hill is too busy to worry about her domestic fiascos as she spends seemingly 24/7 on creating an ad campaign to introduce a new sportswear product line. However, ignoring her home proves futile when her flighty mother Bean falls and needs caretaker help; the former sixties model moves in with Alex.---------------
Alex seeks a "wife" to clean the house, cook meals, and care for mom. Her friend Saffron finds her Ella, who after one day leaves without notice as she has a better offer. Instead Ella, without informing Alex, pleads with her out work actor brother Frankie to take over her position so that someone is there for Bean. He agrees and enjoys cooking idolizes Bean whom was a paper thin role model, and performs the household drudgery. Saffron and Bean hide Frankie from Alex because each believes the exec would never accept a man doing this type of work well. That subterfuge fails when Alex finds Frankie at her home; she fires him and throws everyone including Bean out. However, not only is her house back to shambles and her eating fast food, the new product launch falls apart. Frankie and his posse of pushy females want to save Alex's butt if she lets them.----------------
Though absolutely predictable in a Lucy- Ethel harebrained way, once all the players are introduced, BUSY WOMAN SEEKS WIFE is an amusing wacky contemporary that plays on gender bending and the role of superwomen in modern society. The key cast members are fully developed with each having several flaws hyperbolized to add to the zaniness of the plot. Ironically, each key character is also very caring of the others in their relationships, which leads to a strange ethics of protecting one another even if that means lying. Fans will enjoy this madcap screwball comedy.----------
Harriet Klausner
BUSY WOMAN SEEKS WIFE
Annie Sanders
5 Spot/Grand Central Publishing
$13.99 - paperback orginal
320 pages
ISBN: 9780446505444
Reviewer: Annie Slessman
Every working- woman in the world could use wife. Someone who picks up the laundry, does the dishes, ironing, vacuuming, shopping and making the bed. Alex Hill is a busy marketing executive for a sportswear designer. She takes on the assignment of launching the company's latest product line and almost loses her mind in the process. She has no time for herself and to add to her misery, her mother, Bean, a former model of the sixties, falls and needs care. Alex has no choice but to move her mother in with her and to find a "wife" fast. She solicits the help of her friend, Saffron, to find a competent wife. She is delighted when she finds Ella and sets about letting Ella take up the slack by caring for her mother and her home. Unknown to Alex, Ella finds the jobs of her dreams and after only one day, convinces her out-of-work actor brother, Frankie, to take over Alex's household duties.
Frankie is a wonderful cook, is smitten by Bean since he remembers her as an icon of the sixties, and proves a man can do household chores as well as any woman. The only problem in the scenario is that Saffron and Bean keep Frankie a secret knowing Alex cannot accept the untraditional idea of a man taking care of her household needs.
The fraud continues until one day Alex arrives home unexpectedly and finds Frankie in her home instead of his sister, Ella. She fires Frankie, throws everyone out of her home, including her mother and sets herself on a whirlwind of events.
The new product launch has met with disaster at every juncture. Is someone trying to sabotage her efforts? How does Frankie save the day? Will Alex and Saffron every mend their friendship? Will Bean find a new awareness of her daughter and the contributions she makes to her life? The story has all the answers and you will just have to read the book in order to find out the answers. Is it worth the read.absolutely!
Anonymous
Posted August 23, 2009
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted November 3, 2009
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Overview
To a casual observer, Londoner Alex Hill is every inch the calm and collected executive of a global sportswear company. In reality, she's constantly frantic, with barely enough time to take out the trash. When her demanding mother, a 1960s style icon, has a bad fall and has to move in with her indefinitely, Alex realizes she needs someone more committed than a maid-what she needs is a wife. An ad in the local paper soon produces a young woman who seems both enthusiastic and capable. But something odd is definitely happening behind the scenes of Alex's new, perfectly ordered existence. Someone distinctly male is charming her mother as well as doing all the ironing. He's no one Alex would ...