Mounting Desire

( 4 )

Overview

The author of How to Cook a Tart turns her wickedly incisive eye to the only subject that Americans are more obsessed with than food: sex.

Jack Carter, born-again virgin and bestselling romance author, has a problem, and her name is Molly. Foisted upon him by his sister, Molly has just been fired from her high-paying management position for sexually harassing her male assistant. She's also been evicted from her apartment, and has landed-for just a few weeks, she promises-in ...

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Mounting Desire: A Novel

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More About This Book

Overview

The author of How to Cook a Tart turns her wickedly incisive eye to the only subject that Americans are more obsessed with than food: sex.

Jack Carter, born-again virgin and bestselling romance author, has a problem, and her name is Molly. Foisted upon him by his sister, Molly has just been fired from her high-paying management position for sexually harassing her male assistant. She's also been evicted from her apartment, and has landed-for just a few weeks, she promises-in Jack's Los Angeles town house. Worse yet, she decides to take advantage of her new environment and try her hand at writing romances herself, using the pseudonym Molly Desire. Molly's novel is racy and explicit, and blows the covers off Jack's tender and traditional plots and relationships. Just how far will their professional (and personal) competition go? Add to the mix a sister who thinks she's not getting enough, a niece who's about to get too much, and a mother who is in danger of being kicked out of her retirement home for inappropriate behavior, and you get Nina Killham's trademark wit and insight into the battle of the sexes.

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Editorial Reviews

Jonathan Yardley
There is of course, amid all the laughter, a serious point here. Sex indeed is too much with us, in too public and too cynically commercial ways, and a bit of toning down indeed is in order. Swearing off it completely may not be the answer, but in an age where it all hangs out, a little reticence would be nice. Killham makes the point deftly in this very funny, very clever, very adult novel.
— The Washington Post
Publishers Weekly
Killham's rollicking second novel (after How To Cook a Tart) cleverly sends up the romance genre while standing as a funny, romantic novel in its own right. Jack Carter, nom de plume Celeste d'Arcy, is a successful romance writer living in Venice Beach, almost as irresistible to women as one of his throbbing heroes. But after a failed marriage and too much casual sex, lonely Jack is now a "born again virgin" waiting for his true love. Enter Molly, a formerly successful businesswoman fired for sleeping with her hunky but incompetent assistant. As a favor to his sister, who's Molly's friend, Jack allows the suddenly broke and homeless Molly to move in with him. Soon, Molly is authoring her own romances, ones featuring more handcuffs than petticoats. While Jack suffers writer's block, promotes abstinence among his friends and dates controlling, chaste Heather, Molly publishes popular novels, gets knocked up and grows beautiful in Jack's eyes. Killham aims for a witty gender role reversal with these two characters-Jack is romantic, finicky and worried while Molly behaves more like a hormonally charged teenage boy than a liberated woman-but the author often sacrifices the characters' credibility for cleverness. Nonetheless, readers will still wish the best for these unlikely lovers in this fast-paced and thoroughly enjoyable read. Agent, Isobel Dixon. (May) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
A second outing by Killham (How to Cook a Tart, 2002) alternately spoofs and succumbs to the conventions of genre romance. Jack Carter, aka Celeste d'Arcy, is at the top of his game as a romance author. His Regency characters, Primrose and Guy, lounge around inspiring him with what will prove to be this novel's wittiest repartee. (Although the setting is Venice Beach, Calif., and the characters are American, the dialogue is pure cheeky Brit-speak.) Recently, after too many encounters with women who only want one thing, Jack has decided to become a "born-again virgin" and save himself for true love. Meanwhile, his sister Kate tries seaweed, exorcism, feng shui, testosterone patches, anything to recharge her flagging libido, but her husband's girth keeps dampening her ardor. Their teenage daughter Leda is experimenting with hooking up and directing Internet porn videos. Kate sends her newly destitute and recently evicted friend Molly to stay with Jack-Molly is unemployed as a result of a sexual harassment scandal (she's the perp). Jack's elderly mother Rita, meanwhile, is a sexual harasser-wannabe deterred only by the male-female ratio (1-10) at her retirement community. While Jack labors to cement a rules-driven abstinent relationship with blonde ice-queen Heather, he finds himself inexorably drawn to lush brunette Molly, who's the ideal combination of randy but well-intentioned. But she hesitates to exploit Jack's suppressed longings-except as a conduit to his editor. Soon, as Molly Desire, she's outstripping him career-wise, penning romance spiced with S&M and erotica, while Primrose and Guy are locked out by their author's sudden creativity deficit. Molly gets pregnant by one of herinterchangeable lovers, possibly the Fabio clone who models during Jack's bookstore appearances, while, in another trite twist, Mom proves too sexy for the nursing home. Obstacles to achieving the coy title's intent, uh, snowball. In a Valentine's Day ensemble set-piece worthy of a bad sitcom pilot, the scattershot plot unravels, and abrupt reversals and convenient changes of heart dictate the predictable denouement. Romance interruptus.
Bookpage
"[A] dishy romp through the maze of chicks and lit
Publishers Weekly
"Killham's rollicking second novel cleverly sends up the romance genre. Fast-paced and thoroughly enjoyable."
The Washington Post
"A beguiling comic writer of genuine gifts. Very funny, very clever."
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780755332779
  • Publisher: Headline Book Publishing, Limited
  • Publication date: 7/1/2006
  • Pages: 256
  • Product dimensions: 4.30 (w) x 6.90 (h) x 0.70 (d)

Meet the Author

Nina Killham was born in Washington, D.C., and lived overseas much of her childhood. After graduating from the College of William and Mary, she wrote about food for the Washington Post, and worked as an assistant at Columbia Pictures. She lives in London with her husband and their two young children. Her first novel, How to Cook a Tart, was also published by Bloomsbury.

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Customer Reviews

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( 4 )
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Sort by: Showing all of 4 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 11, 2007

    Hysterical

    I read Nina Killham's first book, HOW TO COOK A TART and loved it. This second book, MOUNTING DESIRE, is hysterical. Killham creates characters that seem so real and puts them into situations that seem so absurd. Even though she introduces many characters throughout the book (actually caricatures in many cases, such as the male cover model) the reader is able to follow along easliy. That is until you start laughing so hard you drop the book and lose your place. I can¿t wait to read her next book and see what she sends up next.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted March 14, 2013

    Not what I expected

    Thought this book was terrible. It bounced around so much, it was very hard to follow.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted July 13, 2010

    This is the first book that I ever literally tossed in the garbage. I kept reading, thinking it would improve, but found myself liking it even less. The the story line far fetched and the writing was confusing. A disaster!!

    I am an avid reader and enjoy the unusual and off beat, but this book was just awful. The author kept trying to outdo each previous chapter but all it added up to was an inconsistent and foolish read. It was impossible to warm to or understand any of the characters and the story line was extremely convoluted.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 3, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

Sort by: Showing all of 4 Customer Reviews
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