Fashionably Late »

Beth Kendrick won the Romance Writers of America's Golden Heart Award for My Favorite Mistake. She has a Ph.D. in psychology and an unshakable devotion to the Chicago Cubs. After surviving too many Minnesota winters, she moved to Arizona, where she is working on her second novel (coming soon from Downtown Press). For more information you can visit the author's website at www.bethkendrick.com.

Becca Davis has always played it safe — denying her passion for fashion design in a dead-end job and letting her pragmatic boyfriend (mastermind of the "Kevin Bradley Ten-Year Plan") make the tough decisions in life. Stunned into saying yes when Mr. Predictable springs a surprise proposal on her, Becca realizes that she's running out of time to turn her life around. She's only got one more chance to chase her dreams and no one — not her control freak fiancé, not her dramaholic sisters, not her overprotective parents — will talk her out of it.

Terrified but determined, Becca breaks off her engagement, moves in with her sister in Los Angeles, and prepares to take the fashion world by storm. The reality of the Hollywood scene is much harsher than she anticipated — lots of slamming doors, snooty clients, and double-crossing celebrity stylists — but she won't give up. And while she's waiting for her big break, she meets Connor, a sexy risk-taker who's the polar opposite of her ex-fiancé. Is Becca ready for his all-or-nothing approach to love? With her design business taking off and her family starting to fall apart, she's about to learn the timeliest lesson of all: Love and fashion wait for no woman.

Publishers Weekly

Becca Davis, 25 and living with her parents in Phoenix, is struggling with controlling ex-fiance Kevin Bradley, who is determined to win her back. Liberating herself, Becca heads to L.A., where her rich married sister, Claire, lives, to start a career in fashion, with only one wedding dress and corset in her portfolio. Becca secures a job as a hostess in an upscale eatery run by a handsome, single and adventurous restaurateur. Conner is everything Kevin wasn't, and sparks fly. Meanwhile, Becca may have her first break when she meets Fiona, an aloof and diabolical celebrity stylist who needs someone to put her clients together. Claire, who is a very material girl, is put to the test when husband Andrew loses his studio exec job (Claire ponders putting her unborn twins up for adoption in response to the job crisis). Becca's arc from a flighty, floundering young woman into a self-aware adult features kitschy, cat-scratchy banter ("Don't be jealous of my rico suave finesse") and a happily-ever-after close. The author of Exes and Ohs, Kendrick gives chick lit clich s an adroit turn. (Jan.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.