Hex and the Single Girl »

Valerie Frankel has finally created a website for herself. She certainly took her time about it, but now proudly displays her thoughts, reviews and pictures at www.valeriefrankel.com. Besides writing and getting good use out of her new digital camera, Frankel plays Snood, stares at the wall, goes running and prepares healthy yet satisfying meals for the whole family. She has eight novels to her credit (including Smart vs. Pretty, The Accidental Virgin, and The Not-So-Perfect Man), and four non-fiction books, including 2004's co-authored sex guide, The Best You'll Ever Have: What Every Woman Should Know for Getting and Giving Knock-Your-Socks-Off Sex. Her magazine articles appear in O, Parenting, Self, Glamour, Allure and the New York Times, among others. She continues to live in Brooklyn with her two daughters and two cats, and was recently married to devilishly handsome opera singer Stephen Quint.

Emma sees naked people (not necessarily a bad thing!)

Emma Hutch's upscale Manhattan clients call her the "Good Witch." Her uncanny telepathic abilities enable her to plant images into unsuspecting minds, which has made her New York's most successful professional matchmaker. After all, what bachelor, confirmed or otherwise, could deny his true destiny when the woman he can't seem to stop thinking about suddenly appears right in front of him? Now an all-too-perfect blonde socialite needs Emma's help to snare the most eligible single man in the city — all in a day's work for the Good Witch.

Except William Dearborn — visual artist, software genius, total hunk, and dedicated hedonist — is not so easily snared. And he's becoming a little too interested in the desperate matchmaking sorceress who's been following him all around town incognito. Emma doesn't have to be psychic to know what's going on in his mind. William's having very wicked thoughts indeed about the Good Witch . . . and Emma likes it! But she's got to resist his special brand of magic . . . or else her witchy career is going up in flames.

Kirkus Reviews

Single girl with supernatural powers tries to bewitch Mr. Right. The fifth book by Frankel (The Not-So-Perfect-Man, 2004, etc.) follows the exploits of Emma Hutch, owner of The Good Witch consulting company. Catering to lovelorn ladies, Emma employs her gift of "telegraphopathy," which allows her to conjure an image in her head and transmit it to another person. By sending sexy images of her clients to unsuspecting men, Emma is able to ensnare eligible bachelors for wealthy, yet desperate single women. But a string of bag luck soon slows the matchmaker, causing a dry spell in both her love life and her bank account. Emma's fortune seems to change when a new client appears. The proposed assignment is a tough one-snagging the most eligible bachelor in New York, William Dearborn, for an icy and manipulative advertising maven. Dearborn turns out to be so beguiling that Emma tosses aside her client's wishes in the hopes of keeping him for herself. Once she gets him in her sights, the plot races ahead at break-neck speed. Frankel's scattershot approach involves tossing off dozens of mostly forgettable and daffy characters and introducing scads of subplots. Disappointing.