"dazzling from start to finish!"

Tori Carrington (the razor-sharp, sexy, husband-and-wife writing team) of Harlequin/Silhouette series romance, broaden their scope of their writing, moving in to mainstream with this utterly brilliant Sofie Metropolis for Forge Publishing. Drawing heavily on Greek roots, they imbue this charming, first-person tale with sidesplitting humor and love. I really appreciate writers who portray their ethnic heritage within their writing. I do with my Scottish roots, so I just utterly adore when writers open up and use these rich textures to paint their stories and form their characters. And the Carringtons paint with vivid, bold brush-strokes that show pure genius.

Sofie is in transition. She was engaged to marry Thomas- the-Horny-Toad Chalikis - not that it was love, mind you - but being twenty-six and single was not easy in a Greek family. It might not be love, but there are other uses for a man, such as carrying rugs up to her apartment. Only, when she catches Mr. Horny-Toad on the day of her wedding locked in an embrace with her maid of honor (honor?), Sofie sees the handwriting on the wall, so to speak.

Since then, the lass has taken to rebelling against her family. She stopped waiting tables at her father's and grandfather's cafés (the cafés are across the street from each other, mind you, even though there is long standing fuel between them!) dumps the groom, keeps the wedding presents and sets out to find her own way. The biggest wedding gift was a six-unit apartment building her family bought as a nest egg for her new marriage. Sofie now struggles to collect rent from her oddball tenants and also is taking over her uncle's detective agency. So far, the cases haven't been all that exciting, such as dog hunting and wife tracking.

However, her newest cases does have promise. Old Mr. Romanoff down the street - affectionately known as "the vampire" has vanished. His equally creeping nephew came for a visit and suddenly the old man is nowhere to be found. Odd, in the estimation of Sofie's office manager. She insists Sofie find out what happened to the old vamp... man. Then while tailing a wayward wife, Sofie lands in the middle of a shoot-out and is rescued by a sexy mystery man, Jake Porter. Life is definitely looking up! What is Jake doing in the middle of her cheating wife case? Why is the wife wanted by the FBI?

It's a madcap, delightful story that is a gem from start to finish, showing the Carringtons can write anything they put their minds to. They slide right into the first person rants on life in Astoria, Queens, NYC, the fit as snug an expensive British racing glove.

One of the most delightful books I have read in ages.

Reviewed by DeborahAnne MacGillivray
Posted June 2, 2005

Read an Excerpt

Summary

On her wedding day, right before the ceremony, right there in the Greek Orthodox church, Sofie Metropolis discovered her groom and her maid of honor in each other's arms. Sofie took this as a sign, and since then, she's been doing her best to confound her own, and her family's, expectations.

First, she is no longer waiting tables at either her father's or her grandfather's dueling Greek restaurants in Astoria, Queens. Second, she kept the engagement ring (the garbage disposal choked on it) and all the wedding presents, including the small apartment building that was a gift from her parents. It's not easy to collect rent from an eccentric group of tenants that includes a trio of lackadaisical business school students and a nice little old Jewish lady who plies Sofie with ethnic delicacies, but at least Sofie has a roof over her head. And her ex- fiance's recliner in the living room.

Sofie also has a new career, thanks to uncle Spyros's detective agency. Okay, so far, the cases haven't been all that exciting-mostly, Sofie's been tracking down lost pets and cheating spouses-but at least she's in control of her life. And even Sam Spade had to start somewhere.

Then Sofie's mother's best friend, Mrs. Kapoor, who seems to dose everything, even tea, with curry, reports that her dog has been stolen. Sofie must drop everything to search for the meanest mutt on the face of the earth . . . .

The agency's usually unflappable office manager comes to Sofie in terror because the neighborhood "vampire" has disappeared, replaced by his even creepier nephew . . . .

Tailing a wayward wife, Sofie is caught in a shoot-out and is rescued by Australian man-of-mystery Jake Porter, who might be a bounty hunter and who definitely gets Sofie's engine started . . . .

And what is Jake Porter doing in the middle of Sofie's adultery case anyway, and why is the cheating wife now on the run?