Valerie Frankel – författare

From: Venus, Goddess of Love, 120 Main, Mt. Olympus

To: Stacy Temple, lapsed temptress

Stacy, Stacy, Stacy.

You were so promising at the beginning: Sexy, smart, personable and funny. Great on dates and really great afterward-if you know what I mean. But this is a sad state of affairs; or, in your case, non-affairs! It''s been nearly an entire year and you haven''t had your way with even ONE eligible male. You''ve been working so hard concocting sexy lingerie for Thongs.com -- and really, Stacy, if that little pink velvet bustier didn''t put you in the mood, I don''t know what to say! -- that you haven''t even tried to be coaxed out of your own thong.com!

Are you listening, Stacy? Seven days to find the perfect man -- or else!

Happy hunting!

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.

It''s uncanny! Within six months of breaking up with her, Peg Silver''s ex-lovers always meet and marry the women of their dreams. Even worse than being the eternal bridesmaid, she''s the last girlfriend, the one who awakens in a guy theknowledge of what he''s always wanted in a relationship ... and it''s never with Peg. Obviously, a major lifestyle change is seriously called for, which is why the distraught interior landscape designer says good-bye to Manhattan and late-night lattes with pal Nina, and hello to a farmhouse on ten acres in tiny, backwater Manshire, Vermont, hoping to meet the ultimate, all-organic country man (without too much facial hair) to keep her warm in those frosty New England winters.

Instead, Peg finds herself at Inward Bound -- a proactive adult-education retreat for the hapless and hopelessly lovelorn -- to try to lift her dreaded "girlfriend curse." A steamy (and expressly forbidden) dalliance with gorgeous woman-eater Ray probably isn''t going to help cure her. But some romantic insight could arise from her attraction to Linus, Inward Bound''s sexy, scruffy, smart and still-single founder. Perhaps there is a secret to be unearthed in the crunchy Green Mountains, one that will magically transform Peg Silver from the Perpetual Also Ran to the Big Winner in love.

Out-of-work urban professional Francesca Greenfield has always known that she was the "smart" sister.Amanda was the soft and lovely one who, from the beginning, had always garnered most of the attention -- and all the dates. Now they've been thrown together in a last-ditch effort to save the family coffeehouse business before it goes permanently down the drain.

In the chaotic misdt of mad promotional schemes and piranhalike next-door competitors, the sisters Greenfield are going to have to put aside their hard-faught sibling rivalry -- and quick! -- for the family good.

What happens when a single woman in her early thirties gets stuck living and working with her sister again along with all the insecurities of sibling rivalry?

"From where I stood now, fifteen years out of high school, I knew that smart was more valuable than pretty. For one thing, pretty is available to anyone who has the time, energy, money, and will. And even without exercise or makeup, I considered myself to be serviceably attractive. I elicit a grunt from workmen. Baggers at the supermarket, however, called me ma'am."

Meet Francesca Greenfield, a smart, urban professional suddenly tossed out of her so-so career and into the business of selling coffee alongside her pretty, perky sister Amanda.

But selling coffee is only the start of their worries.

Francesca has always known that she was the smart sister, "though our mother never set us down and said, 'Francesca, we'll call you the smart one.'" Amanda was soft and lovely from the beginning and had always garnered most of the attention-and all of the dates. Now they've been thrown together in a last-ditch effort to save the family business before it goes permanently down the drain.

As for the coffeehouse itself, well, there's rarely a dull moment. Consider the piranha-minded next-door franchise and the brainstorms of one nearly psychotic marketing manager for starters. And who can forget about love? Or at least sex. Thanks to a promotional contest, it's not long before Amanda is looking to explore the aura of a buff mountain climber while Francesca considers shedding more than her inhibitions with a J. Crew model.

The stakes are rising. It's time to find out if smart or pretty knows best, whether the distinction really suits either one of them, and if the Greenfield sisters can actually live happily ever after.

Here comes the bride . . . there goes the groom.

Penny Bracket waited two years to marry dream man Bram Shiraz. Then on the morning of the Big Day, while she's trying on her veil, Penny receives the worst two-line letter of her life: "Penny, I can't go through with it. Sorry, Bram."

Penny's hurt and upset. But Esther, Penny's divorced mom, wants Bram's head on a platter. So Mom ambushes the cold-footed coward before he hot-foots it out of town, bonks him on the head with a champagne bottle, and spirits him away to a hidden room in her gargantuan mansion in Short Hares, New Jersey. Esther doesn't want much. All Bram has to do is write personal, heartfelt apologies to each of the two hundred disappointed wedding guests . . . and eat every mouthful of the very expensive gourmet wedding feast that has gone to waste. Then he'll be free to leave.

Penny doesn't want Bram tortured. She just wants answers to "why" . . . and maybe a little revenge. Will she discover her runaway groom is locked away in the attic? Will Bram's widowed father—handsome tough-guy Keith Shiraz—be able to locate his missing son . . . and maybe seduce Esther Bracket in the bargain? Will Bram be able to maintain his athletic figure after consuming two hundred entrées and thousands of baby quiches? Read on!

As far as her family and friends are concerned, Frieda has been the grieving widow for long enough. At 35, she's still (relatively) young, still (adequately) attractive. Her sex drive is very much alive; even Frieda admits she'd like to put it to use again. Besides, she has a son who certainly needs a father figure. With visions of the perfect second husband in mind, Frieda's sisters start to send eligible males in her direction.

Big sister Ilene -- herself substantially married -- has found the ultimate unattached catch: a gorgeous, independently wealthy, successful, divorced father, pillar of society and paragon of potential. What more could a single mom ask for? Apparently a lot more than loved ones realize. Frieda's own efforts bear very tasty fruit. Sam is young, talented, devoted, and incredibly sexy -- though broke, only sporadically employed, and clueless about kids. But he makes Frieda feel brand-spanking-new, in a most wonderfully wanton way. When all is said and done, does Frieda really need the "perfect man" ... or the far-from-ideal man who's perfect for her?

Besides the fact that their kids all attend the same fashionable Brooklyn Heights private school, Bess, Robin, Carla, and Alicia have little in common. Thrown together on the tony school’s Diversity Committee, the women impulsively turn their awkward first meeting into a boisterous game of poker. Instead of betting with chips or pocket change, however, they play for intimate secrets about their lives.   As the Diversity Commitee meetings become a highly anticipated monthly ritual, the new friends reveal more with each game. Picture-perfect housewife Bess struggles to relate to her surly teenage daughter and judgmental mother. Robin, a single mom, grapples with the truth concerning her child’s real father. Carla, an ambitious doctor, attempts to balance the colossal demands of her family with her dream of owning her own private practice. And to distract herself from her troubled marriage, shy copywriter Alicia fantasizes about an attractive younger colleague.   Putting all their cards on the table, the four women grow to rely on one another, bracing for one final showdown.

Francesca and Amanda are in trouble. When they took over their parents'' coffee bar in Brooklyn Heights, they thought they''d have a business for life. Now, they''ve managed to run it into the ground, and emergency action is required. Clever, thoughtful Francesca thinks that brainpower is the key to starting over, whereas Amanda firmly believes that a sweet smile and great hair get one a lot further in life. Who is right?