A Date You Can't Refuse

I was in desperate need of a fun, raucous read -- and Harley Jane Kozak came through for me, once again. A DATE YOU CAN'T REFUSE is a shotgun blast -- or should that be some fancy fully automatic weapon that I'd be completely faking it if I tried to name it? -- of humor, action, romance, compassion, more humor, more romance, more action. Not sure I want to visit Wollie's new friends, but I'd sure like a crack at that shooting range!

Harley Jane Kozak's Wollie Shelley series keeps getting better and better. A DATE YOU CAN'T REFUSE, the latest installment in the dating adventures of greeting-card artist Wollie Shelley, is the best yet. The humor and Tinseltown atmosphere are still there, but Kozak has added elements of espionage, a little Ludlumesque paranoia, and further developments in Wollie's personal life. This was a true page-turner for me and I devoutly hope we haven't really seen Wollie ride off into the sunset, as suggested on the last page. Nevertheless, I know by now that I'll enjoy whatever Harley Jane Kozak writes next. Highly recommended.

This installment in this series was not nearly as funny as the others. I prefer main characters to be able to say no when necessary, not be run over (figuratively) by at least half the other characters. The main character keeps being acted upon by multiple characters and through no reason I can see, other than a lack of backbone or sense of self-preservation or positive self-esteem, she just keep reacting instead of being proactive. Much like Stephanie Plum (the Janet Evanovich series), each book "resets" the main character, so she doesn't learn or grow, she just keeps having the same motivation (her brother's mental condition) used against her or to manipulate her, she accepts having frantic sex alternated with fights as a relationship show more with a man, and is content to accept the status quo in all areas of her life. I do not recommend this book. show less

A Date you Can't Refuse is about a graphic artist named Wollie Shelley who is innocently serving jury duty when she gets recruited into a questionable business opportunity. Yuri Milos is the head of this operation and is quite insistent that Wollie be the one he hire. Meanwhile the FBI is requesting that she work for them as a cooperating witness so they may find out more about this questionable business. Let me start by saying that I'm not a big mystery fan but decided to pick up this book based on a great review that I read. Did the book live up to this great review? Not really. That is to say it kept me interested, there was some good humor throughout and the main character is inherently likable. However the story is a bit show more far-fetched. The writing was good though I felt it wrapped up too quickly leaving some unanswered questions. I also feel like Wollie was a bit laid back about the whole situation she was put in. In other words, she didn't quite have the reactions that I think a *real person* may have. And the title doesn't really apply to the storyline which bugs me. At the very least, its an easy read. show less

Wollie Shelley, fresh from jury duty, is approached by the defendant for a job as a social coach to help with media relations for Eastern Eurpeans new to the US. Yuri Milos is very convincing about the help she can provide to the people of MediasRex, and the pay's not too bad either. Turns out Yuri is being watched by the FBI, and she's also approached by them, to help in their investigation of MediasRex by being their man on the inside. Wollie agrees, and the story meanders into a couple different veins, murder being one of them.