Review: Great Entertainment. A Must Read.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 17, 2013
Twenty-two-year-old Stevie Winfield quits her dead-end job in a moment of irrationality, finding herself unemployed and wondering how she is going to pay the bills. On top of that, it upsets her that her brother, who has been her guardian since their parents died, didn't tell her that his wife Jane was expecting a baby.She seeks employment with an event planner for whom she worked one summer, who suggests she contact Dr. Evelyn Blackwood, a retired academic who lives too far out of the way in Oxford. She's planning a ball to benefit the building of a children's hospital in Sri Lanka.Despite her lack of experience, Stevie is determined to use all her resources to get hired for the job and make the event a success. She first has to deal with the objections of Lady Beryl, which proves tough, and she settles on a paltry sum in payment, plus a share of any of profit. Funds for the event are low so Stevie decides they should do the catering themselves. Since a Sri Lankan charity will benefit from the party, Stevie co-opts one of Evelyn's friends, Priya, who agrees to cook Sri Lankan food.When ticket sales are slow, she uses her sister-in-law's contact to a local band to invite one of the band members to the ball. Dr. Blackwood's teenage niece, Alice, who is currently living in the mansion, is thrilled and contacts her friends.Evelyn Blackwood has a hunky son named Tom, to whom Stevie is instantly attracted. However, he has made it clear he doesn't do relationships, and he seems to be tied up with the very svelte Vienna. Nonetheless, Stevie cannot resist a kiss in the rose garden...Baxter's characters come across as very real, with the sort of problems any one of us could encounter, including Stevie's strained relationship with her brother, her deadend job, and what seems like an impossible romance between her and Tom.