4 Smooches!

Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR, ELLE CASEY, brings readers book 1 of 3 in the contemporary romance LOVE IN NEW YORK series.

Sometimes engagement rings can get lost and then found. Sometimes people can too. All it takes is a heavy-duty dose of karma and the magic of Manhattan to make it all come together.

Leah is a financially destitute new age hippy. James is a wealthy surgeon with a trust fund. She’s awkward, he’s poised. She’s completely crazy, he’s way too sane. People might say they have nothing in common, but they’d be wrong. They both live in Manhattan, they both have no idea how to change a baby diaper, and they’re both lost … until they find one another.

LOVE IN NEW YORK SERIES READING ORDER:
Love in New York: Book 1 (Lost and Found)
Love in New York: Book 2 (Cabin Fever)
Love in New York: Book 3 (Mister Fixit)

About this series: I’d never been to New York City before, but I knew I would love it and wanted to write a story that was set in the most exciting city in the world. So I hopped on a plane with my friend Susan and spent 5 whirlwind days there, soaking up the culture, seeing the sights and nailing down the scenes that would eventually end up in this series. Those of you familiar with New York City know what I’m talking about when I say you just can’t beat Russ and Daughters’ bagels, Central Park, Times Square, Brooklyn, and Yonnah Schimmels’ knishes.

Review

“…what was once a very refreshing oasis of sanctuarial bliss has now become a very cold, very wet pool of regret…”

Leah Carmichael is desperate to avert what she just knows will be a karmic disaster of epic proportions. Twenty-eight, about to be evicted and woefully underemployed as a clerk in a new age shop, Leah finds a ring in a fountain and she is certain this a test, one she must pass, in order to move on to good in her life. So begins the journey of finding the ring’s rightful owner and returning it.

“Everything’s falling apart and yet life must go on.”

Dr. James Oliver, famed Manhattan plastic surgeon, masks the pain of loss with cool indifference. Always living up to or exceeding everyone else’s expectations of him, he’s never taken the time to figure out what exactly would make him happy in this life. Slamming into Leah on the street unwittingly kicks off a series of events in the good doctor’s life that has him rethinking everything.

“FYI, no insane person in the history of insane people ever admitted to being insane.”

Leah and James’ first few, um, “run-ins” don’t go all that well. They keep popping up in each other’s lives, and neither is none-too-impressed by the other. When Leah’s ring tracking journey leads her to James’ door, however, things really start to get interesting. See, the thing is, James doesn’t want the ring back – it’s a symbol of all that is wrong in his life. As anxious as Leah is to right this karmic wrong and return the ring to him, James is just as determined to keep that ring – and all it stands for – out of his hands, his life or, as the case may be, his couch cushions.

“Karma is seriously giving me her all. I thought I respected her before, but I was wrong. Now I feel her true power, and I am in awe.”

Several attempts, several disguises, several hair-brained schemes at deceiving the doctor into seeing her so she can return this damn ring all result in failure. Leah is getting frustrated, she is convinced that this is yet another karmic test, and she becomes more determined than ever to get this ring back into James’ hands. She pulls out all the stops, even roping others – albeit very begrudgingly – into her shenanigans. The harder she tries, the more entertained by her efforts the doctor becomes. And he is equally as determined to make sure that that ring stays with her.

“Go ahead, Karma. I’m on to you. I know your game. I can handle anything you throw at me. Bring it.”

This book was a terrifically hilarious, zany, wacky, sometimes goofy, slapsticky romcom. Elle Casey was so descriptive; I could literally picture some of these scenes playing out. There were so many moments in this book that had me laughing out loud – big bellowing belly laughs, the kind that make your husband look at you like you’re crazy from the other side of the couch. Tears streaming down my face, foot stomping on the floor, hiccupping laughter. It was awesome.

This was a really quick read; I zipped through its pages like Leah zipped through crowded New York City streets in pursuit of James. It’s a book you won’t want to put down because you just have to know what ridiculousness Leah is going to serve up to James next and what he’s going to do to foil her plans.

Lost and Found is a riot of humor; scheming hippie girls, uptight doctors, psycho secretaries, a hospitalized homeless guy who just lost his foot, a sweet baby girl, and a Cartier clerk accomplice. This was an absolutely perfect example of opposites attracting in the most wonderful and satisfying of ways. On a really crappy day in my world, Elle Casey did the impossible with this book and had me smiling and laughing.

4 Karma-can-kiss-my-ass Smooches for Lost and Found from me!

~ Danielle Palumbo

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