Party Favors by Nicole Sexton, Susan Johnston

From the Publisher

Party Favors gives a deliciously witty peek into the secretive world of political fundraising in D.C. Co-written by a former Director of Finance for the National Republican Senatorial Committee and a published playwright, the novel tracks the meteoric rise and fall of the young Temple Sachet, the Big Money Babe of the Republican Senate. As a “Ray of Hope” intern at the White House, Temple caught Potomac Fever—a hopeless, incurable addiction to D.C. Hooked, smart, and desperate for more, Temple navigates her way through the treacherous community of lobbyists making deals for dollars, gossiping staffers, and child-like senators to become the second most powerful fundraiser in America. Now she’s expected to raise $95 million and must find creative ways to get the uber-rich and ultra-eccentric to hand over the cash money green. From the outside her life looks like one fantastic party, but on the inside she’s tired of dating the wrong men and sleeping on the office floor. Luckily, she has an elite cadre of political friends to help keep her sane . . . or does she? When Temple’s own career begins to surpass that of her mentor, Prudence, a rude awakening awaits. But an unexpected betrayal and a major hurricane force Temple to reexamine everything she believes in….

Publishers Weekly

With help from playwright Johnston and a handbag-full of chick lit clichés, former Republican fund-raiser Sexton offers a behind the scenes peek at the world of political fund-raising, as seen through the eyes of naïve but plucky Louisianan Temple Sachet. In D.C. as a White House intern, Temple's Southern charm and talent for throwing parties earn her job offers from the big wigs. As she climbs the career ladder, her beloved Yorkie, Goldie Hawn, forever at her side (in a Louis Vuitton Sac Chien), Temple gets a crash course in greed and dishonesty from the senators, staffers, lobbyists and donors who fight over money and influence. Blackberry abuzz, Temple works to rake in the cash, finding herself finance director for the Republican Senate campaign committee, charged with the task of raising $95 million (an effort Sexton herself led in 2004). Though she thrives on the power and status, Temple can't trust anyone, can't find a man (a straight man, at least) and wonders if all she's doing is funding hypocrisy. It's mildly charming Beltway chick lit. (July)

Kirkus Reviews

Chick lit scales Capitol Hill in this breathless first novel about a perky blonde fundraiser. Sexton has a Republican fundraising background; Johnston is a playwright. Temple Sachet, the blonde with the big boobs, has inherited her mother's Midas touch and Republican politics. She hates to leave her Louisiana hometown for St. Louis on her mother's remarriage, but the good news is that her stepfather Daddy Gil, a bank president, is just plain adorable. Once Temple gets the chance to intern in Washington., D.C., as a Ray of Hope, she catches Potomac Fever and never looks back. It doesn't matter that Temple is clueless about political issues (never discussed); she's phenomenal at massaging donors. We learn all about click lines, Direct Mail and Major Donors. She's only 29 when she becomes finance director for the Republican Senate Campaign Committee. The senators are mostly creeps, slobs or weirdos; one of them grabs her breasts out on the street. Temple does have one crisis of conscience ("I was raising all this money, but what was the point?"), but it's fleeting. A workaholic who also loves to party, Temple doesn't have much luck with men; most of the staffers on the Hill are gay. Her best friend is Goldie, a divine Yorkshire Terrier who rides in her purse. The authors provide incidents but no plot and no nuances. In Temple's telling, everything blurs: the struggle to reach financial targets, the senatorial rivalries, the heartbreak of Daddy Gil's death, the morale boost of hair extensions. If there's a climax, it's the moment she's stabbed in the back by one of her few human friends, but Temple handles it well: "Restraint coursed through my veins instead of blood." Goldie would haveconsoled her, but the dog has died, and her best prospect for a boyfriend, "an Asian JFK" who's an animal-rights activist, has been using her to network. It's time to leave the cesspool. There's nothing here to attract either chick-lit or Washington novel readers. Agent: Maura Teitelbaum/Abrams Artists Agency

Product Details

• ISBN: 1599214598
  
• ISBN-13: 9781599214597
• Format: Paperback, 256pp
• Publisher: Globe Pequot Press
• Pub. Date: July 2008
• Sales Rank: 79,472