Azur Like It by Wendy Holden

From the Publisher

A witty, winning escapade through the south of France from the internationally bestselling author of Gossip Hound.
The only intrepid reporter in her hometown hamlet, Kate Clegg has dreams of parlaying her dead-end job at the Mercury, or Mockery, as it is affectionately known, into an award-winning career with the most celebrated papers in London. But things seem to be going in the toilet, literally, since her biggest break thus far has been investigating a drainage disaster at the local high school. At least things can't get worse...
That is until shady billionaire Peter Hardstone pulls up outside the Mercury's tiny storefront office in his gold Ferrari and begins firing the staff. Soon enough, Kate herself decides that leaving the Mockery behind may just be the best career move she'll ever make-until Hardstone's wildly attractive son, Nat, takes up residence at the Mercury's office with an offer Kate cannot refuse-a chance to cover the Cannes Film Festival on the luxurious Côte d'Azur.
With internationally acclaimed author Wendy Holden's signature verve, intelligence, and originality, Azur Like It is a rollicking ride through the parties, haute couture, and glamour of the French Riviera where, behind the glitz, lies a mystery that would make even the most jaded journalist salivate.

Publishers Weekly

Predictable plot turns and humorless puns abound in Holden's superficial satire (after Gossip Hound, etc.), which starts out as a promising tale of a smalltown reporter's attempt to break out of her sleepy English hometown and quickly devolves into a colorful but clich d farce crowded with outlandish caricatures and unlikely goings-on. Kate Clegg, the slightly plump senior reporter for the Slackmucklewaite Mercury (more often referred to as "the Mockery"), longs to have the exciting life of a London reporter, but barring that, she'll settle for covering sleepy stories by day and penning her racy book, Northern Gigolo, by night. Aspiring actor Nat Hardstone, the gorgeous son of her callous new boss, may be the answer to one of her more scandalous dreams. Not only does he want to shake the dust of Slackmucklewaite off his shoes, but he wants to take her with him to the C te d'Azur for the Cannes Film Festival. Though it's obvious that Nat is as shallow and scheming as his father-he makes her foot the bill at a fancy restaurant and then presses her to front the money for his plane ticket-Kate rides his coattails to the south of France and is promptly abandoned. But with the help of a few friendly strangers, she finds love and scandal in a French town eerily similar to the English one she just left. By the end of the novel, Kate is as clueless as when she started her unlikely adventure, and readers will have as little sympathy for her as they do for Nat and his impossibly small-minded acquaintance, Champagne D'vyne. (Jan. 7) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Clever potshots from English bestseller Holden (Gossip Hound, 2002, etc.). Slackmucklethwaite? Where's that? Next door to the arse end of nowhere, but its inhabitants are a cheerful lot, especially when a posh new development of expensive homes slides into the century-old mining tunnels beneath it. Looks like a front-page story for the local newspaper, the Mercury (affectionately known as the Mockery), and Slackmucklethwaite's own Lois Lane, Kate Clegg, whips out her pad and pencil-um, she can't find her pad and pencil. Maybe it's under the panting, thrusting romance titled Northern Gigolo that she's penning in her spare time? Well, she still lives with her mum and dad and Gran in a house called Wit's End, and she's not going to make a name for herself as a journalist at this rate, is she? Especially not when the Mockery's new owner, loudmouthed, porcine Peter Hardstone, kills the story. Looks like a conflict-of-interest scandal is brewing, but Kate is distracted by the godlike handsomeness and incandescent sexiness of Peter's son Nate, who was just thrown out of Oxford for using drugs. He's a sexy bastard, he is, but could he possibly be the man of her dreams? Oh, dear-he just happened to see her in that yellow-and-tangerine quasi-poncho-tank-top thingy her Gran knitted for her. So maybe not. Oh, who cares about all Hardstones? Kate was working at the paper only for a press credential to go to Cannes and cover the film festival anyway. Off she goes to the land of palm trees and sunshine to goggle at the stars, deal-makers, flacks, and suck-ups who flock there once a year for the next best thing to the Oscars. Holden cuts them all down to size, and our Kate finds true love at last. Alongthe way, Holden's deft management of a huge cast of zany types ensures that the breakneck pace never flags. Gleeful jumble of Brit-style slapstick, puns, and sly wit. Quite a treat. Agent: Anna Ghosh/Scovil Chichak Galen Literary Agency

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