Mr. Destiny

September 12, 2005
At the start of this sparkling contemporary romance from Halliday (Dream Guy
), Manhattan gallery manager Kate Anderson is standing near a painting of the Madonna and overseeing an exhibit in Central Park when she meets mounted police officer Anthony Petrocelli. According to Tony, his grandmother read his tea leaves 20 years earlier, when he turned 16, and informed him that he would be 36 when he met his bride in Central Park, and she would be a blonde with green eyes standing next to the Virgin Mary. Though flattered by the handsome Italian-American's attention, Kate informs him that she's engaged to be married in two months. Kate believes that her fiancé, snotty attorney Harold Wellington, is perfect for her, but her best friend disagrees and makes constant sarcastic comments about Harold. The humorous antics of Tony's boisterous family nicely balance the sweetly sensual romance between him and Kate. Only Harold's sudden transformation from a snob into a caring man rings a false note in this engaging tale. Agent, Jenny Bent.

October 15, 2005
Kate Anderson likes order, which is why she works in her grandmother's Manhattan art gallery and is engaged to marry the very well--organized attorney Harold Wellington. The spark she doesn't know is missing flares up when she meets a hunky Italian on a stallion. Seeing the green-eyed blond standing next to a painting of the Virgin Mary, Officer Tony Petrocelli of the NYPD, who patrols Central Park on a horse named Skyscraper, is compelled to stop. Twenty years earlier his blind grandmother had "seen" his future in the tea leaves: when he was 36 he would find his wife standing next to the Virgin. Halliday's delightfully humorous tale provides a welcome holiday from the stresses of everyday life. Her characters are so lovingly depicted that one can't even hate the horrible Harold. This upbeat tale of a good-guy hero, his loving and quirky family, and the woman he is destined to love is a rarity in a field filled with dark and wounded heroes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)