After a year and a half of fighting a nasty divorce, Maxine Cambridge has had it. Too bad she doesn’t realize it until after she assaults a teenager who landed the job she had hoped for at the Cluck-Cluck Palace. Fortunately for Max, Campbell Barker, a former high school classmate is there to help her pick up the pieces.

Note from Maxine Cambridge to all ex-trophy wives on the art of sucking it up and how not to get a job after never having been in the workplace to begin with: Sometimes less really is more. While you, the unemployed, may find it therapeutic to spill you guts, or even foolishly believe rambling your woes to you potential employer will create sympathy and help you nab that much needed job, news flash, sistah. In your quest for gainful employment, shut up. A lot.

She could do this. Whatever it took. “Please. Look, I’m begging you, okay? I need a job. I’m sure you hear a hundred sob stories a day with the economy in the shitty state it’s in, but I’m not kidding when I tell you I just need one person to give me a chance. Just a little break. I know I’m not sixteen anymore, and if I needed reminding, I’d just have to ask the hundred other places like this that I’ve applied to to tell me so. I get it. I know I have no experience in fast food. Believe me, I know. I have no experience in selling condoms either, but you can bet I’d do it if it meant I could earn a buck hawking ribbed ticklers. Well, that is, if the manager at Condoms on the Go-go would have let me. But he said I had no experience in condoms. I say, hah! What does he know? I know condoms. I’ve used them plenty in my time. But that’s beside the point. So tell me something, because you seem like a guy who’s in the know—how the flip can I get some experience if no one will hire me?” Her voice had risen, pitchy and anxious, and her hand was right back at desperation, clinging to poor, deer in the headlights Mr. Herrera.

Utilizing the residents of the retirement village and their wry sense of humor, Cassidy takes us along with Maxine on her journey as she discovers coupons, Wal-Mart, and real, self-less love for herself and her son.

And then there is the old classmate, chemistry geek turned confident hottie, Campbell Barker who adds another layer to helping Max plant her feet in the real world. He is around every corner, sometimes even in Max’s bathroom, as he helps his ailing father with the village’s maintenance. Max likes that Campbell is just an ordinary Joe, not some rich millionaire, but of course Campbell has his secrets that just may destroy the couple’s chance at happily-ever-after.

Even though the romance between the two hits hot and heavy like hormone-crazed teenagers it is believable and realistic, especially with the wrenches thrown into the mix. The emotional highs and lows keep the reader guessing at the outcome.

If you’re looking for a fun read to brighten your day, I highly recommend Dakota Cassidy’s You Dropped a Blonde on Me.

Reviewed by: Christina