From Publishers Weekly
Booth's latest novel (after Marry Me), the saga of a Martha Stewart-like lifestyle guru's tempestuous life, is a for-fans-only effort. In 1970, 20-year-old Kate Haywood, who has "Nordic features chiseled like the ice floes and fjords in which her Viking ancestors had sailed," is a waitress at center-of-everything-hip Max's Kansas City in Manhattan. There, she meets her future husband, literary agent Peter Haywood, who soon turns her good design/fashion/cooking sense into an empire from which the egomaniacal Kate later excludes him. Driven away by Kate's tantrums, Peter leaves her and their daughter, Sam, for her scheming assistant Ruth, knocking Kate into a depression that nearly destroys her business network. Running parallel to this story line is the doomed marriage of Steve (an artist) and Donna (a surgeon), who split when Steve blames Donna for their young son's accidental death. After Kate has rebounded from her own divorce and saved her business, she and the proud but sensitive Steve fall in love in East Hampton. But is her company safe from the backstabbing Ruth? Is Peter gone forever? Booth's melodrama spins merrily on, but the cliche-ridden prose keeps it strictly humdrum. Set in a world where sexually aroused men's voices are "husky," efficient business women look "cucumber cool" and a choice at a forked road will "change her life forever," this uninspired romance fiction lacks panache. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Kate Haywood, married to literary agent Peter, begins doing some catering for her Long Island neighbors. She enjoys this and raising her daughter, but she wants more. When Peter sells a book concept for her, it is the start of her rise as the arbiter of American taste. Sound familiar? In Booth's version, Martha's (oops, Kate's) husband finally gives up dealing with her temperament and arrogance after 20 years and walks out on her, alienating their daughter, Samantha. When Kate begins to put her life back together, fate will intervene once more to turn Kate's world upside down and question what is really important. Kate Harper's rich and plumy tones render her narration as emotionally full as it is articulate. Her evocation of characters makes even the often unlikable Kate seem a bit more sympathetic. An entertaining program, full of greed, betrayal, struggles for power, and the consequences of human folly. Recommended.-Melody A. Moxley, Rowan P.L., Salisbury, NC Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Kate Haywood has imagination, creativity, and the drive to make it all happen, especially when teamed with her husband, Peter, and daughter, Samantha. As Kate becomes "An American Icon," her life is fraught with emotional ups and downs that echo the energy of her Martha Stewart-like career. Kate Harper's involvement in the narration drives the story through its incredible twists and turns. Harper becomes Kate Haywood in her reach for the top. A loud background hiss threatens to overwhelm Harper's voice, especially when her voice dips. Nevertheless, listeners will wonder where the time went as they learn about Kate's triumphs over all that threatens to thwart her career. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

Kate Haywood, married to literary agent Peter, begins doing some catering for her Long Island neighbors. She enjoys this and raising her daughter, but she wants more. When Peter sells a book concept for her, it is the start of her rise as the arbiter of American taste. Sound familiar? In Booth's version, Martha's (oops, Kate's) husband finally gives up dealing with her temperament and arrogance after 20 years and walks out on her, alienating their daughter, Samantha. When Kate begins to put her life back together, fate will intervene once more to turn Kate's world upside down and question what is really important. Kate Harper's rich and plumy tones render her narration as emotionally full as it is articulate. Her evocation of characters makes even the often unlikable Kate seem a bit more sympathetic. An entertaining program, full of greed, betrayal, struggles for power, and the consequences of human folly. Recommended.--Melody A. Moxley, Rowan P.L., Salisbury, NC Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

AudioFile