"Corporate Workaholic Takes on Genie Campaign, Wins Love!"
MEREDITH'S WISH is a light fantasy for those looking
for something less intense. Meredith Montgomery is a
corporate workaholic. Once she had been interested in other
things. Her artwork had been fulfilling, if not profitable,
and men had been interested in her. However, a reversal in
her parents' fortunes had long since changed her focus. She has become a highly effective and respected
ad executive, but the men who had paraded through her life
had all wanted commitment. In fact they'd all married
within months of leaving her. Meredith just doesn't
understand it, she had always chosen successful
businessmen, surely they should understand her commitment
to her career. Now she's been handed the opportunity of a lifetime. All
she has to do is land one special account to beat her
sleazy competition and win the vice presidency of the firm.
There's just one catch, she has to sell a certain duchess
on a tourism campaign for her country, and.........her
royal
highness only deals with happily married women. Should be
no problem, but when she phones her latest beau, he too is
planning his wedding to someone else. She has another problem, her newly delivered cell phone
houses a genie whose special mission is to
change Meredith's life. A genie in an Armani suit? No way!
Meredith is afraid that she's finally having that corporate
nervous breakdown, but then again maybe this guy is the
answer to all her problems. Tall, gorgeous, yep, should fit
the bill. Too bad he's nuts. If only she can convince him
to pose as her husband long enough to land the deal. So
what if he says he's a djinn, she can just change that to
Jim. Meredith takes some convincing but at last Jim convinces
her of his authenticity. She's due for three wishes,
standard genie contract, no making anyone fall in love with
anyone else, and NO wishing for more wishes. Jim's got a few problems of his own. Since the industrial
revolution and more recently the explosion of high
technology, few people believe in magic anymore. The all
powerful Chairman of the Board has decided to downsize the
genie pool beginning with the more troublesome ones.
Meredith is Jim's last chance to maintain his existence.
Surely she of all people can relate to this. But no, the
first thing the melancholy miss wishes for is true love.
Aack, he should have told her it was defective wish. He
knows he is doomed to fail from the very start, but one
look at that sad lovely face and he wants to make it happen
for her. Jim finds himself sabotaging his own attempts to grant the
wish and Meredith
is beginning to compare all his prospects to the handsome,
caring djinn. This is bad, very bad, for if they should
fall
in love Jim is doomed, and there is still a matter of the
campaign. This is a sweet tale, light and amusing. The side
characters though very much in the background of the main
story provide some interesting moments. Meredith's
competition is the antithesis of all she stands for. He is
dishonest and despicable. The duchess proves to be wise and
very much in love with her duke, Meredith finds herself
wanting what they have, and wanting to be honest with the
kindly woman. The all powerful chairman of the board is a
stereotype as one would expect, heartless and unyielding. Jim has an impish sense of humor but is also very dear.
Meredith is touched by his suffering, as through him she
gets in touch with the things that matter most in life. He
brings her laughter and he reminds her of the things she
once took the time to enjoy in life. She cares about him,
she wants him to live, and therein lies the dilemma. She
can save him, but only by falling in love with another.
Either way she loses him. She hasn't gotten to where she is
in life without being persuasive, here is a campaign she
can sink her teeth into. Can Meredith convince the Chairman
that Jim's pesky emotions are not his greatest failure, but
his greatest asset? Copyright © 2000
Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch
Posted January 3, 2002
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