In Making Mr. Right, we are introduced to Jaycee Richmond, who has worked for eleven years in the family image-consulting firm, and is still just a glorified secretary, thanks to her family’s sexist beliefs. She sees a chance to make a change when Simon Hawthorne comes in needing an image adjustment. Simon is a traditional, nerdy accountant in a firm that has decided to become more people-friendly. Simon has been warned that his nerdball image is jeopardizing his job. Jaycee sees a chance to demonstrate her own image-enhancing abilities, so she accepts the challenge to prove herself while keeping it off the firm’s books. Simon is instantly attracted to Jaycee, while she can see the glimmerings of a superstud behind Simon’s Clark Kent exterior. It’s not long before she finds he’s a great kisser, too.

This is a cute story, though insubstantial and rather old-fashioned. The characters’ motivations and backgrounds are better fleshed-out than many titles of similar length. The author has obviously taken some care in reasoning why her characters behave as they do – a worthwhile endeavor, if not uniformly successful. Jaycee’s determination to advance from her dead-end position at an insurmountably sexist firm is more understandable since the sexists in question are her own family; it makes sense that she would cling to the family business more fiercely than she would elsewhere. Simon’s unsightly appearance (mostly the result of poor accessorizing) needs a bit of explaining as well, since human nature demands that people generally make the most of their looks, not deliberately detract from them. We learn enough about Simon’s lonely, antisocial childhood to believe that he simply doesn’t know better than to go out in Buddy Holly glasses and Gordon Gekko hair.

The story is pleasant enough, and I particularly enjoyed events shown from Simon’s gentle, sensitive perspective. I liked Jaycee less, however. Her determination to cling to “professionalism” read mainly like a plot contrivance to keep her separated from Simon. Her willingness to conform to her family’s antiquated attitudes for such a long time wasn’t altogether compelling either.

Makeover fans should enjoy the relatively rare treat of seeing a man get the Cinderella treatment from his own credit-card-wielding fairy godmother. This is a book I recommend in a qualified manner; the changes were too superficial to justify the abrupt about-face they elicited from all viewers. I would have liked more internal musings from Simon on the difficulties of an introverted person learning to be social, rather than the more simplistic resolution depicted. But the writing is engaging and delivers a frothy good time. It’s cotton-candy reading, but everyone needs a little spun sugar from time to time.