PUSS IN BOOTS by Barri Bryan

PUSS IN BOOTS
BARRI BRYAN
Erotic Contemporary FairyTale
Sensuality Rating: Slightly Naughty
Whiskey Creek Press Torrid
ISBN# 978-1-59374-994-1
137 pages
$5.49
eBook - Available November 2007

Rating: 4 Enchantments

Meet Fifi, the extraordinary puss of this story. She is naturally lilac-colored, southern (not French as her name implies), and very shrewd. When her former mistress dies, her daughter Caitlin assumes responsibility for the puss. Caitlin intends to find the cat a new owner, but Fifi has plans for Caitlin - and tells her so.

Caitlin Miller owns her own sewing shop, Nips and Tucks, and is quite content with that. She is a talented designer, but has no ambition (or money) to take it further. But there is more to Caitlin Miller than meets the eye. At first glance, she is unassuming, too trusting, and almost adolescent. As the story progresses, she becomes more self-assured, more discerning, and less of a twit (what dear Fifi calls her). But is it enough to keep Leo interested for a lifetime?

Leo ‘the Lion’ Legrand is a very self-proud man - he is impressed with himself and his success. He doesn’t care what he has to do to keep his lucrative status. Everything is up for grabs, especially from a dumpy little seamstress who means nothing to him. But then, the magic happens, as it does in every fairytale - Leo falls in love with Caitlin. Can he improve his basic nature, or will he lose the woman he cares for?

Fifi is worried for her new mistress, so she devises a plan to make her rich. Once Caitlin buys the puss Anne Klein books and a Gucci bag, Fifi will increase Caitlin’s business. And soon, Caitlin has more work than she can handle. But Fifi has bigger plans than that and sets out to make a deal with the owner of The Stylish Silhouette, Leo. As you can imagine, Leo does not take blackmail from a purple, talking cat very well - he rushes to find the cat’s owner and make her sorry. When he meets Caitlin, he develops a plan of his own to benefit from Caitlin’s talent. Can Fifi protect her mistress’s interests and her heart from the big, bad Lion?

While Caitlin is much too sweet and naïve and Leo is predatory and cunning, the pussy cat Fifi is juuust right. This story is told in the way of fairy tales with everything slightly exaggerated, but the solid writing shines throughout. This reader loved all the ‘cat’ puns - they added a bit of tongue-in-cheek word-play that was quite humorous and very clever. The dialogue and plot flow nicely. PUSS IN BOOTS was designed with grown-ups in mind and would make a nice bedtime story! I rate this fairytale a wonderful 4 Enchantments.

Barri Bryan is a husband and wife team with several books to their credit. Find them on the web at www.barribryan.atfreeweb.com or subscribe to their monthly newsletter for contests and updates at www.groups.yahoo.com/group/barribryannews.

dawn
Enchanting Reviews
September 2007