The study is in, Ms. Jacob's latest, Hung Up on You, has been proven to reduce stress and lighten one's mood immensely, being the cure to the pressures of every day life.

Adrienne 'Ari' Kelly has a "perfectly wonderful" life. She has just finished her thesis, on the relationship between telephone answering systems and increased stress, her dream job was wrapped up and waiting for her, and her fiancé was finally ready to tie the knot. So why wasn't she jumping for joy?

It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact a rag magazine had taken her thesis results and twisted them for a good story. It definitely couldn't be that her dream job was gone because of the butchered study.... Or because her fiancé decided they needed to take a break from each other and postpone the wedding, after all, he can't, as a brilliant doctor, have any negative publicity besmirching his name. Or her family falling apart all around her. No.. It couldn't be any of that, could it?

Simon Masterson has dedicated all of his time in the past few years, even at the sacrifice of his personal life, to building his company, SimonSays, which develops telephone answering systems. He is presently putting the finishing touches on what was his best system yet, Cindy, guaranteed to make telephone mazes simpler and easier to navigate. The last thing he needs is some uptight female ruining things for him with her study that is all made up of lies. When he shows up on her doorstep demanding a retraction of the story, things just go from bad to worse.

When Ari and Simon meet at her door, sparks fly and tempers flare... Until they realize they may be the solution to each other's problems. Simon convinces Ari to do another study, this time on Cindy, and maybe find out if that wasn't just the best one out there. In trade, he will help her out with her family crisis, stepping in to assist in cleaning up the mess. Meanwhile, they will both be free to explore their mutual attraction to each other, with no strings, and even a "done-deal" set date. But neither counted on the fact that what they thought was their worst nightmare, may actually be a dream come true.

The story is full of wit and humor, with an unusual subject for the plotline, in this, Ms. Jacobs' first Flipside book. Comedy at its best, there are always the requisite scenes for making a reader laugh out loud over the vivid images created. Most certainly too, this reviewer will never look at a game of Monopoly in quite the same way again. Why? Well read the book and understand. The details of Ari and Simon's "deal" are amusing; in some of the ways it can be mutually beneficial to them both.

As always, Ms. Jacobs, a talented romantic comedy writer, delivers a pleasing tale. Her sense of humor prevails, making for a book that is chock-full of hilarity. One would have never imagined telephone answering systems, complete with mechanical voices and bad muzak, could be funny. Nor could it have been dreamed that they could have such a long range of reaction attached to them.

All of the characters are enchanting, as is a trademark of the author. Who would have thought two such different people as Ari and Simon would come together? They are more then a match for each other in fire and attitude. The secondary characters always add a new element, from Ari's irrepressible mother to her walker-brandishing grandmother, Bubbi. And one can't forget Simon's indomitable office assistant, Celia, among others. What an eclectic bunch of personalities here!

Ms. Jacobs' book is well worth picking up for some light reading, or for the next time the reader is stuck in a dead-end telephone maze. It will certainly prevent one's stress level from rising, maybe even counteracting the tension of everyday life.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, December 2003. All rights reserved.