#27 2COOL2BTRUE by Simon Brooke

Number of Book #27
Name and Author 2cool2btrue by Simon Brooke
Date Began and Finished 4/27 - 5/2 2008
Genre - Fiction
Year It Was Published - 2005 this edition
Publisher - Downtown Press
Number of Pages 368
Trade Paperback
Reason for reading: TBR
Rating 4/5 stars

Blurb or Synopsis: I'm finding that I'm really enjoying these older DOWNTOWN PRESS books. Such fun! In 2cool2btrue, male model Charlie Barrett is ready for a career change. Modeling was supposed to be just a transition to what he'd do later on in life. But in the interim he met fellow model Lauren and the two hit it off. Now living together and for quite a while, it seems things are cooling off between them, especially now that Lauren is focused on a career in television. They rarely see each other, and she seems to be spending all her time with her new boss.

In the mean time, Charlie is contacted by a man that wants to hire Charlie as a marketing person (marketing happened to be his major in college). This was the chance Charlie had been looking for, a chance to get out of modeling and use his degree. He knew his father had been disappointed when Charlie went into modeling, and now he would be able to prove to his father that he could be as successful with a proper job.

The new job is for a start up company called "2cool2btrue", a hip website that would be the place for all those savvy with the Internet to hang out. It all seemed to good to be true, too. He's given carte blanche almost to spend as much as he wants, and notices that his bosses are splurging left and right on many extravagant things. But Charlie, naive as he is, trusts them and figured that the company is doing great.

But then the unthinkable happens : The two founders of the company disappear, and no one seems to know where they have gone. And then they all find out that the two founders have been embezzling funds, and tons of bills are unpaid, and there is no money to pay these bills. Charlie is now the scapegoat,as he's the only one left that was "in charge" and he was also a cosigner on several checks. Charlie's world is falling apart, and not only that, his father is acting very strangely, more than usual, and Charlie needs to find out what is going on.

2cool2btrue was a really intriguing story that kept my glued to the pages until the very end. It's books like this that i keep coming back for more. What i loved about this book was the characters, and how the author kept me guessing on what was really going on, who was being deceptive and who was on the up and up. Nora, a journalist that keeps hounding Charlie regarding the company's problems, is a total mystery and kept me guessing about her ultimate motives. Was she just out to get a story, or did she have any feelings for Charlie? The really funny twist to the story had to do with Charlie's girlfriend and her boss, and that doesn't play out until nearly the end. Great story, great writing!