THE LITTLE LADY AGENCY

An updated Cinderella story set in London, with a heroine whose life is changed when she dons a wig.

Poor Melissa Romney-Jones’s friends, family and coworkers constantly take advantage of her kindness. Melissa hits a personal low when she’s canned as an underpaid personal assistant. To add to her misery, her father is pressing her to repay a £10,000 loan, and her boyfriend has dumped her. While busy wallowing in self-pity, Melissa is drafted into planning (free of charge, of course) a picture-perfect wedding for her sister (duties extend to sewing the bride’s gown). Melissa’s life drastically improves when she decides to start wearing a blond wig and transforms herself into Honey, her vivacious alter ego. Honey possesses everything that Melissa lacks: confidence, style and a quick wit. Flaunting blonde locks, Melissa launches The Little Lady Agency, hiring herself out by the hour as a professional girlfriend/life organizer for London’s inept bachelors. She lands a juicy client—the dashing Jonathan, a recently divorced American in need of someone capable of navigating London’s social circles. Life gets tricky when Melissa/Honey crosses the line of business and pleasure. Browne fails to develop any original plot twists and writes only by the numbers—evil sisters, enigmatic Prince Charming, grandmother serving as fairy godmother. The writing comes alive when Honey/Melissa is shopping at trendy boutiques (Brown shamelessly drops product names), cavorting at local pubs and reviving herself with a bit of afternoon tea. Still, that a blonde wig and some racy lingerie are able to turn her into the belle of the ball is, at best, hard to believe.

Escapism for anglophiles but not much more.