Ever imagine getting back at every cheerleader who ever slyly put you down in high school? How about wreaking a little revenge on the high school stud who stood you up? Maybe your payback takes the form of living well and looking hot. The most important thing is settling the score for past abuses or at least that is what Allie Dean, heroine of Really Something, Shirley Jump’s newest novel, thinks.

Allie Dean, movie location scout, arrives in Tempest, Indiana in a rental car and Prada heels. The sexy blonde is on a vengeance mission. All the years of being ridiculed for her weight, or worse treated like she was invisible, were about to be erased by her devilish plan. The bad thing about extracting retribution is she couldn’t tell anyone it’s her, plain Allison Gray, who is doing the extracting because as Allison—she just isn’t powerful enough.

Duncan Henry catches a hot, unknown woman peppering the town welcome sign with rocks and his interest is caught, despite the fact she isn’t interested. That just makes her more interesting. As the local weatherman and golden boy who is best known for his well-coiffed hair, brilliant smile and sex appeal, a woman who doesn’t fall at his feet is one to be pursued. The odd thing about this one is she seems familiar, but he would definitely have remembered meeting her.

Retribution is almost in Allie’s grasp, except she doesn’t feel very gleeful about it. The gorgeous, self-absorbed Duncan isn’t nearly as self-absorbed as she first thought, but he's twice as gorgeous and he still makes her heart race. Her plan to love him and leave him is hitting a few snags; she can do one, but not the other. Her family doesn’t understand her need for secrecy and is hurt by her pretending to be someone else. It looks like everything is about to explode in her face and to top it off there is a tornado headed toward Tempest.

The wise cracking, tough and quirky characters of Tempest serve as a colorful backdrop to the tempestuous affair between Allie and Duncan. Instead of making Duncan alpha man who does everything perfectly—he is a weatherman who uses a Magic 8 Ball to predict the weather. Running through the chaos of Allie’s life is her offensive boss, Jerry, who demands lattes and respect in the same whine.

Really Something is a crazy, witty romp through small-town life, slasher movies and high school memories. It pairs together two unlikely characters, the quarterback and the brainy heavyset girl who turned into a super hot movie associate. From the first page, the book offers a promise that it is going to be completely different than your average romance story—then it delivers. This is not only a recommendation, but also a must read. Treat yourself to a very good book.

Reviewed by Morgan
© November 2007