It's an understatement to say that Becks Mansfield is career obsessed. Every decision she makes in life is to advance her career. She entered the workplace during the false expectations of the dot-com boom. She is still in hot pursuit of the perfect marketing position in the tech-savvy world of San Francisco, even though almost every company she works for goes bust or gets bought out.

In between stints in the marketing business, Becks falls back on her dirty little secret to pay the mortgage -- she records voiceovers for an online animated vampire comic. The extra income is nice, but Becks is driven by her need to advance her career. What would her life be without work? Her friends think love is the answer, but Becks just can't seem to find Mr. Right. She's "date lazy" -- always waiting for unsuitable men to approach her, and then breaking things off quickly. After a friend's overseas wedding party fiasco, Becks' life is completely out of balance. With tempting job offers and confessions of adoration both revealed, is work really the most important thing in her life, or is it time to give love a chance?

Margaret Dumas has perfectly captured an honest, imperfect working gal and forced her to re-examine the money, prestige and promotions she was clawing her way up the ladder to achieve. Career women will immediately sympathize with Becks' dilemma, as THE BALANCE THING is something we all eventually face. Hands-down, this is the best chick-lit I have read in several years, both hilarious and touching. This novel has it all -- a bitchy heroine with good intentions, loyal and candid friends and a guy who believes in her and helps her learn to love herself. Am I gushing? Yes! I can't wait to read what this author writes next!