"How to Have a Perfect Life" is something everyone would love to be able to enjoy. Certainly Maddy and her best friends from college, Amy and Christine, can agree on that. However, the three women are shocked and a bit annoyed to recognize themselves as the unnamed examples in a new book by a former classmate. Especially since they remember that the author, Miss Perfect Jane, disappeared from their lives years ago and they defensively protest that they are all really happy.

Upon closer inspection and friendly reflection, they find that perhaps there is something missing in each of their lives. When Amy and Christine are verbally challenging each other to conquer their fears, Maddy suggests that the two of them make a pact to achieve their goals. Unfortunately, Maddy's friends have decided she's part of this chance for change. To meet her goals for a perfect life, Maddy, the artist, must agree to get back into touch with her gift, and she also must take her artwork to a gallery and see about having it shown. Like the three musketeers, Maddy, Amy and Christine are off to do the impossible.

Maddy accepts a job working as the art director at a summer camp for kids near Santa Fe, New Mexico. This seems like a win-win situation because Santa Fe is the hot spot where an artist's dreams to be discovered can become real. The job is also in a spot of beautiful countryside that's just what Maddy's muse needs to wake up and begin creating. However, life is never that easy. It just so happens the camp is owned by Mama Frazier, her former high school boyfriend's crafty mother. To make matters worse, she's going to be working directly for Joe. To her surprise, Maddy finds that she's even more attracted to him now than she was before.

The fireworks begin the moment Maddy sets her foot down in the parking lot. Even after all these years, Joe has never forgiven Maddy for refusing his marriage proposal before he went to boot camp. Maddy can remember all to well the bad boy who tried to rope her into marriage before the ink on their high school diplomas was dry. Maddy and Joe have never gotten over each other. Mama's word may be law, but Joe has a plan of his own. He encourages Maddy to paint again, and offers to show her around the Santa Fe galleries. After all, the sooner Maddy gets swept up and out of his camp, the sooner he can stop dealing with the dual feelings of anger and love. Yet life, love and Mama Frasier have other plans...

Ortolon breathes a breath of fresh air into the world of romance with her dual paintbrushes of talent and humor. She's not afraid to use vivid colors of emotion on either side of the male/female canvas, making their portraiture that much more valuable to the reader. Compassion, contrast and fairness are used to highlight and shadow all of her endearing characters, and it's refreshing to be able to follow each of their emotional journeys without any one- sided bias. You laugh, you cry, you cringe and then laugh some more as she brings the story to life before your very eyes. Ortolon has plans for at least a trilogy (JUST PERFECT in Oct. and TOO PERFECT in Nov.), and I can't wait to follow Amy and Christine on their own journeys of self- discovery. I'm very curious to see if Miss Perfect Jane, the author and former friend of all three women, will get her own story, as well.