I was instantly smiling recalling just how awesome Tessa Bailey truly writes. Her characters are real and flawed but become almost instant friends as you realize, hey, I know someone just like that. Something about me...I’m originally from Brooklyn, New York. Brooklyn is its own city, heck, more like its own state if you are being truthful. Brooklynites refer to where they are from by the neighborhood or schools they attended. Flatbush, Ditmas Junior High School originally then onto Bensonhurst, Lafayette High School. I talk and drive like a New York taxi driver. At least that’s what my family always tells me. You get the picture.
So in WINDOW SHOPPING Tessa Bailey brings us to a high-end Manhattan department store called Vivant. And the adventure begins. The leading character is Aiden Cook, part of the Cook family that owns Vivant. Aiden is the general manager. Delightful, engaging, warm and inviting except when it comes to his rather large family which at times grates on his nerves. Even so, he greets them with his signature graciousness and humor.
Sharing the starring role is none other than Stella. Stella was just released from prison after spending four years for armed robbery, it seems. Except looking at Stella it just doesn’t seem to fit and that’s what Aiden is quick to remind himself.
The problem is that Stella hasn’t let go of the bars and locks yet. Lots more time is needed to recover and forgive herself for her total lapse of good judgment. Youth is wasted on the young. The old expression seems to fit here.
So no one is more surprised than Stella when she is offered a trial position at Vivant as a window dresser. It seems that Aiden has seen something in Stella that touches him deeply. This is new to Aiden. His laissez-faire demeanor is what most folks see. Stella seems to think there is another side to her new boss. Equally attracted, but definitely out of her ballpark. No big secret that the attraction is mutual. However, their differences are rather mind-blowing and possibly insurmountable. Except this is Tessa Bailey. So we are invited to watch, learn, and enjoy the play.
Candidly it is an interesting look at that old saying, don’t judge a book by its cover. Neither Aiden nor Stella is that easy to read. Aiden had an unusual upbringing. His parents agreed to send him to his Aunt Edna in rural Tennessee. There he was exposed to a vastly different lifestyle than at home. His artsy side developed from this new home. There is an entire story that surrounds his wearing bow ties. Still another level of nature versus nurturing. Stella’s family certainly didn’t expect her to wind up in jail for a crime so off the charts.
So in WINDOW SHOPPING, we are treated to some of Tessa Bailey’s best literary art. And it is indeed an art, bringing all these characters to life and taking a look at just what makes them tick. It is through some awe-inspiring dialog and situations that WINDOW SHOPPING comes to life. Not to be missed, fans of Tessa Bailey will agree, and WINDOW SHOPPING just might earn several new fans.
A sizzling, feel-good, opposites-attract holiday romance from Tessa Bailey, #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Happened One Summer—now in a beautiful new package!
Two weeks before Christmas and all through Manhattan, shop windows are decorated in red and green satin. Stella is standing alone outside a famous department store, when a charming man asks her opinion on the décor.
It’s a tragedy in tinsel, she says, unable to lie. Then he asks for a better idea, with a twinkle in his eye. She didn’t know he owned the place, when he put her on the spot, and now she’s working for that man, trying to ignore that he’s hot.
But as a down-on-her-luck girl with a difficult past, Stella knows how to make a good opportunity last. So she gives it her all, working without stopping. Trying to resist temptation, because she’s just window shopping.
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