Madam of the House

by Donna Birdsell

It was a great idea -- why not bring lonely hearts together and make money? Real estate agent Cecilia Katz's brilliant brainstorm gave a whole new meaning to an open house. Especially with her hunky new assistant hiring the hot young studs to mingle with bored housewives. Who dreamed a game of Truth or Dare would lead to a flourishing business for the nearly broke single mother? Until a stash of drugs is found and the cops start nosing around. Add...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373881363
• ISBN13: 9780373881369
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: Harlequin Next
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.6"

Customer Reviews

Great Beach Read!!

If you like Desperate Housewives, you'll love Madam of the House, (or Birdsell's first--Suburban Secrets.) Both books start with one-time high school friends, now bored suburban housewives, getting together for drinks. Their game of truth or dare quickly leads to mayhem, and suddenly the women's lives are anything but boring. Suburban Secrets was about a recent divorcee suddenly entangled with the Russian Mob and identity theft, and Madam of the House is about a desperate real estate agent looking for a quick way to make a buck, a la "Risky Business." I'm just hoping there's books to come about the remaining truth or dare friends. Fast-paced and funny, Madam of the House was great! Loved it!

amusing comedy of errors

In Pennsylvania, realtor Cecilia "Madame of the Million-Dollar Deal" Katz cannot believe her husband wasted their savings needed to care for their special needs son to attend boarding school. She plans to divorce the idiot, but still needs money for her child's education. During a game of truth or dare with high school friends, she comes up with a matchmaking concept to pair wealthy older women with younger men. Her real estate assistant Jake Eamon helps her put together the strategic plan and the launching of the business. It proves so successful the police think Cecilia is a madam and Jake is her pimp running a prostitution ring. Soon, strange packages arrive and a nasty thug wants a piece of the action even as Cecilia and Jake begin to fall in love. Readers will laugh out loud with the amusing comedy of errors as the police believe they have strong circumstantial evidence that Celilia is the MADAM OF THE HOUSE and plans to bust her as soon as they complete a sting operation. The romance is refreshing between the older woman and her younger assistant. However, it is the misconceptions that make Donna Birdsell a fun humorous contemporary tale. Harriet Klausner

Do you like to laugh???

...then don't miss this book. It's a riot! 40 year-old real estate agent Cecilia Katz's day-trading ex-husband has left her flat broke and desperate to raise big dollars to keep her autistic child in his expensive special needs boarding school. Cecilia is known as the "Madam of the Million-Dollar Deal," but a depressed real estate market has left her trademark mega-mansions languishing. So what can a down-on-her-luck real estate agent do with a vacant, secluded, ostentatious, fully furnished McMansion that just will not sell? Well, how about a little sideline "risky business?" Cecilia realizes she knows a lot of 40-something women who would pay ready cash for a few hours of fun with younger men. Faced with a nasty principal of demanding she pay her son's past due account yesterday, Cecilia ignores her screaming conscience and enlists the help of her young, good-looking male assistant in a scheme involving the vacant mansion, older women, and young, studly college guys looking to raise a little tuition cash. First step--"charm school" to rub off the youngsters' rough edges. Then--the party to end all parties. But then things take a turn for the unexpected and the simple party turns waaaay complicated. If you don't enjoy a good laugh, don't open this book! But if you're in the mood for fun and headed for the beach, pool, lake, campground this summer--or even to your own back yard--don't sit down without Madam of the House. With romance, mystery, and non-stop laughs, you can't go wrong.