"The Shiksa Syndrome"

Laurie Graff is the author of the novels You Have to Kiss a Lot of Frogs and Looking for Mr. Goodfrog.

She applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, The Shiksa Syndrome, and reported the following:

New York publicist Aimee Albert knows a good spin. So when she and her gentile boyfriend break up on Christmas, she chooses to pursue a man of her own tribe. The hitch? A lot of Jewish men she likes, like shiksas - non Jewish women, often referred to as blonde beauties.

An accidental makeover turns Aimee into an accidental shiksa. When at a kosher wine tasting she’s mistaken as Not (Jewish) by an attractive Jewish guy she very much wants to date, she plays along. Enter Page 69.

Aimee’s personal life begins to wreak havoc, but the one constant is her job. She’s so good at it, EVP Jay Spiegel asks her to spearhead the product launch for KISS Copiers. Aimee’s plans are to keep the launch local – New York City. Booking concerns bring up talk of Los Angeles.

“Don’t worry, if it goes LA we’ll rent you a nice convertible,” Jay shouts from inside his office. “Maybe something red.”

I immediately grind to a halt and do an about face to where Jay Spiegel, Executive V.P. is engraved on a thin metal plaque on his office door. I barge in.

“The launch has to be in New York because you know I don’t drive,” I blurt out.

“Still?” His trim body collapses into his black leather chair. “Are you saying you have yet to handle this?”

Jay’s not insensitive. This ongoing problem always creates more when, event after event, travel accommodations are made for Aimee whose superstitious fears keep her from shifting forward.

“Aimee, Aimee, Aimee,” Jay looks at me. Disappointed.

Aimee disappoints everyone near and dear - especially herself - as the plot thickens and her lies spiral out of control until she finally finds her way. What begins on page 69, informs the climactic moment that takes place at the KISS product launch, and drives the story right down to the very last page.

Read an excerpt from The Shiksa Syndrome, and learn more about the author and her work at Laurie Graff's website and The Shiksa Syndrome on MySpace.

Visit the complete list of books in the Page 69 Test Series.

--Marshal Zeringue