Amazon Mimi Barbour Category:  Romance Publisher: Wild Rose Press ISBN-10:  1601546580 Type: Fiction Pages: 63 Copyright: 2007 ISBN-13: 9781601546586 A paranormal spicy romance from the Vintage era... and a fun read. A spoilt model, Jenna Mc Brade, sits on a bench in 2007, pricks her finger on a rose bush and gets transported back to 1963 England to inhabit the body of chubby Lucy McGillicuddy. As her spiritual roommate, Jenna’s cynicism forces Lucy to adhere to a model’s lifestyle of sparse eating and physical exercise. Lucy’s body changes, becoming svelte and beautiful. Conversely, Lucy's kindhearted, generous spirit leaves a lasting impression on the temperamental fashion plate who exists inside her. Lucy loves knowledgeable Dr. John, who has plans to help Jenna return to her own body. Jenna’s Business Manager Jake assists and mistakenly shifts into Dr John. Now the four spirits are vying over two bodies. Meanwhile, Jenna realizes an attraction for Jake, who’s very endearing, and she falls madly in love with him. While you giggle over their antics, these four characters will steal your heart. Excerpt 1 Chapter One The large, oval mirror reflected what the top magazine photographers captured in every front-page sensation featuring Jenna. Beauty might be skin deep as told to plain, hopeful little girls, but Jenna had never heard those words. All her life there had been comments about her “natural chestnut glory” or her “intense blue eyes with diamond-like highlights.” Even her figure, slender and tall, was unproblematic, as her system tended to wear off whatever she chose to eat, although since she chose the healthiest of foods she glowed with fitness. As Jenna sauntered past the mirror she slowed to check herself out, as she was apt to do when passing any reflecting surface, and she spied her secretary’s grinning image behind her. “Marnie, wipe it.” The grin disappeared, but Marnie’s eyes remained full of merriment. “Has Harvey called?” Harvey was the favoured man of the month, taller than Jenna, with eyes of a similar cobalt tone, hair silvered with distinguishing highlights, and more money than many banks. Marnie’s answer was tinged with disdain, which was not lost on Jenna. “Yes, he’ll be there to pick you up at the airport tomorrow evening. His exact words were, ‘Tell her to doll up, because I want to show her off to some college buddies who’ll be joining us for a late dinner. They don’t believe me when I tell them she’s a female version of myself—eye candy.’” Jenna’s laugh was fake and forced as she stepped outside the famous vicarage where her last shoot had taken place three days ago. She was burnt out from the many assignments she’d crammed in over the past few months. It seemed as though every manufacturer in the world wanted to have her face represent their products. Enough was enough. She needed to veg and catch her breath. The quaint vicarage was over a hundred years old, filled with relics from the past and a peaceful ambience in which a person could unwind. The verdant colours of the vines, clinging in masses to the exterior, framed the stained-glass windows, while pink roses twining in and out, here and there, added delight for the viewer. The foliage explosion nearby covered a crumbling stone wall that enclosed a large garden filled with hybrid roses, all blooming and permeating the air with their fragrance. On the other side of the wall was a surprisingly busy lane where the folks of the small town frequently walked or drove by, following their daily routines. Her normal choice of a holiday hotel it wasn’t, but for some unknown reason Jenna had fallen in love with the atmosphere of tranquility on sight and, reluctant to leave it, had rented the nest for a few extra days for herself and her secretary to relax after the shoot. It was essential for Marnie to stay there with her, not just for reasons of answering the telephone and other business matters, but because Marnie had worked almost as hard as Jenna these last few months and deserved a break. Keeping up with the daily correspondence, being at Jenna’s beck and call and catering to her every whim still left Marnie a bit of time left over to spend as she pleased. Jenna was heading to her special place, a wooden bench near the roadway where she could people-watch, one of her favourite pastimes. She liked to breathe in the scent from the pink roses that trailed over the trellis behind the bench and gave a fresh contrast to the natural greyness of the oak. Today the scene was framed by a sky bluer than normal. She meandered along toward the empty bench, Marnie close behind her. As she stopped to smell a particularly gorgeous rose, a thorn bit into the fleshy part of her finger and she squealed with pain. A strangeness settled over her as she sat to pull out the spine. As soon as her body touched the bench, a trancelike state began to take hold. Her mind felt numb, and later she would swear that her body floated away from her and disappeared in small drifts, like a cloud shifting. Finally, she broke loose from these imaginings and turned to talk to Marnie, who was nowhere to be seen. She shook her head and reached up to rub her forehead, but when she touched herself she knew something was dreadfully wrong. It was as though she were having an out-of-body experience. Everything around her had altered. She closed her eyes and slumped further down on the bench. She twisted herself agitatedly, opened her eyes again and looked in every direction. It was then she realized that the road looked oddly different from the one she remembered. She swiveled every which way, still seated because she felt weakened somehow, too weak to stand. And then she spied her dress and screamed. When she’d walked outside she was wearing white jean capris and a navy-and-white designer top, with a rhinestone-decorated white jean jacket to set off the ensemble. Now, clutched in her shaking hands, her garb seemed to be a full-skirted, polka-dotted garment that hung down well past her knees, along with—what scared her silly—white gloves over her decidedly plump hands.

Long & Short Review
A spoilt model, Jenna Mc Brade, sits on a bench in 2007, pricks her finger on a rose bush and gets transported back to 1963 England to inhabit the body of chubby Lucy McGillicuddy. As her spiritual roommate, Jenna’s cynicism forces Lucy to adhere to a model’s lifestyle of sparse eating and physical exercise. Lucy’s body changes, becoming svelte and beautiful. Conversely, Lucy's kindhearted, generous spirit leaves a lasting impression on the temperamental fashion plate who exists inside her.
Lucy loves knowledgeable Dr. John, who has plans to help Jenna return to her own body. Jenna’s Business Manager Jake assists and mistakenly shifts into Dr John. Now the four spirits are vying over two bodies. Meanwhile, Jenna realizes an attraction for Jake, who’s very endearing, and she falls madly in love with him. While you giggle over their antics, these four characters will steal your heart.

♥ ♥ ♥

The title, "She's Me," foreshadows the action in this tospy-turvy love story by Mimi Barbour. Our heroine Jenna is one of those deliciously stunning woman who not only are so beautiful the average woman really cannot identify with them, but she also lives a life so removed from the everyday she seems utterly beyond the reach of ordinary reality. All that is about to change, however.

Ms. Borbour's main character has far more character than we might have expected at the beginning. Changes in her circumstances leave her distraught--but unexpectedly strong. She comes to rely on friendships, and--in a completely unexpected way, she finds a person that she can talk to, can share things with, in a way that defies ordinary human relationships. (Cryptic? In commenting on this story, I am really struggling to avoid spoilers!)

Jenna's life turns upside down, although indeed, so will a certain person named Lucy. Jenna's love life almost seems to take a backseat to the other storyline, but there is a love there centers on the who she is, rather than the person she looks like--and puzzling out how that storyline will come together is indeed part of the charm.

The quaint setting is well described--and the 'paranormal event' that ties the setting to the same in another time arrives unexpectedly, and unpredictably. The best part about this story is without doubt, the wonderful array of characters, the importance of certain secondary characters, and the wonderful changes and growth we see and understood, happening almost magically before our eyes. Dialogue is snappy and at times humorous ("Hell's bells, now I can't even cry without getting hassled...") The true selves involved here are unpredictable --and the relationships that drive this story are hysterical. My only complaint is that the title foreshadows one key turning point, instead of surprising us with that, too. Still, I'd recommend you pick up "She's Me," for one surprise after another!