Atlanta, Georgia - Present Day

Want to find out if your new guy is a cheater? Check out the website theguycheats.com. It was started by Marissa Kincaid and the two friends with whom she owns the e-zine AtlantaTellAll, when Marissa found out that her current boyfriend is just the latest in a long line of boyfriends who have cheated on her. The database-type website was first populated with the men who have wronged Marissa, going all the way back to Trent Jackson who, at thirteen, bailed on the dance he and Marissa were supposed to attend, and went to the movies with another girl.

Of course, when Trent, who publishes an e-zine of his own, finds out that he is the first serial cheater on the list, he decides to start a corresponding site: theGirlLies.com. His memory of Rissi and that long ago dance is a little different from hers, and his site will serve two purposes. First, Trent subscribes to the belief that no publicity is bad publicity and, with luck, starting a little feud with Marissa may boost subscriptions to his site enough that he will finally be able to turn his e-zine into a print publication. Second, a stunt like this is sure to reunite Trent with the spitfire he’s never really forgotten.

With a couple of clicks of the mouse, the battle is on in TO CATCH A CHEAT. Shortly after the fateful dance, Marissa and her mother moved out of state, so Marissa and Trent never resolved the ending of their friendship. Trent’s original goal in baiting Marissa is to see how much she’s changed and rekindle the friendship they had in middle school. But, after seeing her, Trent knows that he wants more than friendship from her. When Marissa started the site and realized exactly how many of her former flames have cheated on her, she decided that taking a break from dating may just be the best idea right now. Of course, she had no idea just how gorgeous Trent, who was a somewhat gawky adolescent, has turned out to be, but once she meets him again, Marissa knows that she’s never before faced a temptation so great.

Though this is definitely a book filled with humorous moments, it also has some serious ones, as Marissa tries to figure out why she seems to attract so many serial cheaters, and comes to terms with her past. Trent is a charming, if somewhat stubborn man, who is trying to make something of himself without the family fortune backing him. Other characters include Marissa’s friends: Amy, her husband Landon and son Bo; Candi, who finds romance of her own with Trent’s friend Keith; and Marissa’s mother Mona. These people help the relationship between Marissa and Trent along, often in unexpected ways. A truly enjoyable story, TO CATCH A CHEAT is a book I highly recommend.

Jennifer Bishop