Outstanding praise for the novels of Timothy James Beck!
HE’S THE ONE
A Booksense 76 Pick!
“Second novels are usually not as good as first novels, especially when first novels are as excellent as Timothy James Beck’s first work, It Had to Be You. So it was with surprise and delight that I found Beck’s second work, He’s the One, to be not just as good—but better! Funny and touching with wonderful characters.”
—The Texas Triangle
“Another romantic comedy from the author of the equally engaging
It Had to Be You.”
—Booklist
“This second madcap Manhattan romance from Beck has sexy boys, mild comedy, and even a little amateur sleuthing. Beck seems to have found his calling serving up featherweight fun.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A delightful sophomore novel…smart and breezy.”
—OutSmart (Houston, Texas)
“He’s the One stands out for good writing and a fairly inventive plot. This book is a good, quick read, just what everyone needs in the summer. You can enjoy it during an afternoon by the pool or an evening when you don’t want to go out or watch TV. Pick it up and see if you don’t agree.”
—The Bottom Line (Palm Springs)
IT HAD TO BE YOU
“A charming, humorously appealing tale…Readers will find the overall mood light and the action absorbing enough to keep the pages turning.”
—Publishers Weekly
“It Had to Be You is a rousing story of finding yourself after you’ve spent years thinking you already had. While much of this book is laugh out loud funny, there are plenty of serious moments as well…Dry, witty, touching and loads of fun, It Had to Be You is a novel that manages to easily and expertly straddle the fence between serious and hilarious.”
—The Texas Triangle
Books by Timothy James Beck
IT HAD TO BE YOU
HE’S THE ONE
I’M YOUR MAN
SOMEONE LIKE YOU
Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation
Someone Like You
TIMOTHY JAMES BECK
KENSINGTON BOOKS
http://www.kensingtonbooks.com
For John Scognamiglio
Acknowledgments
Belgian waffles from Congreve room service to: Tom Wocken, Dorothy Cochrane, Paul Enea, Bill Thomas, and Alison Picard.
Drink for Your Health smoothies to: Rebecca and Brian Baker, Shanon Best, Sean Brennan, Tim Brookover, famous author Rob Byrnes, Jason Cabot and Jeff Heilers, Susan Caretti, the Carter family, Carol E. Charny, Jean-Marc Chazy, Clea, Darryl Coble, the Cochrane family, Steve Code, Andre Coffa, Dalton DeHart, Caroline De La Rosa, Lynne Demarest, Jonathan DeMichael, Jone Devlin, the Ellner family, the Enea family, Laura Enea, Jim, Alex, and Alana Fitzgerald, Kitty Fontaine, the Forry family, the Garber family, Amy and Richard Ghiselin, Cullen Graff, Lowry Greeley, Kimberly Greene and River Heights Productions, Terri Griffin, Kate and Chris Guerrette, Victoria Harzer, Larry Henderson, Greg Herren, Alan Josoff, Judge Joe B., Christine and John Kovach, the Lambert family, Lee Linden, Amy Littlefield, Pierre Lombardini, Ellie Marshall, James McCain Jr., Marla McDaniel, Robin McElfresh, the Miller family, Debbie Milton, Helen Morris, Riley Morris, Eric Newland, Steve Nordwick and Doug French, David Outlaw, Pete and Sonja, Rachel Polintan, Pootz ’n Mootz, Ron Pratt, Todd Rainer, the Rambo family, Lori Redfearn and Bob Corrigan, Tandy Ringoringo, the Rose family, Carmella Roth, Rhonda Rubin and Lindsey Smolensky, Michael Ryan, Terry and Allen Shull, Leah Siegel, Laurie and Marty Smith, Sylvia and Angelo, Amy Terrell, Denece Thibodeaux, Matthew Thornton, Steve Vargas, Michael Vicencia, Ellen Ward and Pat Crosby, Don Whittaker, Sarena P. Williams, the Wocken family, Yojo, OUTeverywhere, AOL and Yahoo message boards and chat room friends and supporters, and everyone at Kensington who pulls it all together.
Treats to: Arthur, Brandi, Guinness, Hailey, Lazlo, Margot, and River.
Events and people in this novel are entirely fictitious. Especially the managers. The Mall of the Universe does not exist, but thank you to some Indiana resources, including Anne, Linda, Myra, Rob, Craig M. Bell, and Traci Lenzi, for helping provide a context within which it could be imagined. Thank you, Tracy Wilson, for providing a little bit of Dollywood.
Contents
Acknowledgments
1 Fruit of the Loom
2 Oops…I Stabbed You Again!
3 Kept Boy
4 Bland Ambition
5 That Witch!
6 Trying to Keep the Customer
Satisfied
7 Other People’s Money
8 Down in the Valley of the Dolls
9 Why the Long Face?
10 Don’t You Step on My Blue
Swarovski Shoes
11 Heels Over Head
12 I Got a Brand New Pair of
Roller Skates
13 Two Doors Down
14 Totally Pauley
15 Shuffle Up and Deal
16 A Model for Business and
Technical Success
17 Tall, Mark, and Handsome
18 Smells Like Teen Spirit
19 They Shoot Dragons, Don’t They?
20 Rear Windows
21 Wake-Up Call
22 Children Should Be Shaken,
Not Stirred
23 Close Encounters of the
Spurred Kind
24 I’ll Take What’s Behind Door
Number One
25 It’s Everywhere You Want to Be
26 Love at First Stroke
27 He’s a Magic Man, Mama
28 The Dinosaur from Our Imagination
29 Indiana Talbot and the
Temple of Doom
30 The Scene of the Crime
31 Diamond in the Rough
32 One Shoe Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
33 Chitty Chitty Big Bang
34 A Temperamental Journey
35 The Wichita Lying Man
36 The Spy Who Bagged Me
37 Fables of the Reconstruction
38 The Short-Terminator
39 Across the Universe
40 My Tennessee Mountain Home
1
Fruit of the Loom
Derek Anderson had been sixteen