Olivia Goldsmith DUMPING BILLY Unabridged NEW $34.95Val

There's something magical about Billy Nolan. It's not just that the Brooklyn bar owner is wickedly handsome; it is also that any woman he dates and dumps - and he dumps them all - immediately goes on to marry the next man she meets. But Kate Jameson is immune to his charms. She left Brooklyn for upward-mobility in Manhattan at the first chance she got, and she's not about to fall for some cad from the old neighborhood. But when her best friend Bina's engagement is broken off, Kate hatches a plan: all she has to do is get Billy to date and dump Bina. Then they'll wait for Bina's wayward fiance to return for the magic to happen. But the one thing Kate hasn't counted on is how Billy feels about the whole plot - and how she begins to feel about Billy. She may have changed her style, but her roots are showing.

There's something magical about Billy Nolan. It's not just that the Brooklyn bar owner is wickedly handsome: It's that every woman he dates and dumps (and he dumps them all) immediately goes on to marry the next person she meets.The only woman seemingly immune to Billy's charms is feisty, upwardly mobile, 28-year-old Kate Jameson. She left Brooklyn for Manhattan the first chance she had, and she's not about to fall under the spell of a handsome cad from the old neighborhood. Besides, she's dating the eminently suitable Michael, a rising star in the world of academe. But perhaps the "Billy effect" will work for Kate's best friend, Bina Horowitz, who has fallen apart after her longtime fiancé broke off their engagement in order to work overseas and "explore his singleness.

"All Kate has to do is get Billy to date Bina and dump her-then wait for her wayward fiancé to return, and watch the magic happen. It's a great plan that at first seems to be working brilliantly. But the one thing Kate hasn't counted on is how Billy feels about it all...and how she begins to feel about Billy.