May 9, 2005
When smalltown California native Emily Hinton lands an editorial assistant position at a "world-famous" publishing house, she hangs a Bible verse in her cubicle, vows not to get drunk on weekends and begins her quest to build a glamorous and Christian life in the Big Apple. Her first day results in a meet-cute with one of the company's only other Christians, putative "total goody-goody" Bennett Edward Wyeth III, and pretty soon Emily and Bennett are an item. Enter, via e-mail, her elementary school crush, Jacob, who writes cleverly charming missives even as Bennett's stock is falling because his faith starts to seem insincere. But Emily's own faith is never explored: isn't there more to religion than prohibitions against heavy petting and Jell-O shots? The only convincingly devout Christian around is Emily's uncle, Matthew, who runs a mission in Times Square. Emily natters on, never seeming spiritual so much as prissy and pious, and by the time things come to a head—Emily's boss considers publishing an anti–traditional marriage screed, and she must decide whether to protest or to stay quiet—most readers will have had enough of her. Agent, Claudia Cross at Sterling Lord Literistic
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