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Rating: 
Summary: Unusual - but not her best
Review: (This is a correction to my earlier review)
I agree with the other rater that this book does not come close to the typical excellent books written by Patricia Coughlin. The story is about an extremely wealthy but totally undirected heiress, Olivia, who makes a frivolous bet with her older brother, Brad, that she can go off to an unknown town without any of the "trappings" of her wealth, get a job and survive for 8 weeks to tell about it. Since Olivia is 24 years old and has done absolutely nothing with her life, education or substantial financial resources, it seems inevitable that she will not be able to last one - let alone eight weeks without her credit cards. The loser of this wager will have to shave his/her head at some future public function. This should tell the reader right away about what motivates these people - not great deeds - just attention grabbing hijinx.For the first 180 or so pages of the book, I really disliked the main character,Olivia, and found her to be extremely VAIN, selfish, spoiled, boring, self-indulgent and incredibly inept at doing anything but cause havoc. I kept looking to see if there was anything to recommend or redeem her and could only find that she was willful, stubborn and rather bullheaded. Oddly enough, it seems it's those attributes that rescue her toward the end of the book. The object of Olivia's attentions is Owen Rancourt, a serious-minded, handsome hunk who is a professional dog trainer, search-and-rescue expert and, through a series of mishaps, her new employer in Danby, NY, the town she's chosen to carry out her bet with Brad. While Owen has a strong physical attraction to Olivia's beauty and gets a kick out of her never-say-die personality, he is determined to avoid any "fall in love, with or without marriage, forever" relationship because of tragic events in his family's past. These issues are finally resolved due to Olivia's persistence as well as gradual changes that occur in her and Owen as they stubbornly challenge each other. This is the part of the book (the last 1/3 or so) that I found interesting and worth reading. The problem is that to get there I had to wade through the bulk of the book wondering why the author created Olivia's character in the first place before I cared enough to know what happened to her and Owen in the end. All in all it's an unusual book, with some very witty dialogue and some humorous parts as well. For those who are interested in Patricia Coughlin's other books I HIGHLY recommend Tall, Dark and DIFFICULT; Joyride; Merely Married; Lord Savage; and The Borrowed Bride - just to name a few of my favorites.
Rating: 
Summary: Clumsness is the name of the game.
Review: A rich girl takes a dare from big brother to the effect that she leaves credit cards at home and states that she can take care of herself ie get a job and find her own housing etc. Oh my! Read this cute story to find how wrong things can go for a clutzy little rich girl. Great story plot.
Rating:
Summary: Romantic Times Review
Review: The Cupcake Queen (Silhouette Special Edition #1454) by Patricia Coughlin When a wager sends heiress Gaby Ashfield to live in a small town (sans credit cards), she finds her "failed attempts" at employment mark her as a walking disaster. When her latest "mishap" lands her indebted to dog trainer Owen Brady, Gaby begins to think about what she wants out of life, the answer-Owen. Now all she has to do is convince him she's more than THE CUPCAKE QUEEN (4.5)-she's his heart and soul mate. From the laugh-out-loud misadventures at the veterinary clinic to the seriousness of a search and rescue, Patricia Coughlin pens a love story filled to the absolute brim with emotional highs and lows.
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