JO LEIGH

She wanted to stop the rumors. Never did she expect a proposal! Janey is an architecture major with big dreams. To achieve those dreams, she balances working at a car manufacturing plant with taking college classes. One day she is distracted at the assembly line and burns herself. Webb Copeland, her employer, happens to be at the scene and takes her to the infirmary. The next day everyone at work is gossiping about Janey and Webb. Then Webb suddenly summons her to his office! She heads over determined to straighten out the false rumor about them but is stunned when he proposes to her!

Lee despairs that she’ll never meet the right man, since she seems to have a knack for dating all the wrong men. But maybe she doesn’t need to meet Mr. Right—maybe she’s already met him. Trevor has been her best friend since their college days, and Lee thinks he could be her perfect partner. But she’ll need more than a best friend—she’ll need sexual chemistry, too! To see if it could work, Lee proposes that she and Trevor become friends with benefits. He resists the idea at first, but eventually he caves and sleeps with her. Are these two friends the perfect match, or have they staked their friendship on a fleeting dream?

Nate is an arrogant businessman who blames himself for causing the deaths of his best friend and his friend’s wife. His best friend had a beautiful sister named Jordan, who has two children. Thinking that it might be a small act of atonement, Nate spends his time being close to Jordan and her children, but the more the children grow to like him the greater the guilt in his heart grows. Having learned the meaning of the words follow your heart, passed on to him by his grandparents, will Nate ever find long-lasting love? Part three of From This Day Forward is finally complete!

Kit has been put in charge of the PR for a charity fashion show. Two models disappear right before the show, and although she fills in for them at the last minute, the show ends in utter failure. The chairman of the event, Jarrett, arrogantly demands that she fundraise fifty thousand dollars in one month to make up for the lost donations. Jarrett is the owner of one of the biggest lingerie companies in America, and he is sexy enough to appear in advertisements with his models. "I know!" Kit has an idea. "I'll plan a bachelor auction and make him join, too! If it's successful, I'll be able to raise the funds and get my revenge!"

After seeing her two best friends at her public relations agency get married, Alison feels that something is missing in her single life. She wants to love someone but has no interest in marriage. She just wants a baby to give all her love to. After suddenly landing herself in the emergency room, Alison meets Dr. Logan, a competent doctor with a sarcastic tongue, who, upon her request, agrees to help her make a baby. However, she must marry him in exchange!

Susannah has been put in charge of PR for an art museum. Things get hectic when a wealthy man who was supposed to donate his collection meets an unexpected death. Of all people, his heir turns out to be Marc, Susannah's past lover. Although they had once been deeply in love, their difference in status had pulled them apart. Susannah is worried: "I can't believe I have to negotiate with him now." Marc almost seems to sense Susannah's desperate feelings, for he makes an astonishing announcement at a party. "I'll donate one painting for every time she goes to bed with me."

Secretary Jane has been in love with Charles, the CEO, for three years. One day, Jane receives an order from Charles to put out a personal ad in a magazine addressed to a “Holly Baskin." Could Holly be his ex-girlfriend…? Jane is still reeling from the shock of the ad going to print when a statue of Cupid falls from the sky and hits her in the head, knocking her unconscious. She wakes up to find herself in a hospital bed, unable to remember anything, no matter what the doctors ask her. Then suddenly, she remembers her name: “I’m Holly…Holly Baskin.”

Canadian comics publisher Drawn & Quarterly has distinguished itself during its four years of publishing by releasing a wonderfully idiosyncratic series of comic book serials notable for an emphasis on autobiographical stories, loose expressive drawing styles and characters either stuck on or passing through the social margins. This beautifully produced trade paperback collects work from D&Q's equally quirky, eponymous quarterly anthology and presents shorter pieces by some of the best young comic artists of the moment. Michael Dougan ( I Can't Tell You Anything ) contributes ``Black Cherry,'' another of his ``dumb job'' stories that recreates the parade of oddballs and crazies that frequent an ice cream parlour where he used to work. Maurice Vellekoops (who contributed the richly colored, ``scandalously'' funny cover art) presents ``The 8 pillars of Gay Culture'' and ``Homoman,'' both of which happily exploit gay sterotypes (`` `did you hire a decorator?' `Of course not; I'm a homosexual.' '') with mischievous, politically incorrect wit. Also note Debbie Drechsler's disturbing (and nicely drawn) ``Visitors in the Night'' on child sexual exploitation; and Joe Matt, Mr. Peep Show himself, who would like to share his darkest secret with us--it's crude and very funny--whether we want to know it or not. Also includes Carol Tyler, Roberta Gregory, David Mazzucchelli, Mary Fleener and others.