Fresh from college in South Dakota, Allison lands a job on Capitol Hill as a scheduler for Senator McDermott, an aspiring presidential candidate. Her adventures include keeping the senator's high-maintenance, publicity-seeking wife happy, planning a state fair booth, and trying to get quiet staffer Cam to notice her. This is more of an episodic novel than something with a true cohesive plot thread. Some of the scenes are ridiculously slapstick, while others are sweet and heartfelt. For someone interested in politics, Allison shows an almost abysmal lack of knowledge regarding the process on the Hill. In fact, that is the larger concern here: the characters are nearly preternaturally stupid. Allison's best pal, Janet, falls for an online dating scam, the senator is a caricature, and the senator's wife ... well, the less said about her, the better. This is a fairly fun book to read because of its humor and nuttiness, but don't go looking for anything more. If you think that you will be rewarded with a good ending, though, be warned. A sequel is coming. (AP)
