Faking it by Jennifer Crusie

Matilda Goodnight comes from a long line (400+ years) of art forgers and fakers and even now her claim to fame is that she creates wall murals in homes and businesses of masterworks like Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers.” Unfortunately, a collector has taken an interest in work she did as a child under an assumed name and bought a piece she’d been hiding from the public in her family’s art gallery basement. When she attempts to “retrieve” the painting from Clea, the buyer, she encounters Davy, a con man who was bilked out of his money (or mostly his) by Clea’s next to last boyfriend. Davy and Matilda join forces to help each other and he wonders what kind of circus he’s joined as a colorful cast of characters hustle and bustle through the art gallery and the apartments above the store. Hilarity ensues in the midst of trying to figure who is conning whom, and love does indeed bloom like the sunflowers Tilda paints. The only character that kept confusing me was Steve the dog. I kept thinking that he was one of the many young men flitting in and out until and then remembering he was the dog Tilda adopted from her last mural commission. Crusie kept me laughing out loud throughout and I read it straight through in a day. What a hoot!