TV REVIEW: Tim Gunn's Guide to Style on Eliza Neals

This week, Tim and Greta took on Eliza Neals, and up-and-coming blues rocker in New York. As usual, the episode was about more than just fashion (although there are a lot of good fashion tips interspersed throughout). Eliza Neals is a woman tormented by image. She needs to maintain a professional image so that she can get better bookings. She needs to maintain a low-key image for her buttoned up in-laws. She needs to maintain a rocker image so she can feel confident onstage. As a result, Eliza is a woman who has been dressing for other people all these years. She is going to be a tough nut to crack.

Tim and Greta are definitely up to the challenge. They manage to winnow out some of Greta's closet before taking her to the Bra Lady for some extra support. After that, a visit to InStyle magazine leaves Eliza with a new leather jacket that complements her pear-shaped body. She meets up with Tim and Greta for the shopping trip, which seems like a disaster on first glance.

But then the magic happens. You get to see the point when Eliza becomes more confident in her clothing choices, more confident in herself. Suddenly, she starts wearing the clothes better and selling them to Tim and Greta instead of tentatively talking about how much she likes them.

By the time Tim takes her to Kay Unger, the featured designer, for a totally glammed out look, you would think that Eliza had undergone enough growth and transformation. But Kay's designs take her to the next level, both fashion-wise and mentally. There are more tears and thank you's.

And now it's time for hair and makeup. Sally Hershberger (the perfect person, IMO for a rocker) takes over reshaping Eliza's tired, faux-Farrah do. Lancome provides a softer, less hungover look. And like that, Eliza is transformed from someone who is catching up to someone who is up-and-coming.

The fashion show is a complete success. Huerta Neals, Eliza's husband, seems to like her new luck. So does his family (and hers!). In parting, Tim and Greta present her with a special gift: a necklace made from her father's guitar pick and one copied in white gold. It's a total "aw, cher" moment.

Once again, Fairy Godfather Tim Gunn and Greta Monaghan change the world one person at a time -- through fashion.

BOOK REVIEW: A Stranger's Touch by Cait London

Due to the fact that I have begun to run out of books to read (the horror!), I decided to open my mind up to other authors. While I was in the used bookstore on my last trade-in, this one by Cait London caught my eye, mainly because I had seen Cait London's work on books in other genres, and I was wondering if, like most of the authors I have read, she's got a Main Talent and pretty much just applies the template, or if she has a genuine separation. I figured I might need to read more than one book of hers to make that distinction.

Alas, but no. Her characters are right out of the pages of a bodice-ripper: cheesy names (Tempest Bartel, who changes it to Tempest Storm to make herself less visible!), excessive brooding, melodramatic dialogue, and enough breadcrumbs to lead you to the killer with enouch red herrings to make you annoyed at the side plots. Her characters sometimes do improbable things, as when the hero fires the loyal family retainer because she was secretly in love with his mother (yes, that really happens in this book, all of it).

So no, I did not need to read another one of her books to see if this genre is her first love. I do wonder however, if maybe a change of venue might complement her style more. She is, at the very least, imaginative and a good solid writer. The plot was well-crafted and some key issues were handled very deftly. The chemistry between the hero and the heroine was good and believable. The writing was not so much bad as the book itself was an historical fiction disguised as a thriller. Like the emperor's new clothes, they just didn't suit well.

For people who love her historical fiction, this book may very well be an interesting segue. For the rest of the population, I give it 2 packs of Dunhills and pound of Maxwell House.