{"product_id":"9781439163467","title":"The Finishing Touches","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author Hester Browne's delightful new novel, a fading English finishing school is about to get a twenty-first-century makeover. Out with white gloves and flower arranging, in with managing mortgages and do-it-yourself manicures! Behind this remarkable transformation is business-savvy Betsy Phillimore, with her own unique connection to London's esteemed Phillimore Academy for Young Ladies....\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Twenty-seven years ago, an infant turned up on the Academy's doorstep, with a note tacked to her blanket by an elegant golden brooch -- \u003ci\u003ePlease take care of my baby. I want her to grow up to be a proper lady\u003c\/i\u003e. Loved by Lady Frances Phillimore and her kindhearted staff, Betsy grew up aspiring to be an Academy girl. But when Franny and her husband, Lord Phillimore, advise Betsy to instead hone her considerable math skills at college, she brokenheartedly leaves behind the only family she's known. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Now, on the sad occasion of Lady Frances's memorial service, Betsy comes back to find the school in disrepair, the enrollment down, and Lord P. desperate to save his legacy. Enter Betsy, the numbers genius, and her business plan -- to replace dusty protocol with the essentials girls need today: \u003ci\u003ecell phone etiquette, eating sushi properly, handling credit cards, choosing the perfect little black dress, negotiating a pre-nup,\u003c\/i\u003e and other lessons in independent living. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e But Betsy may have bitten off more than she can chew. Can she win over the school's snobby headmistress and its handsome but risk-averse treasurer? Returning to London also means facing her own unfinished business, as she crosses paths with her sexy girlhood crush...and blowing the dust off clues to a lifelong mystery: who were her parents, and why did they abandon her? If knowledge is power, Betsy is on the brink of truly becoming her own woman, and embracing the one thing she's wanted all along: a place to call home. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e A bittersweet journey of laughter and tears, \u003ci\u003eThe Finishing Touches\u003c\/i\u003e will have you gleefully turning pages through dinner with elbows on the table -- bad manners, perhaps, but excusable for one utterly irresistible read.","brand":"Pocket Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47168303530224,"sku":"9781439163467","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781439163467_p0.jpg?v=1763790086","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781439163467","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}