Hale Lochland has inherited one of the gorgeous Victorian houses that are known in San Francisco as "Painted Ladies." It will be featured on a popular television show if Hale can get the house in shape in time. But the house is filled to the rafters with clutter and junk, and Hale can' t throw anything away to save his life. Cassie MacTavish owns a company called Order Unlimited; she helps people get organized. She is a professional neat freak. Cassie agrees to work on Hale's house. But what Cassie thinks is trash, Hale regards as treasure. Can a pack rat and a professional neat freak find common ground, or will Hale's Painted Lady keep them apart?

Born in Illinois, Lucinda Baker grew up in Arizona, where her father was a wool buyer and a salesman of supplies to trading posts on the Navajo and Hopi Indian reservations. As soon as she could read, and got her first library card, Lucinda knew she wanted to be a writer. She began writing professionally in high school, and is still in love with writing, hundreds of short stories and several books later.