Excitement for Sale by Stephen Marlowe

Mary-Jean is a suburban housewife worn thin by routine, forever escaping into magazine fantasies of glamorous women and daring romance. When a strange little peddler arrives at her door calling himself a Happiness Salesman, he seems to know her secret hunger for excitement and offers her a choice that feels like temptation made flesh. His suitcase, veiled in an uncanny haze, contains not ordinary goods but a mysterious balm that promises to make her irresistible to adventure itself. After he vanishes, leaving her twenty-four hours to decide, Mary-Jean applies the lotion and is stunned as it transforms her body, face, and presence into breathtaking beauty. Renaming herself Jeanne-Marie, she steps into city nightlife expecting glamour to deliver the life she has craved. Instead, admiration only deepens her sense of waiting—until a handsome stranger named Lucky draws her into a dangerous alliance. What begins as flirtation becomes a flight from police, a kidnapping, and a grim struggle with a fugitive who admits to murder. Caught between desire and self-preservation, Jeanne-Marie must discover what freedom, identity, and happiness really cost. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.