Closet Confidential: Style Secrets Learned the Hard Way Review

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(More customer reviews)As a longtime reader of Winona Dimeo-Ediger's blog (the highly touted and perpetually giggle-inducing DaddyLikey.blogspot.com), I feel almost like cheating when I write this review. It stands to reason, though, that I am actually highly qualified to write it, seeing as it could be possible that Winona has sold out, and only a "true fan" could set the record straight.
Fortunately, the record has not gone astray, and neither has Winona's engaging, inviting prose. Honestly, Daddy Likey made me like fashion again; I was strung out on mags and blogs that crowed "to DIE" and waxed rhapsodical over yet another pair of those stupid latex leggings. Winona does neither of these things. Her voice is new and honest and dishy and welcoming and conspiratorial all at once, like you've stumbled across your (well-dressed, wittier) best friend or older sister's blog and they're just so darn excited to share it with you.
And her book does not disappoint. We like Winona because she likes silly things, weird things, and quirky things, and champions finding one's own style in a way that, for once, rings true. Don't like leggings? Don't wear them. Don't like skinny jeans? Don't wear them. Don't like clothes? Well, this is not quite the book (or, indeed, the blog) for you, but I'm sure you'll still enjoy it. Winona offers sound, concrete advice on everything from oxford shirts to black tights and all the accoutrements in between, while remaining her breezy, hilarious self. She lays it all out in such a straightforward, honest, and optimistic way that, after reading Closet Confidential, I was inspired and excited to go back into my own closet. Winona makes me want to write better and to dress better. I love her book.

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With the economy in a nosedive, more women than ever are looking for ways to achieve haute couture without the hefty price tag. 50 Style Lessons Learned the Hard Way shows how. Author Winona Dimeo-Ediger mixes self-deprecating wit, fashion smarts, and bargain-bin savvy to help women become divas on a dime. She divides the book into 12 handy chapters covering everything from shopping for jeans (while retaining one-third of one's self-esteem and half of one's paycheck) to hiding love handles to the ever-elusive "looking good while jogging." 50 Style Lessons also contains hilarious and useful charts, graphs, and math equations, including Maslow's Hierarchy of Jeans, the handy Clip-out Guide to Wine and Hosiery, and the little-known Law of Calculus (the likelihood of a man noticing your outfit is inversely related to how much you want a man to notice your outfit).

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Bowled Over (Maggie Kelly Mysteries) Review

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(More customer reviews)Historical mystery author Margaret "Maggie" Kelly used to believe that she was slowly going insane. The handsome Regency hero of her novels, Alexandre "Alex" Blake, the Viscount Saint Just, and his lovable side-kick, Sterling, had miraculously come to life in the not too distant past. That is enough to make anyone doubt their sanity. But now that some time has passed, Maggie is beginning to believe that maybe the two new men in her life will not go - poof - someday and disappear. Perhaps Maggie and Alex have a chance together after all.
The holidays are coming up, so it is time for Maggie to travel to Ocean City, New Jersey, for another Kelly Dysfunctional Christmas. She is taking Alex and Sterling along for the ride (moral support and all that). But first Maggie wants to stop and tour a huge Manhattan house she is considering to purchase. While doing so, Maggie breaks her foot on a metal doorstop. Therefore, Maggie must wear a bulky cast and use a walker. NOT one of Maggie's more graceful times.
Alicia and Evan, Maggie parents, have split up. So the trio head for Evan's apartment and arrive just in time to watch Maggie's father being arrested as a murder suspect. The local police believe Evan murdered one of his bowling buddies, Walter Bodkin, who happened to have had a brief affair with Alicia. Evan's bowling ball, the murder weapon, had been found near Bodkin's body. It is up to Maggie, Alex, and Sterling to prove his innocence. Problem is that there are SO MANY suspects. The late Bodkin had many amorous adventures with the local ladies (wed or not). In fact, Maggie cannot help but wonder if she is the only female who has never had a fling with the guy.
***** Author Kasey Michaels has an imagination that just won't stop. I must say that I find her characters to be unique and quite a refreshing change of pace. The character of Maggie will come across to many readers as realistic due to the way she uses humor as a defense mechanism. (My shield of choice too.) As with all great mysteries, all the clues are there for readers to browse through and test their wits upon. A true delight for all fans of mysteries. ENCORE! *****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

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Hot Wheels and High Heels Review

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(More customer reviews)Although Jane Graves is a local author and one whose name I've seen on several books, I had not yet read one of her novels. When I saw the cover of HOT WHEELS AND HIGH HEELS I was immediately intrigued. The back cover copy offered humor and a look at the life of a repo man. I figured if the romance didn't hook me, I still had the adventures of stealing cars from people who didn't want him stolen. These days the action in a romance novel can be top-rate.
I'm a big Stephanie Plum fan. I had the good fortune of discovering Janet Evanovitch's books when the first one came out. So I was there at the beginning. I'm also a fan of some of the paranormal series that are out there. As a guy, I really don't think that's all that uncommon these days. Men read a lot of women writers. I still treasure my Robert B. Parker stuff, but I love the laughs and insights provided by the ladies. And some of them provide chills and thrills as well.
Back to Jane Graves. When I flipped open the book and began reading, I was immediately attracted to the ease with which the author puts words on the page. I was actually several pages into the story before I realized how much I'd read. The prose is effortless, and the characters are instantly unique and identifiable.
Darcy McDaniel, the heroine, has got a real problem. While she was down in Mexico on vacation with a friend, her husband sold her house, emptied the bank accounts, and ran up the charge cards - then vanished. For the last fifteen years Darcy has been a trophy wife. She traded her good looks to a man old enough to her father for a lifestyle of malls, manicures, and personal trainers. Later in the novel you'll find out more of her motivations for doing that.
I have to admit in the beginning I wasn't very sympathetic toward Darcy. It wasn't that I figured she got what she had coming to her, but I know other people who have much worse problems. Still, this is a huge problem for her.
Before she knows it, she's back living with her parents in the same small, dingy trailer park that she'd grown up in. It was suddenly like the last fifteen years never existed. All she has left is her dog Pepe and her Mercedes, which had been at the airport awaiting her return.
Enter John Stark, ex-cop turned repossession agent. And this repo man has papers to reclaim Darcy's beloved Mercedes. He's strictly a no-nonsense kind of guy who gets the job done right the first time. Unfortunately, he's never dealt with anyone like Darcy. She makes a fool of him and keeps the Mercedes. For a time. Then John returns with a truck and grabs the luxury vehicle with no problem.
As the fates conspire against them, as they are sometimes do in romance novels, Darcy gets under John's skin and he inadvertently offers her the receptionist job at his agency. Darcy refuses to take it at first, but quickly finds that no one else will give her a job. John's partner Tony holds John to his promise. Darcy starts to work, living hand-to-mouth.
Since this is a romance novel, the rest of the story about boy-gets-girl is predictable in many ways. However, Jane Graves keeps the story lighthearted, fun, and fast-paced. Despite the fact that I was certain I knew how the story would end up, I stayed glued to the pages - to the character development, to the dialogue, and to the rapid scenes.
That's one of the best tricks the author pulled off in this book: there was honest character development. Darcy grew as a character. For me, she went from being grossly unlikable to sympathetic and admirable. The changes she made in the way she looked at the world, herself, her family, and in what she thought she wanted were all real. I've seen people make those same changes for a lot of the same reasons.
Maybe the plot is the same romance novel that has been told for years, but Jane Graves makes her characters come to life in ways that many romance novelists don't. She makes the predictable a unique experience and worthwhile. Not only that, but her prose zings right along and readers will be at the end of the book before they know it.
As I said, this is my first Jane Graves book. But it won't be my last. She set the bar high in this one. I want to look at earlier books and get the sequel to this one coming out next year when she finds the right woman for skirt-chasing Tony. Pick this one up, folks. For the beach or just for fun. It's a good one.


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Trophy wife Darcy McDaniel has just discovered that, thanks to her embezzling husband, her posh, upper-class life is gone for good. Now she's trading her suburban palace for a trailer park and her weekly salon appointments for a job. Darcy needs a new man--fast--one who'll keep her in the manner she darn well deserves. Problem is, the hottest prospect around is the my-way-or-the-highway hunk who's making off with her beloved Mercedes!Ex-cop turned repo man John Stark is sure that hiring the furious blonde in his headlights is a colossal mistake. He knows Darcy's high-maintenance, designer-labels-only type--after all, he's used to taking their cars. But he never expected this hellion to have the smarts and the spunk to go from receptionist to repo agent in record time...or to drive him insane with desire. She's the last thing this tall, dark, and dangerous loner needs...and everything he never knew he wanted.

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The Greek Tycoon's Achilles Heel (Harlequin Presents Extra: the Greek Tycoons) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have read a few novels by Lucy Gordon and so far all her work is well-written, and departs somewhat from the Harlequin "formula" of arrogant protagonists and trembling, shy virgin heroines.
This story maybe went on a little too long, but was a good read. The writing flowed well and I cared about the characters. It starts out with the hero and heroine meeting as teenagers/young adults. The hero is going through a broody/sulky stage (brought on by a pretty awful trauma, we learn later) and his encounter with the spunky teenaged heroine helps him through a personal crisis, and enables him to see things a little clearer so he can move on.
Fast forward 15 years, and the hero is functioning "okay," but has a reputation for coldness and remoteness. He doesn't trust easily--or at all. He encounters the heroine again. This time she's more confident, already had a marriage and divorce under her belt (in other words, is not the typical Harlequin Presents trembling virgin) and while she seems pretty easy-going on the surface, she has her own hidden emotional "baggage" as well.
The rest of the novel follows their journey of finding each other, and finding a way to connect again. Of course there has to be a villain, and conflict, but mostly the novel focuses on their relationship.
I found this story to be satisfying, and enjoyable to read. Don't get your hopes up *too* high (we are talking about Harlequin Presents, after all) but enjoy it for what it is.

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Lysandros Demetriou: shipping magnate and Athens' most-sought-after bachelor. Glamorous women compete for this brooding playboy's attention, but his focused ambitions ensure that they don't outstay their welcome!Until Petra Radnor whirls into his life. Her beauty is a lure Lysandros cannot resist--she awakens something within him that he's kept hidden for years. When their scorching desire shows no sign of burning out, Lysandros has to decide whether his need for Petra is a temporary craving or a lifelong obsession....--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Trouble in High Heels (Fortune Hunter) Review

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(More customer reviews)What a great, enjoyable read! Tiramisu is that wonderful Italian dessert of espresso, rich cream cheese and elegant flavors that means "pick me up" in Italian. That image fits this charming book to a tee. Well done characters, especially the female lead, who (for a change!) when placed in a dangerous situation has the common sense to listen to a man who knows how to handle the situation. So often, weaker authors will have the female lead do something completely stupid just to prove her independance. Additional secondary characters are thought out and ADD to the plot, enriching the story and making the emotional connections reasonable and sweet. The sensuality between the lead couple is dynamite and I love any story that can use $8000 to justify not only a superior Spa Day but to underwrite an entire life change. Remember, this tasty little gem of a book is not meant for anything more than the best escape--putting too many expectations on the story could cause the lightness and fun to deflate like over-beaten whipped cream.

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Alibi in High Heels Review

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(More customer reviews)I have read and enjoyed the previous books in this series, but this one was a complete letdown. The plot was just not the least bit plausible. Of all the people in LA who could have accidentally hit Maddie, it was her mother's psychic friend? Why couldn't it have been a random stranger? It did nothing for the plot for it to have been Mrs. R. And I agree with the reviewer who said the whole booted foot did nothing for the plot at all. And I just think it was ridiculous to have the whole gang of whacky characters go to Paris. Why Paris? Just so the Eiffel Tower could get worked into the story? And why force this love triangle with Ramirez and Felix? And it does seem forced and makes Maddie look terribly shallow emotionally. Is Ms. Halliday trying to make Maddie be like Stephanie Plum with her Morelli/Ranger triangle (which by the way is getting old)?
And when Maddie ditched Ramirez in her hotel room after he flew to Paris for her, I almost threw the book across the room. I put it down and didn't pick it up for a week. I didn't enjoy this one like I did the others. The others I read in a day, and I had to make myself finish this one.

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Baguettes, bodies, and haute couture galore!Shoe designer turned amateur sleuth Maddie Springer is at it again--this time in fabulously fashionable Paris. When Europe's designer du jour, Jean Luc LeCroix, invites Maddie to show her creations at Paris Fashion Week, Maddie's sure she's died and gone to heaven.That is, until Jean Luc's top model is found dead on the runway, stabbed with a familiar stiletto heel.Sure someone is trying to frame her, Maddie enlists the help of her friends, including the sexy Detective Jack Ramirez, to uncover a daring jewel heist, a devious blackmailer, and even a few skeletons lurking in the closets of those closest to her.But as the evidence mounts, Maddie becomes the prime suspect and Ramirez is stuck between a badge and a cute blonde with a tendency for trouble.With her love life on the rocks and a murderer on the loose, if Maddie doesn't uncover the real killer soon, she might be saying her final adieu.

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