Books: The It Girls series (S, R, CL)
The It Girls series from Silhouette Bombshell has an interesting premise: fabulously wealthy heiresses moonlighting as secret government agents called Gotham Roses. As with most Bombshells, the emphasis is on the action and not the romance; these novels also offer a healthy dose of designer name-dropping and a taste of what it's like to live like a princess. (*=keeper)
The Golden Girl (Erica Orloff) Madison Taylor-Pruitt comes from old money, but she also works hard to maintain her father's real estate empire. When her former best friend is murdered, Maddie goes undercover to find out who killed her and why. Along the way, she begins dating a hunky teacher from the wrong side of the tracks and tries to find a balance between their very different worlds. This novel did a great job of setting up the concept of the It Girls, but both the main character and her problem seemed a little tame. Grade: B
*Flawless (Michele Hauf) Becca Whitmore is a gemologist covertly working for the CIA. As she pursues a cache of stolen diamonds across Europe, she realizes she has begun to think of her socialite persona as a mask to hide her true superspy self. When Becca finds herself partnered with a cocky MI-6 agent, sparks fly! Great action, tight plotting, strong sexual tension between the protagonists. Grade: A+
Lethally Blonde (Nancy Bartholomew) Other than attend graduate classes without her parents' permission, Porsche Rothschild doesn't do much of anything. Struggling with the fact her life has no real purpose, she is delighted to be recruited for the Roses as a bodyguard for an A-list actor facing death threats. The actor's large staff provides a large cast of possible suspects, and his selfish behavior provides many reasons someone might want him dead. As a mystery this story worked fine, but it presents Hollywood's shallowness so convincingly that I could not wait to get away! Also, the heroine wasn't as tough and prepared and, well, bombshellish as I would have liked. Grade: B-
Ms. Longshot (Sylvie Kurtz) Alexa Cheltingham believes her prosthetic leg keeps her from the top undercover assignments and is less than thrilled to find herself mucking stables as a "groom" to discover who has been killing prize racehorses. However, when two horses in her care are killed right under her nose, she becomes increasingly determined to find the killer and prove herself. Alexa is quite resourceful and undergoes some real character growth through the course of the novel, but I just could not care less about the equestrian scene and its financial excesses. Grade: B
A Model Spy (Natalie Dunbar) Two years after abandoning her modeling career because of a cocaine addiction, Vanessa Dawson is asked to undercover in Miami to find out who killed two models who had worked carrying drugs. Torn between fear of returning to the lifestyle and determination to bring the murderers to justice, Vanessa agrees to the job--and finds herself falling hard for the primary suspect. While we get to see lots of the models' glamorous lives, we also see the high cost of modeling, such as only eating half of what you order at a restaurant and feeling hungry all the time. In fact, the only reason Vanessa is skinny enough to return to modeling with no notice is because she had recently lost weight from a virus. Any industry that demands women literally starve themselves doesn't rank high on my list, and I was glad to see some of the nasty truth revealed. Grade: B
Bulletproof Princess (Vicki Hinze) I've enjoyed works by this author before, but couldn't get into this story enough to finish it and see how the series ends. Sorry!
The Golden Girl (Erica Orloff) Madison Taylor-Pruitt comes from old money, but she also works hard to maintain her father's real estate empire. When her former best friend is murdered, Maddie goes undercover to find out who killed her and why. Along the way, she begins dating a hunky teacher from the wrong side of the tracks and tries to find a balance between their very different worlds. This novel did a great job of setting up the concept of the It Girls, but both the main character and her problem seemed a little tame. Grade: B
*Flawless (Michele Hauf) Becca Whitmore is a gemologist covertly working for the CIA. As she pursues a cache of stolen diamonds across Europe, she realizes she has begun to think of her socialite persona as a mask to hide her true superspy self. When Becca finds herself partnered with a cocky MI-6 agent, sparks fly! Great action, tight plotting, strong sexual tension between the protagonists. Grade: A+
Lethally Blonde (Nancy Bartholomew) Other than attend graduate classes without her parents' permission, Porsche Rothschild doesn't do much of anything. Struggling with the fact her life has no real purpose, she is delighted to be recruited for the Roses as a bodyguard for an A-list actor facing death threats. The actor's large staff provides a large cast of possible suspects, and his selfish behavior provides many reasons someone might want him dead. As a mystery this story worked fine, but it presents Hollywood's shallowness so convincingly that I could not wait to get away! Also, the heroine wasn't as tough and prepared and, well, bombshellish as I would have liked. Grade: B-
Ms. Longshot (Sylvie Kurtz) Alexa Cheltingham believes her prosthetic leg keeps her from the top undercover assignments and is less than thrilled to find herself mucking stables as a "groom" to discover who has been killing prize racehorses. However, when two horses in her care are killed right under her nose, she becomes increasingly determined to find the killer and prove herself. Alexa is quite resourceful and undergoes some real character growth through the course of the novel, but I just could not care less about the equestrian scene and its financial excesses. Grade: B
A Model Spy (Natalie Dunbar) Two years after abandoning her modeling career because of a cocaine addiction, Vanessa Dawson is asked to undercover in Miami to find out who killed two models who had worked carrying drugs. Torn between fear of returning to the lifestyle and determination to bring the murderers to justice, Vanessa agrees to the job--and finds herself falling hard for the primary suspect. While we get to see lots of the models' glamorous lives, we also see the high cost of modeling, such as only eating half of what you order at a restaurant and feeling hungry all the time. In fact, the only reason Vanessa is skinny enough to return to modeling with no notice is because she had recently lost weight from a virus. Any industry that demands women literally starve themselves doesn't rank high on my list, and I was glad to see some of the nasty truth revealed. Grade: B
Bulletproof Princess (Vicki Hinze) I've enjoyed works by this author before, but couldn't get into this story enough to finish it and see how the series ends. Sorry!
posted by JJ at 12:08 PM
