Reviews

I really quite enjoyed this book. This was my first by Ms Halliday, I found it hilarious. To the point that I literally had to set the book down a few times to wipe the tears from my eyes.

Having a rather negative opinion of tabloid magazines and paparazzi, I wasn't sure I'd like this, since the main character is a tabloid writer. But I was quickly won over, and proceeded to get The Perfect Shot, book 2 in this series, and as soon as the third in the series comes available at B&N (I'm a nook gal), I'll be getting that one as well. (Last time I checked, it wasn't up yet.)

Very fun. And the aunts... Oh, they about killed me, they were awesome.

attytheresa's review against another edition

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5.0

Would this be 5 stars if it weren't a pandemic when all I want to read is undemanding entertaining fluff? I think it actually would be. I literally laughed out loud at parts, thoroughly enjoyed the characters and didn't figure out the murderer or the reason for the murder.

Tina is the gossip columnist for an LA tabloid, and she absolutely loves her job. Tina is also spunky, funny, potty-mouthed (her boss has a Swear Pig on her desk), creative, pint-sized ball of energy with purple hair, a penchant for the color pink anything and rides a pink Honda Rebel motorcyle. I want to be her BFF. Tina lives with her Aunt Sue who is deaf as a post and has a tendency to burn all her cooking efforts and forget to turn off the gas when done. Tina starts getting threatening emails, then Aunt Sue's condo is trashed, and suddenly Tina has a bodyguard named Cal who drives a gas guzzling hummer and shadows her around LA as she tries to figure out who is threatening her while keeping up with her daily column. Along the way we meet Aunt Millie, Aunt Sue's sister, who is blind as a bat (having her pet Aunt Sue's slipper thinking it was a cat was inspired), Cam, who is the tabloid's gifted photographer (often found on baby bump watch on Melrose), Allie a/k/a Barbie, the newest reporter at the tabloid and angling to one up Tina for a by-line or two, and oh, ManInBlack, Tina's cyber penpal crush with whom she exchanges corny knock knock jokes.

There is so much cleverness and humor throughout, that I really thought the author could not trump what she had already accomplished when the final chapters arrive and the entire murder mystery climaxes at

Spoiler

Disneyland. Yes, Disneyland

and the reason alone for it happening there is a hoot. Oh and the actual ending is ripped straight out of one of my favorite romcoms, and was just perfect, corny but perfect.

If you are looking for fun, escape and some silliness even downright corniness that will make you laugh, this book is for you. It is a funny cozy murder mystery with some flirtation and a hot kiss or two. It's also the first in a series although I believe the other books in the series center on other characters. I just hope the author kept Tina, Cal, Aunt Sue, and Aunt Millie around.

mboyea's review against another edition

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4.0

Easy but fun read. Not a lot of depth to the story but the characters were relatable and it is a great stress reliever.

bec_sherman's review against another edition

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3.0

Very similar to the high heels mysteries in feel. This one was a bit predictive - I had a hunch as to who Man in black was halfWay through

readercecc6's review

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1.0

1 star

I'm not entirely sure what genre this was supposed to be. It lacked the romance needed for Romantic Suspense, was too light and fluffy to be Suspense/Thriller, and once again, lacked the chemistry and romance between the H/h to be a Contemporary Romance. I would just toss it into the generalized Chick Lit section but then again I don't know any females who would enjoy reading an entire book starring an unethical (lies through her teeth in her daily gossip column), immoral (traded porn mags for gossip with a man on trial for possession of child pornography), TSTL (insists on solving the case on her own when shes proven over and over again to be unqualified and frankly, stupid) heroine who ends up getting the guy when there was zero chemistry between them and after he finds out just exactly how unscrupulous she is. Her only redeeming quality is her love for her octogenarian aunt.

Story:
Tina Bender isn't just a regular old gossip columnist - she's the best one in LA. What does that mean? Well, imagine every unflattering thought you've ever had about the paparazzi, gossip rags, online gossip sites, reporters etc., combine and build a human being out of them and you'd have the heroine of this story, Tina Bender. She considers herself a spin doctor of sorts - tell her the Earth is round and she'll twist your words and quote you as having said that all your friends are bottom feeders and that the world needs less round people or something equally malicious and damaging. She's just going about her day, ruining lives, tarnishing reputations, when surprise! (not!) she receives a death threat ordering her to stop her lies immediately. Tina's made up so many lies about people (daily column) that the suspect list is in the hundreds. Even after she narrowed the list down to people she's repeatedly slandered in the last few days alone, she has four suspects (not including their family, friends, fans, publicist, manager etc). Her boss finds out and hires her a body guard, whom she repeatedly insults to his face and behind his back, and she begrudgingly allows him to protect her while she attempts to uncover the identity of the person threatening her. Long story short, Tina manages to solve two cases (pure luck on top of the fact that the LAPD in this book are incompetent morons). The rest of the story is about how she stumbles and lies her way through interviewing suspects, her zany great aunt Sue, a murder, an online admirer, adventures in Disneyland, and her laughable attempts at seducing her bodyguard.

I knew I should've tossed this into the DNF pile when I fell asleep reading it for the second time.

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