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~Name Dropping~
by Jane Heller
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Heroine:
average |
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What if two women with the same name lived in the same apartment
building? Invariably they would accidentally swap mail and phone
messages, but men . . . and murders?
When Bill Harris, with his extremely "nice" voice, calls Nancy Stern the
disillusioned preschool teacher for a blind date she knows with that certain sinking
feeling that this call is really meant for the glamorous freelance journalist in
the penthouse, just like all the others. All right, so she
didn't want to keep the other Nancy's mile long credit card bills, and she
absolutely couldn't
keep the fabulous fur coat that had been mistakenly delivered to her
apartment. But jet set Nancy had so many men wooing her, would
she really miss just one tall, handsome, sexy jeweler??
Unfortunately preschool Nancy gets more than she bargains for in this
particular swap.
When the other Nancy turns up dead preschool Nancy thanks her lucky
stars just this once for being the "wrong Nancy". But when her
purse is snatched, her apartment is ransacked, and her new boyfriend's
mysterious past begins to reveal itself, she begins to wonder
if she was so lucky after all.
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What worked for me: |
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I love Heller's writing style. She's got a great knack for
coming up with pithy phrases, such as labeling preschool Nancy as "The Brunette
Who Keeps Her Head".
This novel particularly resonated with me because I've worked with
children on and off for years, so the preschool scenes were a bit of a
flashback for me.
Size-wise Nancy was
a comfortable sounding average, who was fine with her figure until she
met the other Nancy Stern, with her impossibly long legs and huge hooters.
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What didn't work for me: |
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I was sick to my stomach the entire time
plain Nancy was trying to pass herself off as "fancy Nancy". I would hate
trying to do something like that myself. (Odd, but I don't recall
feeling that way when I read Goldsmith's "Switcheroo", and in that
case the identity swap took place over a much longer period in the
novel. Go figure!)
I kinda felt bad for glitzy Nancy, snarky woman that she was.
Her life obviously didn't make her happy, her death was untimely, and
she faded away from the novel once her purpose had been served, as did
her mysterious daughter.
Poor things.
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Overall: |
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Fast-paced "Name Dropping" was a joy to read, but didn't quite live up
to my expectations, which were set very high after reading Heller's
"Princess Charming".
Warning: This book has some steamy moments and coarse words within its
pages.
If you liked "Name Dropping" you might also enjoy
"Love at Large",
"Bet Me",
"Crazy For You",
"Switcheroo", "Princess Charming", "Infernal Affairs",
"Dating Dead Men", "Plum Girl",
The Stephanie Plum mystery series,
"Welcome to Temptation",
"Faking It",
"Heaven in Your Eyes",
"Getting
Lucky",
"Fast
Women", or
"Lola
Carlyle Reveals All". |
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Have you read
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forum
or submit a review
to this website. |
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