Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
---|---|---|
Searching... Silver Falls Library | MYS STROHMEYER | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Convinced there's more to life than giving blue dye jobs at Sandy's House of Beauty, Bubbles Yablonsky has done what few in Lehigh, PA, would dare: she's gone back to school. And if her day gig, journalism classes, and on-the-job training at a local paper aren't enough, there's always her family to liven things up -- from her bottom-feeding, social-climbing exhusband to her precocious teenage daughter to her gun-toting mother, who just escaped from the Polish Old Folks Apartments.But when Bubbles stumbles on a crime scene on the way home from an assignment, she is suddenly up to her roots in a nasty murder investigation . . . with suspects ranging from a greedy steel tycoon to a sexy photographer named Stiletto. It could be the Big Break she's been waiting for.If it doesn't kill her first.With her big hair and even bigger heart, Bubbles Yablonsky is a delightful and winning protagonist that readers will root for every step of the way. Bubbles Unbound heralds the debut of an exciting new series -- and a welcome addition to women's commercial fiction.
Author Notes
Sarah Strohmeyer grew up in Bethlehem, PA, & is a former newspaper reporter. Her previous book is "Barbie Unbound: A Parody of the Barbie Obsession". She lives outside of Montpelier, VT, with her husband & two children.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Meet Bubbles Yablonsky, beautician-reporter-sleuth and blazing star of Strohmeyer's entertaining, establishment-bashing debut as a mystery writer. Like the mills that gird the book's seen-better-days steel town of Lehigh, Pa., the city is itself a seething cauldron. Battle lines are sharply drawn between the haves and have-nots. Bubbles is hell-bent on getting even with the overlords, especially her former husband, a heel who has gone over to the other side. Opportunity knocks when Bubbles incriminates a wealthy socialite in a brutal murder and then uncovers a murky past, where corpses are littered around the accused's steel-magnate husband. The going is never easy, as Bubbles faces more perils than Pauline: falling off a bridge in the arms of a potential suicide; dodging drive-by gunmen and car bombers; being handcuffed and fitted for cement boots; and always searching for a better way to display her cleavage. Armed with her certificate from Two Guys Community College, abetted by a quirky array of social castoffs and fueled by Doritos, Velveeta and Diet Pepsi, Bubbles overcomes every obstacle on her way to shaking the foundations of the corporate world and, in the process, leaving more than a few wrinkles in her ex's tailored Brooks Brothers suits. Hop in the Camaro and buckle up: Bubbles is behind the wheel, and a wild ride awaits. Agent, Heather Schroder at ICM. (Mar. 19) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
In an era of pluckier-than-thou females, a nitwit heroine could be a welcome change. Enter Bubbles Yablonskya breath of fresh air, most of it between her ears. Bubbles has all the requisites: a working-class pedigree, a mountain of debts, an overbearing mama, a rebellious teenaged daughter, and an obnoxious ex. And, because she had the foresight to get knocked up at the tender age of 17, shes still on the sunny side of 40, with golden blond locks and a drop-dead gorgeous figure. But when it comes to supporting her loyal family, Bubbless gig as a hairdresser just doesnt cut it, and shes already flunked every course but one at the local community college. Journalisms her last chance, and so desperate is she to snag a job at the Lehigh News-Times that she allows the night editor to send her out to cover a would-be suicide at the Fahy Bridge. Naturally, Bubbles manages to knock him from his precarious perch, and naturally, she also manages to rescue him. But on the way home, she and sexy photographer Steve Stiletto run across an even bigger scoop: a body in the park, flattened by an SUV. At the wheel, passed out drunk, is Merry Metzger, wife of steel magnate Henry Metzger, pillar of Lehigh society, and president of the local MADD. Bubbles cant wait to file her story. The only problem: the Range Rover, Merry, and Stiletto have all disappeared. More irony and less spandex would make Strohmeyers new sleuth better company.
Booklist Review
Having studied at the feet of the Master Evanovich, first-novelist Strohmeyer unleashes Lehigh, Pennsylvania's, Bubbles Yablonsky: big hair, big tits, and a big attitude despite a social-climbing ex and a job at the beauty parlor. Bubbles loves to do hair, but she's also working freelance for the local paper, hoping to move herself and her teenage daughter ahead in the world. A 10-year-old murder and a local teacher's attempted suicide spark Bubbles into action, and as if that weren't enough, there's a photographer, a Mel Gibson look-alike named--wait for it--Stiletto. The outlandishly intricate plot has more layers than Bubbles' makeup, but she kindly includes step-by-step instructions for soothing foot care and her daughter's Kool-Aid hair dye. It all comes out in the end, and Bubbles keeps Stiletto, er, hanging. A confection held together with gossip and hairspray. --GraceAnne A. DeCandido
Library Journal Review
Bubbles Yablonsky, a 34-year-old hairdresser/divorcee, may dress and look like a blonde Barbie-doll bimbo, but she aspires to a more brain-intensive job as an investigative journalist. She grabs her main chance when she and a hunky but elusive photographer named Stiletto discover a dead bodyDalong with the apparent perpetrator, who is drunk and just happens to be the antidrug-crusading wife of a local steel magnate. Suffice to say, Bubbles's revelatory story causes endless repercussions. A sexy, irrepressible heroine, riotous supporting characters, continual action, ubiquitous humor, and even a makeup tip or two make this a highly recommended series debut. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.