Stephanie BondCritiques

I had to force myself to finish this, and I wasn't sure I would continue the series, but I think I will. I read about Carlotta in Party Crashers, and I wasn't sure whether to like her then. I'm still not entirely sure. I don't want a perfect heroine, but it's kind of annoying to read about someone who makes the wrong decision at every opportunity. Carlotta and Wesley both. At least Wesley has the excuse of being a 19yo male. He's still young and stupid. I'm going to try one more book in the series before I give up, because I like Bond's other work.

I'm glad I discovered this series after this trilogy was published. I enjoy reading series, but cliffhangers drive me nuts, particularly when there is no indication in the description that there is a cliffhanger ending. I had my doubts about this series after reading the first novel, and at this point, I'm still glad I kept reading. I do hope, however, that Ms. Bond does not do as some other authors have done and keep writing after the series should be wrapped up. There is too much going on in this story for it to all continue indefinitely, and at some point, I would like to see Carlotta make a good decision. I'm pretty sure I've figured out who she ends up with, so that's taken some of the mystery out of the series. I'm just waiting to see how everything else wraps up.

Bombshells, mystery, romance, cliffhangers. This book has it all. Carlotta on her own after quitting her job & still trying to decide which man in her love tripod! Wesley back at poker. Hannah testing new opportunities. Carlotta's parents with a lot of explaining to do. Plus ten points....

Mallory is down on her luck. She went from foster home to foster home throughout her life, she works three part time jobs to make ends meet to support her and her husband and her husband treats her like crap & leaves her for another woman and files for divorce, yet she still wants him back. Mallory purchases a lottery ticket and ends up winning the big jackpot. Her journey of becoming rich overnight, family she didn't know about crawling out of the woodwork, being sued by coworkers, and having two men interested in her not for the money. The book journeys the ups and downs. I didn't care for this one like the other daily serials that Bond writes. The main character was weak willed, whiny, & a poor decision maker

SERIES FINALE! Carlotta is finally getting married, still solving murders, & grieving over the deaths of two of her friends. Wes is getting his crap together for school, Hannah and Chance are pregnant, & Carlotta's parents are on the up & up. Carlotta is finally spreading her wings with her new business and planning the wedding with Coop. Still trying to solve Patricia and Peter's deaths, she butts heads with Detective Terry, puts Coop in a bad spot in the medical examiner's office, & learns more about her biological father and half sister. Surprises abound and wedding jitters bring this series to a close with a wedding to remember.

A quick, fluffy, clean read. Annabelle is trying to stop her mother's marriage to a washed up actor. Clay is trying to stop his washed up actor dad from marrying a supposed gold digger. Neither of them believe in marriage and plan to stop their parent's wedding to each other. Mistaken identity, anger, and chemistry between Annabelle & Clay have them trying to thwart their parents wedding plans while trying to fight the attraction & loathing that's sizzling between them.

Hattie is stuck in her small town working at the factory her grandmother worked at & her mother currently does. Having to drop out of school cause of pregnancy being a single mother taking care of her son. She has supportive friends & when her baby daddy comes back to town her life gets complicated & to add to it there's a mystery of who burned down the factory & being caught between two men. Reads as a daily journal & interesting family dynamics. A plus in this book is that Carlotta (from the Body Movers series) has a couple of appearances

Roller derby, murder, a bratty sister, & their parents appearing after years. Carlotta & Wesley are trying to hold it all together. Delving deeper into family dynamics after being apart for 10 yrs & mom's dementia getting worse the family is in uproar. Carlotta still juggling 3 men & Wes trying to patch up with Meg.

the 2nd book in the "Mojo" series. This one delves into Gloria, the attorney who represented Penny in the 1st book "In Deep Voodoo" Gloria has moved here from New Orleans in the WITSEC program. Enter the new Chief of Police (Zane) who was Gloria's 1st boyfriend in her previous life years ago. Trying to hide her true identity & trying not to get murdered in the eccentric little town makes for a great read full of mystery, romance, & intrigue.

An early book in the Stephanie Bond world. 3 women in the publishing world & 1 swarmy agent they exact revenge on. One part romance, one part murder, one part mystery. Who killed Jerry & why. Fast paced read. A few unanswered questions on Felicia but otherwise a good read

Three strangers all converge on Ray's hospital room after an accident. All finding out they are married to him. Beatrix for 21 yrs, Natalie for 7 yrs, & Ruby for a couple of months. The outrage, hurt, & hate they feel for Ray & each other all comes to head when Ray dies & they are all charged with murder. An asshole detective that wants them all to be in jail pits them against each other so he can close his case. The three women start investigating on their own & join forces to find out who really murdered Ray.

Another superb daily serial. Della is a woman you hate. Snotty, catty, & shallow. Getting let go from her big pharma job selling diet pills she has to survive on temp jobs to keep her fancy apartment & rich doctor boyfriend. Living a lie she has cultivated with her friends, she has a love/hate relationship with food, mood swings due to a diet pill she's secretly taking & used to sell. Putting two & two together about the pills & the company she worked for drops her in the middle of missing transient teens, her maid's murder, & a hunky new neighbor. Fast paced daily entries has you laughing, cringing, & rooting for the hot mess that is Della. On a side note, she gets to work with characters from the Body Mover series (Carlotta & Detective Jack Terry) which I love!

A double offering of Harlequin Temptation romance. Not too smutty and published in 1999 & 2000. About Last Night finds Janine really not in love with her fiance & sneaking out to surprise him after his bachelor party. Surprise is on her when the best man is in the room instead and they are quarantined together after an unidentified sickness hits the hotel. Mutual attraction, a helpful manager, & passion ensue.
Too Hot To Sleep finds Georgia trying to be risky by calling her boyfriend and having phone sex. Only she dials the wrong number without realizing it. Enter hot cop Ken & a recipe for disaster.

Belinda moves to Atlanta to start fresh in a new city with new friends & new job. Riding in a company carpool befriending 3 others from the office the four women start writing a book on relationships on their commute. Each with secrets of their own they are suddenly dropped in the middle of the murder investigation of their boss. All suspects in the murder brings Belinda closer to a "hot" police officer and a Sexy newsman each vying for her attention. Lots of twists and turns in this whodunit with clean language & minimal sex scenes.

This is a humorous, sometimes sad, engaging book written in a day to day form. Marigold is in a coma and is hearing everything people who come to visit her are saying. Trying to piece together the wreck that put her in the hospital while trying to "wake up". Her selfish family, her friendly roommate, a mysterious poet visitor, a kooky psychic, a homicidal nun, a stubborn doctor, and Detective Jack Terry (YES, from the bodymovers series) Sometimes hysterical because people are using Marigold as a confessional thinking she can't hear them, sometimes sad because she is struggling to wake up and communicate, and emotional as she has to decide if she wake up will she spill the secrets. Also this book has tidbits of Detective Terry's relationship with Carlotta in the Bodymovers series (I was excited)

A little short on solving some ongoing mysteries. Carlotta is still reeling from the parental bombshell. Wesley is struggling with his addictions & having his father around. Carlotta in the middle of another death & still fumbling between Jack & Coop. The story ended unfinished with no wrap ups. I hope the next book answers the burning questions

Interesting concept. A daily entry on what's happening in Jane's life. She happily left the small town she grew up in for England & is a semi successful novelist living with her fiance (Hugh). She's a clean freak which starts to bother Hugh & she's stuck in a book writing rut. A family emergency forces Jane to return to her messed up childhood family home, a sick mother, her bother, and the mystery of one of her best friends that disappeared in high school. Caught up in the mystery of the years ago disappearance, cleaning out the family house, & an intriguing neighbor has Jane freaking out. Factor in Detective Jack Terry (my favorite character in the Body Movers series) re opening the missing persons case & Jane has her plate full. I would go 3 1/2 stars cause the book is clean in the romance department and has no foul language. A fast read

A shorter book by Stephanie Bond, author of the "Body Mover" series among a few. This one is a start to a new detective series introducing sisters Linda & Octavia. Both estranged sisters lose their husbands in different ways & come together to piece their lives together. They've never gotten along & are polar opposites but the story works without whining. Good mystery on trying to find out what their husbands were involved in with some shady characters & some intriguing possible later romances. The book ends without the main mystery being solved & a kickoff to the next book (which was supposed to be released in 2013) According to the author's website she is only 3% done with the sequel so far in 2020) A little disappointing and not as much flair as her other books but I will read the sequel if it's ever finished

A murder mystery halfway romance book. Not as well written as her other books. Ok premise of two cousins going back to homecoming week to revisit the past. Caught up in scandals and a "secret" they share that's finally revealed at the end of the book was a huge letdown. Some dead end chapters & not really worth reading. I recommend Bond's "Bodymover" series.

This story was a quick read, humorous, & kept me guessing. Penny's newly divorced in a small town & can't seem to avoid her X husbands mistress & X mother in law. A voodoo festival is in town bringing out the craziness. After Penny's divorce party her X ends up dead & she's the prime suspect. Her divorce attorney steps in to help. Add in a sexy out-of-towner that makes her blood run hot & a cast of suspicious characters. Are they friends or foes? Who & why was Deke killed? Kept me guessing till the reveal at the end. Another book follows in this series

This was an OK book. I read it because it had Carlotta (Body Movers series) as a secondary character like an introduction to her. The book had a good mystery & a little nit of romance. I like it because the sex scenes weren't detailed & I couldn't figure out who the killer was

This little novella was a fill-in published in 2012 to keep reader interested in the Body Mover series. (6 Killer Bodies was published in 2009 & was a cliffhanger) Stephanie's publisher dropped the series & to stay employed she had to produce other books. She actually bought back the print rights to her books so she could continue the Body Mover series (which she has).
This short novella is Carlotta dreaming that her parent never left her & her brother Wesley & that she actually is married to Peter. She meets Jack, Hannah, & Coop but of course they don't know her. It was a cute little story to hold over until 7 Brides for 7 Bodies was published in 2015. It doesn't have to be read to get what's gong on in the story.

It was a toss up between liking this & really liking. Carlotta & company in more zany murders, this time at a wedding expo. Still stressing because their runaway father is now in prison & mom is nowhere to be found takes up a lot of the story. The 3 man love triangle is slightly fizzling with the "keep away" so Carlotta can make up her mind & Wes gets some mind blowing news. I will keep continuing to read the series. It just sucks you in & it's fun & mildly irritating

It's about time some of the mysteries were solved! A Vegas vacation gone awry. Carlotta & friends in Vegas investigating her mother's whereabouts while her father is till in jail. Less romance between the 3 men in Carlotta's life while she still hasn't made a choice. Still satisfying the clear up stuff on the parents, Hannah, & Wesley

I liked the twists & turns. I still think Carlotta needs to make up her mind between the men. Glad Wes is getting a little more of the storyline