Buyer, Beware is the first book that I have read by Vallere, and I must say that I really enjoyed it. Even though this is not the first book in the series, I was able to dive right in. Vallere does a great job with her character development giving each of the main characters a personality of their own. The book's heroine, Samantha, is in a transition period of her life being unemployed and living back in the home she grew up in. As the book progresses, Samantha becomes a stronger character as she sees what she is capable of as her murder investigation moves forward. I think that Samantha made a good investigator, and it was her talents as a buyer that helped lead to the solving of the case and setting an innocent man free. The book's mystery was well done full of many twists and turns. I also enjoyed Vallere's writing style that smoothly transitioned from chapter to chapter keeping the reader turning the pages. The book's secondary characters also really added to the story, and the book is left open for the opportunity of future adventures. Overall this was a fabulous read that I would most definitely recommend if you enjoy action, adventure, twists and turns, and fashion with your mystery. I look forward to reading another adventure with Samantha Kidd.

Received from Net Galley in return for an honest review ( )

Buyer Beware by Diane Vallere is the second book in her Style and Error series of mysteries. Samantha Kidd is an out of work fashion expert who is like many who are unemployed struggling to make ends meat. It would seem her prayers have been answered when she is recruited to be the buyer for a hot new retailer, but all is not as it seems. The person in the position before her has been murdered and while she is offered the job it is expected she find some answers. So a girl has to do the job, help solve the murder and try not to be murdered herself.

The first thing I can say about Buyer beware is that for the Kindle version there were some serious formatting issues. I am sure (or at least I hope) these will be addressed before the publication date because when you are reading a book it can be very distracting and take you away from the story with such glaring issues. That aside the book itself was okay.

It had good pacing and the character of Samantha Kidd is likeable. The writing style in using Samantha's point of view makes it an entertaining read and it is a fast one too. I would have liked some of the plot pieces not to be quite so predictable. Even as someone who is just getting back into mystery books I was able to figure out several pieces of the story well in advance. It is a good read if your looking for something fast and fairly entertaining, if you liked the first book a lot you will probably like this one as well.
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4 STARS

Buyer, Beware is a fun murder mystery. It made me laugh as Samantha was jumping around from one suspect to another. You were never sure who to trust. It was a clean read. The plot had some nice surprises in it. I enjoyed Samantha's character and her friends. This is book 2 and I did not read the first book. I would like to read it now.

Samantha was a shoe buyer in New York City. She moved back to her home town because she wanted a different life style. She bought her family home when her parents decided to sell it and move to warmer climate. Her last job did not work out after she found a dead body at work. Her boyfriend is a shoe designer who is in Italy for sometime.

A new store is moving into town and is offering a contest of a heist. The person who can steal one of four items around town and bring it to Heist on a certain night will win 10,000.00. Samantha needs the money so she got a friend that she worked with Eddie to help her. Eddie brought two others into the plan Cat and her brother Dante. It took them a week to make the plan and steal the statue at the collage.

The night at the party where they were having champagne at Heist. Samantha wandered off and was looking at the handbags when she spotted a dead body. Emily who was Heist's handbag buyer.
The murder weapon was their copy of the statue. She told the cops why she had the statue in her purse the one they stole.

Later that night the owner of Heist Tony Sims offered her the Emily's job as a handbag buyer. Also if she could find out who killed Emily. She got company credit card in fact he already had it with her I.D. card already made for her. She was to start right away.

She went to the police homicide detective and told him what she was doing. She wanted to work with them to help the case.

Samantha idea of fashion was different to wear for her detecting she wore a trench coat in bright Pink. Talked like she was in old detective movie. No one new what she was up too except the cop and her boyfriend in Italy. She did not really trust her new boss that much.

Her team that planned the heist she did not tell and they were really suspicious of her starting to work for Heist.
I will lookout for other books that Diane Vallere has written based on this book. It kept my attention.

03/05/2013 PUB Polyester Press 256 PAGES ISBN:9781939197016 ( )

This was a fun book and I'm thankful to NetGalley and the publisher, Polyester Press for the chance to read and review it.
Samantha Kidd and several of her friends plot to steal a famous art statue in an attempt to win a prize when a new department store opens in town. The contest is a PR stunt by Heist (the new store), where the prices are a "steal". They appear to have carried it off, but a whole new can of worms opens up at the party where they are to turn in the statue and claim the prize. The murder of the store's head shoe buyer creates a job opportunity for the out of work fashionista, Samantha. She takes the job that comes with a catch, she is to be an undercover informant for her boss keeping her eyes and ears open for the murderer. She also makes a deal with the police chief to reveal any information she uncovers to the police. Things snowball when Samantha's prime suspect becomes the second murder victim. An added bonus to the story is confusion in Samantha's love life as she meets her friend's hunky motorcycle riding brother while her current potential love interest is out of the country on business. Just who is a girl to trust and how far will the murderer go to keep her quiet. Buyer Beware is a classic who-done-it with a fashion twist. It's a fun and quick read that will appeal to light mystery fans. ( )