Saturday, July 25, 2009

Drop Dead Gorgeous: A Novel (Blair Mallory) by Linda Howard


Synopsis: Blair Mallory has already survived one murder attempt. Now, while planning her wedding and dealing with holiday season madness, she once again dodges a bullet. Or, more precisely, a Buick. And although the driver's identity remains a mystery, his or her murderous intentions are all too clear.— Or are they? After all, Blair's homicidal ex-husband and his partner in crime/wife are safely behind bars. And even Wyatt Bloodworth, Blair's police detective groom-to-be, isn't inclined to believe she's being targeted again. All of which makes Blair wonder if her close call was simply a mishap. But the wondering stops when she narrowly cheats death again in another seemingly innocent accident. Two strikes is all it takes to convince Blair that she's back in someone's cross-hairs. And the only thing more frightening is that Wyatt still doubts her. That means this time no one will be watching Blair's back when she sets out to get the drop on her would-be killer -- before whoever it is finally drops her.

My Thoughts: Another looking into Blair Mallory's life is the premise for this book. As sequels go this one was good. After reading some of the other reviews I would have to say that yes, this book was kind of a rehash of the first book but as I read To Die For quite a few years ago it wasn't fresh in my mind. I might suggest that a reader might space these two books out a bit unless you really don't mind repetition.

Blair loves her boyfriend Wyatt and is thrilled with the thought of marrying him. She also loves tormenting him and trying to get the upper hand in their verbal battles. With a cop as a boyfriend this is often difficult but she loves the sport of trying anyway. In one of these attempts she fails to be the victor and finds her wedding date decided by Wyatt. Either plan a wedding of her liking to take place in 30 days or off to Vegas they go. For a high maintenance gal like Blair Vegas is so "Out". After all Britney did it and who wants to follow her crazy example.

I loved reading about Blair again. I get her. Yes she is pretty high maintenance but she maintains herself thank you very much and doesn't expect anyone else to do it. She has a quirky habit of listing Wyatt's current transgressions which she leaves on the kitchen counter for him to read at a later time. After all, he is a man and really doesn't have a clue as to what he does wrong most of the time. She also has a tendency to list all tasks she needs to do starting with the ones she feels she can easily do and then working her way to the heavy stuff that she doesn't feel ready to handle. So her lists tend to say thins like...

1-Find Dress For Wedding (going shopping in 10 minutes)

2-Get Jazz and Sally back together (arrange meeting with Jazz later)

3-Figure out who tried to run me over with a Buick (maybe tomorrow)

As a list maker I highly approve of her ways. I enjoyed her taking me on a journey through on crisis after another and then, finally, her wedding day.

As a romance book I would say that this might not satisfy some readers. It isn't about boy meets girl and falls in love. It starts with the couple already there. It is now the journey to their happily ever after. Also this book is written in the first person. This can be off putting to some. I had forgotten that her first book was in the first person so it took me a bit to get use to it but after a chapter or two I really enjoyed seeing the world through Blair's eyes again.

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