Customer Reviews

Babydoll

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Babydoll is a worthy sequel to the groundbreaking "Aphrodisiac" by Allyson Roy. Written in a unique, "fusion" style the authors aptly call "madcap noir," Babydoll combines the best of mystery/suspense, humor, romance, and character-driven fiction to deliver an uncommon mix of dreads, laughs and page-turning excitement. No two-dimensional characters, relationship cliches or predictable scenarios here! The action moves effortlessly - and relentlessly - from urban grit, to over-the-top celebrity venues, to enclaves of the privileged, to blue-collar outposts. The personalities - both new and previously introduced in "Aphrodisiac" - are as diverse as any major city is today and as unpredictable as life around us has become. This rich stew of places and people lends an extra - and extraordinary - dimension to what could otherwise have been just another book about people who do things most of us wouldn't think of doing in places we haven't been to or would want to go. While the two women protagonists are both professionals in their own right, they are blessedly free of prevalent stereotypes, which makes them human and engaging, although exasperating, at times. We so want them to have it all and they keep doing things they "shouldn't!" So, who wouldn't appreciate Babydoll? Only those who would find crossing the boundaries between humor, sex, crime, and suspense sacrilegious and too much to bear. Everyone else: fasten your seat belt and enjoy the wild ride and hairpin turns of the second in the Saylor Oz series. I, for one, can't wait for the third!

When three up and coming fashion models are murdered the police think they have found their man when a witness puts photographer Angel Morales at the scene of the third murder. 100% sure of her brother's innocence, Benita "Binnie" Morales enlists the help of her roommate and best friend, Saylor Oz, on a quest to find the real killer so her brother is set free.

Something about the murders rings a bell with Saylor and as she goes over the cases again she remembers. The MO of the killer is one that she's seen before, in a vintage porn movie called Bad, Bad Babydoll.

Convinced she's onto something Saylor takes the information to the investigator working with Angel's lawyer. Needless to say he's not interested in her theory so Binnie and Saylor do a little investigating of their own which leads to them being taken into police custody and being hunted by a pair of stoned drug dealers.

But all this investigating may have triggered the real killer to come after Saylor when she takes on the persona Babydoll during fashion week.

Babydoll was total blast. Saylor is quite a character. She's a sex therapist that's small in stature but has a large appetite for sex herself. Who else would dare to pull out and autograph a rather large **cough, toy that resembles a certain part of the male anatomy, cough** on live TV? LOL And don't even get me started on Saylor's eccentric aunt Lana that likes to fly on nude airlines and Binnie's pet bird that likes to talk dirty.

Second in the Saylor Oz mystery series after Aphrodisiac, Babydoll definitely stands alone and I can't wait to read the first (which sadly I didn't remember I had on my to-be-read shelf until I read the sneak peek of it at the end of Babydoll) and next book in this series. This is a recommended read for anyone who loves mysteries with a romantic twist.

BABYDOLL is a great followup to the first in this new mystery/comedy/romance series. Now wonder APHRODISIAC won the Daphne du Maurier Award! I couldn't put it down...I loved all of the intelligent references to art, music, and the culture of the multi-ethnic DUMBO area of NYC. Sexy, funny, and compelling. The characters are so well developed; Can't wait to read more about their adventures in the next book.

Sex therapist, Saylor Oz is back. After taking on the bad guys in Aphrodisiac with a killer perfume, Saylor and her best friend Benita are ready to take on another mystery.

Benita's brother, Angel is in prison. He has been found guilty of murdering three up and coming models. Benita asks for Saylor's help in clearing her brother. This case is right up Saylor's alley. Saylor analyzes the case and realizes that she has seen this murder before...in a really bad, cheesy porn video called Bad, Bad, Babydoll. The main actress was called Babydoll and she killed her competition...three models! Babydoll shot them in the head and cut a piece of their hair and kept it in a coffee can. Saylor believes that someone has reacted Bad, Bad, Babydoll.

Mr. Sneed, Angel's attorney does not believe Saylor but he directs her to Private Investigator John Lavender just to get her out of his hair. Saylor knows she is onto something. She marches right into Mr. Lavender's office and demands that he watch the porn. Mr. Lavender sees Saylor as crazy. Now it is up to Saylor and Benita to free Angel.

Bad, Bad, Babydoll is book two in the Saylor Oz series. I am in love with Saylor and can't get enough of her. She may be only four feet, eleven inches but watch out as she can still kick your butt. There are so many funny moments in this book that I couldn't possibly pick just one. There is the one when Saylor first meets Mr. Lavender and gets tongue tied and to make matters worse, out drops out of her purse some lotion. Or how about the time when Benita and Saylor end up at the house of some drug dealers, pretending to be porn stars.

This husband/wife team of Allyson Roy is dynamic. They are a force to be reckoned with. Allyson Roy infuses their love of old movies with comedy that equals...instant bestseller! If you haven't tried out this series yet than what are you waiting for...run don't walk to your nearest book store and pick up a copy of Bad, Bad, Babydoll today. You won't regret it.

Oz is a Brooklyn-based sex therapist. She spends her days curing couples of their sexual woes. But when the brother of her long-time friend gets arrested and convicted of serial murders, Saylor feels obligated to put on a detective hat and hunts for the true killer.

The murder victims were all models found around New York City. Each victim has a lock of hair missing. Saylor, a connoisseur of films of a sexual nature, realizes that she's seen this somewhere before: an old movie entitled Bad, Bad, Babydoll. Saylor immediately begins investigating the cast of this movie and discovers some startling similarities to the crimes. She vows to stop at nothing, even putting herself in harms way, to help find the true killer.

Typically, I can't stand it when one author's writing is compared to another. However, in the case of Babydoll, I can't help but compare it to Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels. Saylor has the same no-holds-barred attitude as Stephanie Plum. I It's not Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction, but an excellent read nonetheless. Several times I found myself laughing at loud. The emotions the reader experiences ranges from sorrow and hatred to tears-rolling-down-your face humor. The characters are stellar. Each has their own faults, but you can't help but love them. And if that's not enough, the storyline is very suspenseful. Just when you think you've solved the case, Roy throws in something from left field and forces you to reconsider.

While Babydoll is technically the second in a series of books, you lose nothing by not reading the first of the series, Aphrodisiac . Obviously, since the main character is a sex therapist, there is a good deal of sex in this book. It's not overly graphic or raunchy in any way and completely appropriate for this book.



I highly recommend this one! A steamy thriller for your steamy summer evenings!

Sex therapist Saylor Oz and her roommate Benita Morales are also BFF as they care about the wellbeing of each other and their respective families. When three models in the last three months are murdered, circumstantial evidence links Benita's brother Angel to the homicides as the prime suspect. A jury finds him guilty and he is sent to Riker's island waiting for transfer to Ossining. Oz and Benita believe Angel is innocent; Saylor vows to prove her assertion by finding the real killer.

Saylor recalls seeing a porno flick BABYDOLL in which Nikki Cumrite played the lead bad girl who killed three rivals, slicing off a piece of hair from each and placing it inside a coffee can. The therapist believes that if they can find the real actress who played the role of BABYDOLL, they might also find the killer. They work on learning Nikki's real name and the investigation leads them to Darlene Kleppe, who vanished after the movie and left no paper trail. The buddies must find a way to get Kleppe to come to them instead of looking for a needle in the haystack; that is if you can find a haystack in Brooklyn where a tree might grow.

This exciting action-packed amateur sleuth over the top of the Brooklyn Bridge is loaded with danger and a lot of steamy sex. The BFF seem to leap from one crisis into another as they receive threats that specify Saylor as the next victim. Besides cut brake lines and high speed chases from a man with a gun and a man with a car trying to run them over, this is just another day or three in New York. BABYDOLL is a "Hot town, summer in the city" as Oz and Benita are not finding any spoonfuls of lovin as they are getting rundown and dirty from their inquiries into the underbelly of the fashion industry.

Harriet Klausner

Babydoll is a fun sexy book! I loved Saylor and the book! Saylor is a feisty fun character! How could you not like her- she's a sex therapist who trips over her own words and get's into the most interesting predicaments! And the story was so much fun! Alice & Roy refer to Babydoll as 'Madcap Noir, where crime, comedy and romance meet' and it certainly does! From the opening scene where Saylor tries to have the hunk of a PI watch a porn movie with her strickly for proving her point that it's a clue to the recent murders of 3 top models to her best friend Benita's pet mynah bird, Uncle Petey, reciting some key phrases from that movie, Babydoll is entertaining. The romance is hot, the writing is great and the story is a lot of fun! We really get an "education" along with the great storyline because even though Saylor is on the move to solve these murders to free her friend Benita's accused brother from jail, she just can't shake her day job as a sex therapist which tends to pop up in whatever she's doing! Think of Saylor as Stephanie Plum with added "heat"! This is the second book in the Saylor Oz mysteries. The first was Aphrodisiac, and I look forward to reading that and future books in this series!

I loved Aphrodisiac, the first Saylor Oz mystery, and Babydoll does not disappoint as a sequel. There are laugh out loud moments in this book and the whodunit aspect is impeccably done. I had NO idea whodunnit until the reveal. Lots of interesting elements woven together with a hefty dose of humor to make Babydoll a totally enjoyable read!

BABYDOLL kept me on the edge of my seat through the whole book. Never knew what new exciting twist was going to happen every time I turned the page.

Three dead models and a whole exciting book to find the murderer.

This is an awesome read.

Lorraine

Allyson Roy does it again. Babydoll has me loving being back in Saylor Oz's world. (I read the first book in this series, Aphrodisiac, and impatiently waited for this next installation--I missed Saylor!) Babydoll is beautifully written with terrific character development and masterful storytelling. I can't wait for book three!