The Big Bad Wolf Tells All [Paperback]

Donna Kauffman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 2003

Why Is It That I’m Not Willing to Settle for a Sheep Like the Rest of My Friends?

Sheep sex aside, what’s wrong with a man who puts family first, who maintains a steady job, has college funds set up for his kids and builds that nest egg for his retirement? Member of the herd, never straying. Solid, dependable Sheep Guy. Why can’t I love Sheep Guy?

For me, it’s all those wolves. They distract me from the sheep. Wolf Guy. Always on the prowl. Totally alpha. Not interested in being domesticated. So what is it about these men that makes my heart speed up in a way no sheep ever has or ever will?

Tanzy Harrington is the Bay Area’s most-read romance columnist and self-proclaimed love-’em-and-leave-’em artist—and she’s not quite ready to tie herself down to one man. That is, until Riley Parrish lands on the scene.

When Tanzy agrees to house-sit for her eccentric great-aunt, she finds herself sharing close quarters with Riley. At first he seems a bit too much like the “sheep” Tanzy derides in her column—too polite, the classic boring good provider. But when she catches a glimpse of the “wolf” lurking in his eyes, the ultimate alpha female is about to take a fall.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Suspense meets contemporary romantic comedy as Kauffman takes a detour from her usual historical romances (The Charm Stone) to follow a hip young alpha female in San Francisco. Tanzy Harrington writes a romance column for MainLine, "the hottest online magazine since Salon." In her column, "Tanzy Tells All," she asserts that "men can be put into two categories, wolves and sheep"; Tanzy is a fervent fan of "Wolf Sex" (practiced by single nonconformists) and determined to resist the cozy allure of "Sheep Sex" (for the marrieds), even though she's recently become "the Last Bridesmaid in a social circle filled with Till-Death-Do-Us-Parters." Her opinions set off a flurry of controversy and garner her one particularly obsessed cyberfan, SoulM8, who turns into a full-fledged stalker. Her rich great-aunt Millicent hires Riley Parrish to protect Tanzy while she house-sits at Millicent's estate during the Christmas holidays. Riley has all the outward markers of a stolid good provider, but he turns out to be the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing. Can he tame Tanzy's wolfish heart? Tanzy and Riley have lively, likable voices, but the stalker mystery subplot never really gathers steam, and neither do Tanzy and Riley's interminable presex dialogues (though Kauffman's sizzling love scenes are almost worth the wait). Kauffman's lack of attention to vital mystery action ingredients (there's not one car chase or image of Riley really pumping those fab abs) will dismay readers searching for a new Stephanie Plum. But for those dreaming of alpha males at poolside? It might fit the bill.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

At the ripe old age of 29, Tanzy Harrington has achieved minor celebrity as a sex columnist for an online magazine a la Salon. A column bemoaning Tanzy's inability to settle for a "sheep" guy (responsible, boring, bill-paying family man) when there are all those "wolves" out there on the prowl attracts a stalker who claims he's the one for her. Consequently, Tanzy's rich great-aunt, Millicent, tricks her into house-sitting so that a private investigator posing as Millicent's personal assistant can keep an eye on her. Tanzy thinks he's the ultimate sheep, but the two quickly find themselves irresistibly drawn to one another. Could he be the one to make her want to "tie herself down"? The mystery of the stalker propels the plot, along with the question of whether Tanzy and the private investigator will get together. There's more eye-rolling sexual double entendres here than any novel should be allowed, even an extremely light romp like this one, but it's entertaining enough and sure to find an audience with the beach-reading crowd. Beth Leistensnider
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 339 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (May 27, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553382225
• ISBN-13: 978-0553382228
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,171,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

USA Today bestselling and award winning author Donna Kauffman has published over fifty titles, most currently still in worldwide release, with many translated into more than a dozen languages. She has seen her books reviewed in venues ranging from Kirkus to Library Journal to Entertainment Weekly and excerpted in magazines, including Cosmopolitan. A previous RITA finalist and DC native, she currently resides just outside the nation's capital in northern Virginia. You can contact her directly through her website at www.donnakauffman.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars If only the book were as cool as it's title, February 15, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Big Bad Wolf Tells All (Paperback)

I'll admit, right off the bat, this review is not fair-- I don't like stream of consious narration (something the reader will have to adore to enjoy this book), I like editing. And I hate the overuse of Hip prases since by the time the book comes out the phrase is no longer hip. Also, if some heroine talks about her Jimmy Choos I automatically deduct 2 stars-. It's all been done way too much- or at least use another shoe brand.

I was interested in this book because of it's title- "The Big Bad Wolf Tells All" sounded dangerous and sexy, but I was wrong. See Tansy's Rich and Beautiful and Brilliant and Talented and she's Glamorous and Sexually Liberated, and "poor her" all of her friends are married-- my solution, add to your friends! Include other single women! Ha Ha, that would lead to her feeling not so alone and even happier. No, she just tries to get out of spending time with her friends because they're trying to fix her up with Sheep types (the opposite of her favored "Wolf" types). Great, so she cuts her friends off. What a gal.

I'm two hundred pages in and I can't finish the dang thing.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars yuck, could not even get through to the end!, October 27, 2003

By 

L. Reda "Rocco & Martini's Mom" (Redondo Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Big Bad Wolf Tells All (Paperback)

I had struggled through 276 pages, and i finally just had to put it down, i did not like any of the characters, i did not care about the stalker, i did not care if Tanzy got hurt, kidnapped or anything! It was painful! i kept hoping it would turn out okay, but it was just terrible. I never put a book down without getting to the end, but in this case, i could not take any more of them! Very dissapointed in this book!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Ugh. Easy to put down, September 9, 2003

By 

L. Middleton (Auburn, AL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Big Bad Wolf Tells All (Paperback)

I am not one to leave books unfinished, so I plowed ahead with this one, but it would have been easy to walk away from this "Sex in the City" meets "Nancy Drew" groaner at any point in this thin plot. It very much reminded me of the dinky paperbacks I loved as a preteen, where the heroine always had an adventure of some sort and then reluctantly fell for the last guy she would have expected. The book borrows heavily from the character set-up of Sex in the City (although projecting the supporting characters down the altar) without the finesse -- I lost track of how many times the phrase "multiple orgasm" is used (the pursuit of which might be considered the theme of the book). If you want fluff, you'd be better off in front of the tube. If you want a thoughful, sexy, well-paced novel: you'll have to keep looking. How I wish I had!