Customer Reviews

Bubbles Betrothed

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have enjoyed reading as many of these books as I can find. I am from the lehigh valley, Pa. She hits the nail on the head with her descriptions. They are fun and I find myself getting lost in them.I actually am a hairdresser w/ my own shop. She is accurate when describing that part of the story also.

Of all the Bubbles books this is the best. Right from the start it is fast moving and the plot has enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat.

The dry almost simple humour throughout means that you laugh at the same time you eagerily await the next clue to slove the murder. The other and often more important issue that comes through is that the book not only has a high entertaining factor but also makes very thoughful comments on working life and the role of females.

The down to earth approach is highly saitifying and a must read for all people. And the result is that I am now eagerly awaiting the next Bubbles.

If you can't wait for the next Janet Evanovich book, you will love Bubbles. Although a totally different character than Stephanie Plum, both sets of books have the same wacky sense of humor and love of family and community. The authors even know each other, the librarian told me that "Bubbles" was born at Janet Evanovich's kitchen table!

Bubbles is the best of the regional comic detectives, hands down. First, she's hilarious. I got a few looks as I laughed out loud in a few parts. The locale is treated humorously, but with a certain fondness as well. The characters are funny, and wacky at times.

But Bubbles is more than just a comic detective. First, she has her own family. I think this does a lot to make me care for a character. Bubbles has an incredibly touching scene with Jane in the book. She can be detective, Stiletto's girlfriend, and a mother who cares deeply about what's best for her daughter.

While Sarah couldn't have written this book a year ago, planning that Judith Miller would be making headlines, sitting in jail for holding on to her notes, Bubbles is in a similar predicament. It gives some insight into the role of the press in society, and it's all done while planting clues and making us laugh. Quite a talent.

Former hairdresser and now reporter Bubbles Yablonsky gets all of the really horrible jobs in her Pennsylvania newspaper, but when her photographer fishes out a Swiss Army knife to help Bubbles cut the slit in her too-tight skirt, Bubbles finds herself in jail with an accused murderer--who promptly dies. As the last person to speak with the accused, Bubbles is of sudden interest to the court system and the newspaper--and everyone wants to see her notes.

While attempting to maintain a relationship with sexy Steve Stiletto (who asks her to go for a fake engagement to help his career), fend off ex-husband Dan, and support her super-smart daughter Jane in her desires to go to Princeton, Bubbles also needs to track down whoever might have killed the crazy woman in jail. With suspects like a Polish-American Mafia leader, Bubbles' hands are soon full.

In Bubbles, author Sarah Strohmeyer creates a character who balances between complete ditz and cleverness. It's a tough balance to walk and Strohmeyer steps off course a few times. Bubbles' mix of fairly sophisticated vocabulary when speaking and inability to understand common words when listening might be a statement about America's unwillingness to listen because we're too busy talking, but it seemed like an error to me. Once the action gets going, though Bubbles comes through. Her loyalty to her daughter, willingness to work, concern for those around her, and gutsy (if occasionally thoughtless) willingness to follow the story all make her a character worth admiring.

If you're tired of super-sophisticated New York City women who know everything about fashion but don't care about anyone but themselves, you just might be ready for a Bubbles Yablonsky fix. BUBBLES BETROTHED isn't perfect, but it is charming, with a bang-up exciting finish.

If you enjoyed the prior books in this series, you'll enjoy this one as well. It keeps the story series moving and you'll have to read the future book to see how all the pieces of this one play out.

Sometimes when we read, it's simply to be entertained. Sarah Strohmeyer does just that in her fifth Bubbles' novel, Bubbles Betrothed.

Bubbles Yablonsky is a rooky reporter who is given an exclusive interview with accused murderer Julia "Crazy Popeye" Simon. Crazy Popeye is accused of murdering Liberty High School's beloved principal by shoving a tie down his throat. Crazy Popeye proclaims her innocence and drops dead in front of Bubbles. Suddenly everyone wants Bubbles' interview notes.

Bubbles zany antics eventually result in success but not before we are entertained by characters like a police detective who is romance obsessed, a dentist with a foot fetish, a Polish member of the Mafioso, an ex-husband we love to hate and a boyfriend who wants a fake and temporary fiancée.

Bubbles Yablonsky is a woman we would all love to know. And Bubbles Betrothed is a madcap, fast-paced and riotous caper through her unusual life and times. This is an enjoyable beach read. Warning: If you read in public people will stare, believing you're crazy because you'll be laughing out loud. I guarantee that if you haven't already, you will read the other Bubbles books after finishing this one. Armchair Interviews recommends!

Once again, Sarah Strohmeyer has delivered a winner! The latest installment of the Bubbles series is witty, interesting, and laugh out loud funny. If you haven't yet read the others, they are all Must Have Books. I have them all on my "Keeper" shelf and turn all my friends as well as people I meet in the bookstore on to the series. It doesn't get much better than this!

Bubbles Yablonsky would give anything to be married to Steve Stiletto, hunky AP photographer who doesn't mind hanging out with her domineering uber-Slavic-Baltic mother, LuLu Yablonsky, LuLu's musket-wielding cohort Genevieve, and News-Times anger-management-challenged photographer Lorena Ludwig.

When Steve proposes, Bubbles' joy gets deflated when she realizes it's all a scam to land Steve a plum assignment in England...as if that weren't enough, the police want to clamp Bubbles in chains after her exclusive interview with Julia Simon, a.k.a. Crazy Popeye, culminates in Julia's death. Julia's accused of killing a beloved high school principal who had a complicated romantic life. Another day at the office and at the hair salon for stylist-turned-journalist Bubbles.

As usual, Bubbles' hometown of Lehigh, Pennyslvania, And of course, Bubbles' ex-husband Dan "Call me Chip" Ritter complicates Bubbles' life, first with requests to bail him out of a weensy extortion jam, second with a marriage proposal that has Dan's second wife, cheeseball heiress Wendy, running for the door with Steve's rival Chad Kent in tow. Don't bother to keep track of the craziness, and don't second-guess the power of tube tops and a great hairdo. For a supposed dumb blonde, Bubbles proves herself the sharpest pair of manicure scissors in the drawer, and a delightfully feminist feminine heroine.

BUBBLES BETROTHED by Sarah Strohmeyer
May 3, 2008

Rating **** (4/5 Stars)

The BUBBLES series has always been fun. They are very similar to the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich (the two authors are friends, which is not surprising) and while you can see the influence, there are differences. Both are humorous takes on the Whodunit, but I think Stephanie Plum is by far the more outrageous of the two characters, often times reaching out into the bizarre. Bubbles Yablonsky is a little more down to earth, although inept in many ways. But that's what endears her to the readers, I believe.

For those who haven't read any of the Bubbles books, Bubbles Yablonsky was a hairdresser (she still hangs out at the House of Beauty) who obtained her degree at a community college that used to be a shopping mall, now known as TWO GUYS COMMUNITY COLLEGE. She is now a struggling journalist who works for the local paper, and has a hot boyfriend (Stiletto) who is an award winning photographer.

In this book, Bubbles tries to seek an interview with a woman who is accused of murder, and ends up witnessing the alleged murderer's own death. Crazy Popeye was in jail for murdering Principal Schmidt, but Bubbles learns from Popeye that she's innocent. Of course no one believes the story, but Bubbles does, and her mission is now to clear up Popeye's name and find the real killer.

In the mean time Stiletto needs a favor from Bubbles. He needs to show that he's engaged in order to avoid a job transfer overseas. Bubbles would rather it be the real thing, but agrees to pose as his fiancée for his career. Unfortunately, her mother and others see the "rock" on her finger, and it's not small. Word spreads that Stiletto and Bubbles are about to be married.

Bubbles' ex husband Dan is still in the picture, and there is a twist in his story that changes Bubble's life. It doesn't look like Bubbles is going to get her happily ever after.

I made the mistake of reading the books out of order (I thought for sure this was the last in the series) and instead, I found out what happens in THIS book because I had read the next book first! But regardless, I was still able to enjoy reading BUBBLES BETROTHED. The story line of Principal Schmidt's murder was pretty good, and figuring out who was the real murderer was fun. It is better to read these books in order, because there is continuity throughout the series, but hopefully if you do make the mistake of reading one before the other, I think they are still enjoyable. BUBBLES BETROTHED is recommended and is a great beach read.