Customer Reviews

Fool's Gold

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tyler Braxton is visiting his sister Maggie in sleepy Goldstone, Nevada. Maggie is convinced that her husband Carl, who has become distant, is having an affair, and asks for Brax's help in getting Carl to toe the line.

But each conversation with Carl results in more questions than answers. Brax knows that something is going on, but he is not sure it has to do with another woman. Of course, the fact that Carl has sexy Simone Chandler as a pen pal piques his interest. Simone is well known for her on-line erotica site, and it appears that she has penned a rather explicit story that has Brax's blood boiling. The chemistry between the two is very hot and endearing when he stands up to her snobbish celebrity mother.

When Carl suddenly ends up dead, like any good sheriff on vacation, Brax jumps into the fold to help in the investigation, which is quickly showing signs of foul play. Could there be a murder among the quirky people of Goldstone?

Skully manages to keep the identity of the killer as well as the reason under wraps until the last reel. I felt the story dragged until the murder, so it was not quite as strong as its predecessor, "Sex & the Serial Killer." Skully makes mention of characters and a murder that happened in the first story that just seem clunky and out of place here, since it does nothing to progress the plotline. But if you discount those, you have a solid romantic mystery which does actually manage to surprise the reader.

Tyler "Brax" Braxton is a sheriff in Cottonmouth, California. When he receives a frantic phone call from his sister, Maggie Felman, he decides to use some vacation time and visit her. Maggie believes her husband of ten years, Carl, is having an affair and plans to leave her. Brax arrives in Goldstone, Nevada, and cannot believe his eyes. Goldstone is like a ghost town. The nearest grocery store is thirty miles away and all the buildings fell to ruin during a fire catastrophe and then a flood catastrophe long ago - never to be rebuilt. Brax can't figure out how the few people that reside in Goldstone exists.

As Brax and Carl chat in the only local bar, Brax finds his attention riveted by hot Simone Chandler. Then he learns that she earns her living by writing erotica fantasies for internet clients. Of course, his own imagination jumps to life. He soon realizes that people came to Goldstone to forget or be forgotten. Brax has plenty he would like to forget and found the idea fascinating. One thing is for sure, he finds Simone VERY fascinating and is soon finding time see her. All is going well, until Carl turns up murdered.

Simone may live in a trailer and write erotica for a living, but everyone in the small town knows she would never harm a fly. Not even the sleazy Jason Lafoote, who is trying to get the permits needed to open a gambling resort in the area. But then the most horrible thing possible happens, her MOTHER comes to visit with the intention of making Simone move back home!

***** Romance, humor, mystery, hot scenes, and suspense ... it's all in here. HQN struck gold (no pun intended) when they got a contract with author Jennifer Skully. As much as I liked her previous book "Sex and the Serial Killer", I enjoyed this one even more! This is one novel you will not trade into a used a book store. It will head straight to you Keeper Shelf to be enjoyed again at a later date. Wonderful story that I highly recommend to all. *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

I bought this book because it was listed under the mystery section. 1/2 way through the book I discovered, to my shock, that it was a Harlequin romance. I have to admit that I finished the book and am now planning on buying the author's other novels. This is not your usual romance.

I was enthralled with the book cover to cover and did not see the 'who done it' until they were revealed. I loved the not-so-perfect characters and laughed my way through the book. The sex scenes were pretty steamy and put me in mind of some of my favorite authors. At the same time they did not dominate the book.

Jennifer Skully is definately on my list of authors to keep an eye on!

Sheriff Tyler Braxton, Brax to friends and family, is visiting his sister Maggie in the small town of Goldstone. Nobody visits Goldstone for pleasure, it's a place people go when there's nowhere else to go. But Maggie needs Brax. She's sure her husband Carl is having an affair and wants Brax to investigate.

Brax's snooping leads to more questions than answers. For example, why is Carl exchanging e-mails with Simone Chandler, internet erotica author? Although Brax finds Simone deliciously desirable, he is still suspicious of her. Why is she living in Goldstone and why is she e-mailing his sister's husband? Brax wants to learn more about Simone, a lot more. But before he can, Carl is found murdered!

I love a heroine I can relate to.  Simone is easy to connect with and immensely likable. She is voluptuous, smart, has a domineering mother, a fun sense of humor, and has lived
through failure to try again. That Brax should find her fascinating is a given. Brax has known failure too, which makes him lovable but strong. He's clever, handsome, funny and
very diplomatic. Their interaction is funny and sexy.

Readers will enjoy Brax and Simone's love story but they will also be intrigued by Carl's activities, and later the mystery of his murder. Jennifer Skully has written Fool's Gold with
plenty of plot twists and turns to keep the reader on edge wondering who the murderer could be. A  funny, smart mystery with a healthy dose of romance, Fool's Gold is a sure
bet!


Annabelle
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Fool's Gold? Perhaps Wild and Wacky would better suit! Goldstone, Nevada certainly has an unusual mixture of residents -- a regular human hodgepodge -- people from every walk of life. Goldstone, Nevada may be a forsaken little place, but it has it all -- from the rich and famous, to the gaudy and tacky, to the down and out. Without a doubt, Goldstone, Nevada IS a very strange little community and Jennifer Skully's town tour IS a fanciful reading adventure!

Sheriff Tyler Braxton needs a little R&R. Time away from his present-days, time away from his past mistakes. So why not escape to Goldstone? So the town's folk are eccentric? So his sister's marriage is in trouble! So his brother-in-law turns up dead! Well . . . So what? Goldstone, Nevada is the perfect place to forget, the perfect place to begin again.

So who is cute, nutty Simone Chandler? An Internet erotica writer - surprisingly yes! A floozy sleeping with her best friend's husband - plainly no! An uncontrolled killer prowling the streets of Goldstone - certainly not! So who is Simone Chandler? Obviously, she is the woman spinning Tyler Braxton's wheels!

In FOOL'S GOLD, Jennifer Skully casts a respectable little story. Her setting is absolutely delightful; thus, creating a lovable reading excursion. Skully's lead characters are fun and sexy, but it is the remarkable array of secondary characters that is the story's true highlight. Here Jennifer Skully goes above and beyond the call of character analysis. Remarkably, her delightful prop people do connect with the reader and do deliver Skully's story into familiar territory - for in everyone's life, the good citizens of Goldstone lurk!
Grade: B+

MaryGrace Meloche.
Reviewed for RomanceDesigns.

This book follows Sex and the serial killer with Sheriff Braxton. I really liked his chracter from the other book and had high hopes for this one. I am sorry to say, it fell short. The main characters were Tyler Braxton and Simone Chandler. The other two character who took up most of the story line were Maggie, Tyler's sister and her husband Carl. Tyler travels to Goldstone on a vacation to see his sister and help clear up issues in her marriage, but also to get away from events that happened in sex and the serial killer. He meets Simone, and we see sparks happen right away, but it's put on the back burner and his sister's marriage takes center stage in the book and her husbands dissapearance, which turns into murder, and Tyler trying to comfort her sister and the characters of the small town, overshadows the relationship of Simone and Tyler. Nothing happens between them untill more than halfway through the book. I found it fairly easy to put the book down and walk away. I love to find a book that hooks me to the end, and this one lacked. I finished it because once I start a book, I always see it through to the end, this one just took me longer than most. The book didn't pick up for me till close to the end, then it grabbed my interest and I stuck with it

Tyler "Brax" Braxton is a small town sheriff summoned to tiny Goldstone, Nevada by his sister, Maggie, in the hopes that he can sort out her husband's recent strange behavior. No expert in male/female relationships, Brax is in over his head but does meet one female in the quirky desert town that he wouldn't mind investigating further...Simone makes her living writing "custom" erotica although her own love life is non-existent. Brax becomes involved with Simone and a murder investigation in short order and quickly learns that everything (and everyone)in this sleepy community may not be what it seems...

This is a cute romance/mystery filled with great characters, hot sex and some very funny scenes. So why only 3 stars? The first half of the book is incredibly slow...the murder happens about mid-way and that's when the story takes off. Wish I could give this one 2 ratings - 2 stars for the first half and 5 for the second! If you are a reader who needs to be hooked by chapter two then this one probably isn't for you. However, if you can hang in there ultimately this is a good read.

I never read one of her books before but I actually liked it. I would read her work again!

While not exactly a sequel, this book follows on from "Sex and the Serial Killer" which won the 2006 Daphne Du Maurier Award for Excellence. It was the second of four quirky comedy romances which this author has so far published under the name Jennifer Skully. These are -

Sex and the Serial Killer
Fool's Gold
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Sheer Dynamite

The fifth, "It must be magic" is due out in June 2007, and the sixth, "Your Heart or Mine," in April 2008.


These books are not part of a series, and each stands on its own with one partial exception, which is this book. One of the main supporting characters of "Sex and the Serial Killer" is the hero of this book, "Fool's Gold." Shortly after the conclusion of the first book, Sherriff Tyler Braxton (Brax) goes away on holiday to stay with his sister. A few of the comments in "Fool's Gold" refer to events in the previous book and might be considered mild spoilers. So if you are minded to read both "Sex and the Serial Killer" and this novel, tackle the former book first.

Brax arrives at the home in Goldstone of his sister Maggie to find that her marriage to her husband Carl is in trouble. He can't fully understand why; one possiblity is that his brother-in-law is having an affair with the town's so-called "Porn Queen," author Simone Chandler. (She has acquired this nicknme because she writes custom erotica on the internet.)

When he meets Simone to investigate, Brax soon decides that his brother-in-law is not in fact playing around with her - but he can't get her out of his own mind, a sentiment which is reciprocated. Then one of the characters in the book turns up dead in unusual circumstances - and Simone's famous and overbearing mother turns up very much alive - and suddenly things get even more complicated ...


One of the good things about Jennifer Skully's books is that you can't usually tell what's going to happen. When similar situations arise in more than one of her books, it's quite possible that they can turn out one way in one novel and the opposite way in another. The villain or villainess is rarely who you think it's going to be. But you can rely on it that the outcome will be manic, sexy, and funny.

These books are capable of providing amusement to readers of both sexes; I originally bought all four of these books as presents for my wife and ended up reading them myself.

If you like a quirky,funny, madcap romance novel, you will very probably like "Fool's Gold."


N.B. Jennifer Skully also writes under two other pen names; as J.B. Skully she has written the "Max" series of dark romances which begins with "Dead to the Max"; as Jasmine Hayes she writes or contributes to adult fantasy books such as "Resolutions," "One Night Only" and "Somebody's Lover."

Fool's Gold by Jennifer Skully has romance, murder and a town full of characters. Tyler comes to Goldstone at the request of his sister. She is having problems in her marriage. Tyler meet Simone who writes erotic stories online and sparks fly. Lots of twist on turns - a great read!