I Gave You My Heart, but You Sold It Online [Paperback]

Dixie Cash (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 21, 2007

To single mom Allison Barker, men are a heap of heartbreak. So when her twelve-year-old daughter confesses that she's posted Allison's profile on an Internet matchmaking service and has been pretending to be her mom, Allison hits the roof . . . just before the doorbell rings. Standing on the porch is her date—he's Hollywood handsome and all male and he looks somehow familiar.

Turns out he's famed ProRodeo bull-riding champion Quint Matthews. He whisks Allison off to dinner, but it's not Quint who captures her interest—it's his old friend, rodeo bull fighter Tag Freeman.

But Quint's got something—or rather, someone, more on his mind than Allison—because the very next day he's off to visit Debbie Sue Overstreet. Debbie Sue was once taken in by Quint's sky-blue eyes and tight jeans, but that was before she remarried the best-looking man in Texas, Buddy Overstreet. When Quint turns up at Debbie Sue's door begging for help, she can't turn him down. Seems that Quint has finally gotten his comeuppance—his identity has been stolen, by a woman no less, one he met through an online dating service.

The Equalizers take the case—after all, Quint is an "old friend" and, even better, he can pay! But no one would ever have guessed that the investigation would lead to murder . . . or that gender-confused Eugene/Janine—whom the Equalizers have tangled with before—would return to stir the stew. Or that there would be mixed messages and broken hearts all over the place.

Of course, as Edwina has often said, there's nothin' that a pitcher of strong margaritas and some serious snooping can't cure . . . but not until Debbie Sue and Edwina go on a crazy ride across West Texas!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cash, pen name of sisters Pamela Cumbie and Jeffery McClanahan, delivers her third Domestic Equalizers novel (after My Heart May Be Broken but My Hair Still Looks Great), a read-in-the-bathtub West Texas caper featuring rodeo riders and identity thieves. Trouble comes to Salt Lick in the form of Quint Matthews, a former rodeo champ who asks beauty shop owners and "Domestic Equalizers" Debbie Sue Overstreet and Edwina Perkins-Martin to track down the identity thief who's been charging up his Visa. Quint, who happens to be Overstreet's ex-boyfriend, also has a second reason for coming to Salt Lick: to meet Allison Barker, a single mom whose 12-year-old daughter has assumed her mother's identity and "met" Quint for her through a dating Web site. As the Equalizers set up an online ruse to nab the identity thief, Quint's old pal Tag Freeman successfully woos Allison; a mysterious character stalks Quint; and Quint ends up the prime suspect in a possible murder. It all works out in the end, but not in a way readers would expect. The plot has its share of unlikely coincidences, but the order of the day is entertainment, and the book piles it on. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Salt Lick, Texas' ace detectives Debbie Sue and Edwina are at it again, defying their husbands' wishes by leaving their beauty parlor behind and hotfooting it out the door in pursuit of the latest criminal--or cheating husband, which, in their minds, is the same thing--in the guise of their alter egos, the Domestic Equalizers. But this time the cheating takes the form of credit-card theft, and the victim is none other than Debbie Sue's ex-main squeeze, rodeo heartthrob Quint Matthews, who hires them to track down his former girlfriend to make her stop using his Visa card. Quint's had more than his share of love trouble lately. After being publicly humiliated when the woman he had been dating turned out to be a man, Quint tries an Internet dating service, and is matched with Salt Lick's own Allison Barker, who would rather date his best friend. Sassy and sexy Cash's big-haired heroines dish up Texas-size fun. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; 1ST edition (August 21, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060829729
• ISBN-13: 978-0060829728
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #750,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dixie Cash is Pamela Cumbie and her sister Jeffery McClanahan. They grew up in West Texas during the great oil boom, an era filled with "real-life fictional" characters who cry to be written about. Pam has always had a zany sense of humor and Jeffery has always had a dry wit. Surrounded by cowboys and steeped in country-western music, when they can stop laughing long enough they work together creating hilarity on paper. Both live in Texas--Pam in the Fort Worth-Dallas Metroplex and Jeffery in a small town near Fort Worth.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I liked it okay.., April 26, 2007

By 

Lisa Hopcroft (United States of America) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I Gave You My Heart, but You Sold It Online (Hardcover)

I love the series but this, the third book in the series, fell a bit short. I liked it but not nearly as much as the other two. I think it's because of the focus of the book not being the core characters Debbie Sue Overstreet and Edwina.

This book deals with Quint Matthews; Debbie Sue's ex, who lands himself in trouble with Internet dating and an overly large ego. After meeting Monica online Quint finds his identity has been stolen. Monica disappears as the credit card bills mount. So Quint turns to the Domestic Equalizers, Debbie Sue and Edwina's detective agency, for help. Driven largely by his overly inflated ego it's easy to see how Quint winds up in a big mess. Since he's going to be in and around Salt Lick anyway Quint sets up a date with Allison Barker, whom he also "met" on the internet.

Allison is surprised to find that her daughter has posted her profile on an online dating service. Jill has not only been talking with men online posing as her mother Allison, but has set up a date with Quint. When Quint shows up on her doorstep Allison actually goes on the date and meets Tag, Quint's friend, whom she finds more interesting then the drunken self centered cowboy. Big surprise there.

While Quint is a good secondary character he's less then likeable as the front man. I couldn't understand why any decent person would continue to agree to go out with Quint since he can't seem to finish a date between getting drunk or having a allergic reaction that has him hooking up with the EMT.

The identity theft mystery is not really a mystery at all and the murder isn't really a murder. We do see gender confused Eugene/Janine again who we met in the second book in the series. He/she has a history with Quint that is less then interesting. While I really liked Eugene/Janine in the last book he/she fell largely flat here.

Even with all the criticisms I still found this book amusing and it is nice to get a glimpse of Debbie Sue and Edwina again. Too bad their husbands were largely MIA. There are some really funny elements in this book that I felt rated the four stars, the toy party for instance. These are the bits that keep me reading, the funny little pieces that make the book worth reading.

I am hoping for another book in this series, if it's centered more around the original characters.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining but...., December 16, 2007

By 

Book lover -Philadelphia - See all my reviews

This review is from: I Gave You My Heart, but You Sold It Online (Paperback)

This was the first of this series that I've read and I don't know that I would try another one. Entertaining, but neither of the main characters - Quint and Allison - ever quite came alive for me. The best scene was the sex toy party and its aftermath; everything else, including the mystery, fell rather flat.
Biggest plus for me was all the details about rodeos as I am a big rodeo fan and I rarely ready mysteries that have former rodeo cowboys and clowns as main characters.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Gave You Heart, But You Sold It Online, February 8, 2008

By 

M. Nix - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: I Gave You My Heart, but You Sold It Online (Paperback)

As the Domestic Equalizers, Debbie Sue and Edwina like to blunder
through the mysteries life throws at them. Their newest case is going
to be interesting as Debbie Sue's ex, Quint, shows up asking them to
find the thief of his identity. The murder was just an extra squirt of
fate in their lives.

And of course what would life be without one of the Domestic
Equalizers' friends being set up on a blind date? Strangely, Quint is
the man their friend gets set up with, courtesy of the friend's
daughter. Hopefully, it all ends up with a happy ending, or will it?

I gave you my heart but you sold it online is a humorous look at the
trouble that can follow friends around. The friends we see on a daily
basis and the friends we only see when they (or we) are in need. I
gave you my heart but you sold it online is a dash of humor, a dash of
small-town life (with some public indecency thrown in for pleasure),
as well as a dash of reality. It is a fun novel that looks at the
seriousness of new crimes that are popping up in today's society, like
identity theft. The characters are human, but flawed. A joy to get to
know. And it feels like you are leaving the family you like to visit
when the book is over. A very enjoyable read.

Barb
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed