Kill the Competition [Mass Market Paperback]

Stephanie Bond (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2003

Good girls finish last...

That's Belinda Hennessey's new philosophy in life, work, and love after moving to Atlanta to escape a disastrous six-hour marriage. Now she has a killer job, spunky carpooling gal-pals, and the velvety voice of a traffic helicopter reporter to guide her on her way. She's even feeling lively enough to contribute to the manual on relationships and men her friends are writing to kill time during their commute.

But then a traffic mishap with a drop-dead gorgeous cop unleashes a series of events that bolsters Belinda's new bad-girl attitude -- she gets a tune-up from "Officer Goodbody," catches the eye of the throaty traffic reporter, and is targeted for a big promotion. But before Belinda can say "corner office," a coworker is murdered, and evidence points to a carpool conspiracy! With a killer on the loose, her friends at one another's throats, and two men offering southern comfort, Belinda knows only one thing for certain: climbing to the top can be murder on a girl.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite its title and blood-red cover art, this tart, down-to-earth tale from Bond (I Think I Love You, etc.) focuses more on the nature of female friendships than on the murder mystery that throws the heroine's life into a tailspin. New to Atlanta, finance specialist Belinda Hennessey is glad to have her carpool mates to take her mind off her failed marriage. Before she can get too comfortable, however, she hits Officer Wade Alexander's police cruiser, misses a crucial meeting and clashes with her malevolent boss, Margo, who wants her to overlook the fact that the company they're merging with may have fudged its numbers. Belinda reluctantly agrees and then finds herself in hot water when Margo turns up dead. Though at times too gullible for her own good, Belinda comes into her own over the course of the novel. Her uncertainties about her job, her zany friends and her budding relationship with Wade are ably portrayed, as is the setting (Bond describes Atlanta's traffic as only a resident could). Clever snippets from the carpool quartet's work-in-progress, a relationship dos and don'ts book for women ("DON'T underestimate the extent to which men underestimate women"), leaven the story, as does the women's banter. Readers who prefer heady sex and romance won't find either here, but for those who appreciate fun, classy, relationship-centered tales: DO read this novel.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Stephanie Bond walked away from a corporate career in computer programming to write romantic fiction full time. These days she uses her computer keyboard to produce fast-paced novels with a comedic twist. Stephanie lives with her husband and her laptop in midtown Atlanta.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon (October 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060539836
• ISBN-13: 978-0060539832
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,055,487 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephanie Bond was several years into a corporate computer programming career when an instructor in her night school MBA program remarked that she had a flair for writing and encouraged her to submit one of her projects to academic journals. "But," Stephanie says, "all I could think was 'I wonder if I could write a romance novel?'" Bond grew up on a farm in eastern Kentucky where the entertainment choices were few. Luckily, she had a beloved aunt who shared her passion for reading. "When she visited once a year, she brought boxes and boxes of books by Victoria Holt and Phyllis Whitney and lush historicals--I was in heaven! I think I learned most of what I know about world history from historical romance novels. So suddenly thinking about writing in the genre of the books I loved so much was very exciting." After writing every spare moment for two years, Stephanie sold her first romantic comedy manuscript, IRRESISTIBLE? to Harlequin books. Two years later, she walked away from her corporate career to write commercial fiction full time. To date, she's published over 60 romance and mystery projects with various New York publishers, and is most well-known for her BODY MOVERS humorous mystery series. Stephanie lives in midtown Atlanta and is probably working on a new story at the very moment.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, August 22, 2004

By 

Emily Flippin Maruna "The Handmade Experiment" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kill the Competition (Mass Market Paperback)

After reading Bond's "Got Your Number", I swore I'd never pick up another one of her books. But I'd heard so many good things about "Kill the Competition" I had to give her another chance. And boy, am I glad I did!

"Kill the Competition", while not being a particularly steamy read, was extremely enjoyable. The mystery kept me captivated, the by-play between the carpool gals was interesting and funny, and the question of which man the main character Belinda would pick was a nice switch on most romances where the hero is slated from the beginning.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Comedy and Suspense Collide., November 15, 2003

By 

Huntress Reviews (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kill the Competition (Mass Market Paperback)

Belinda came to Atlanta hoping for a fresh beginning to heal her heartache and embarrassment. It is not long before she is involved in a carpool with three other women at work. The morning drive is spiced with girl talk, gossip, writing a relationship Do's and Don't's book, and the sexy traffic reporter's voice. Then, life gets interesting.

First, they have a car wreck, with a to die for cop. Then, Belinda begins breaking a few rules and confronts their "witchy" with a B boss, only to land a promotion as a result. Then, she runs into none other than the sexy voiced man and finds out there's more to him than a voice. She is also discovering that she has an eerie amount of things in common with a dead woman. All of that would be fine, except for one thing, there's a dead woman in her trunk, and it the top candidates for the killer are either Belinda or those closest to her.

**** Whatever kind of book you want, you will probably find it in Kill the Competition. Laughter, suspense, passion, and female bonding all combine in this realistically complex and sometimes whacky book. Ms. Bond has created magic, and she pulls more than one rabbit out of the hat to surprise her readers. ****

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner for Ms. Bond, November 5, 2003

By 

"marie_59" (Bement, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kill the Competition (Mass Market Paperback)

I LOVED this book.

Life long good girl, Belinda Hennessey moved to Atlanta to make a new start after the embarrassment of her failed marriage. I know, a lot of marriages fail these days and nobody moves four states away, but Belinda didn't even get the marriage certificate signed! So far, the start over is not going to well. Belinda has no couch, only one lonely living room chair and a TV that only gets reception when it's raining. The closest male relationship she's made since moving to Atlanta is with the voice of the helicopter traffic reporter she listens to on the way to and from work. Could things get any bleaker? What do you think?

When asked to join a car pool with three other women from Archer Furniture, Belinda accepts. On her first day in the car pool, Belinda is recruited to drive in the nightmare Atlanta traffic. Running tight for a very important meeting, Belinda is worried about not making it to work on time. When she takes her eyes off the road for a second, she promptly plows into a police cruiser (oops) driven by Lieutenant Wade Alexander (aka Lieutenant Goodbody). The wreck flattens a tire, breaks out a headlight and does major body damage, including breaking the latch on her trunk. When she finally makes it to work, Belinda's boss, Margo, is on the warpath and dresses Belinda down within earshot of her co-workers. Belinda snaps and tells Margo that if she's going to be treated like that she needs a raise. Margo corners Belinda in private and lets her know that she was impressed with Belinda's backbone and if Belinda will help her push through a merger with another company, Margo will make her CFO of the company. Belinda knows going along with this deal is wrong because she suspects some creative accounting but is too tempted by the promotion. Margo is a real witch and has alienated just about everyone who knows her. When her dead body ends up in the trunk of Belinda car, Belinda and her car pool buddies find themselves having to prove their innocence.

The characters in this book are great. The car pool buddies are wonderful. There's a good dose of the humor that I love in Ms. Bond's books along with a little more mystery. You got to read this one.