Ms. Simon Says [Mass Market Paperback]

Mary McBride (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2004

Opposites attract when an advice columnist gets involved with a rogue cop.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this frustrating effort from McBride (My Hero, etc.), the glossy world of Chicago advice columnist Shelby Simon collapses when she becomes the target of a letter bomber. Police lieutenant Mick Callahan drives her to her parents' mansion in the Michigan hinterlands, then stays to keep her safe. Amid rural pleasures, the two fall in love despite the fears Mick carries after being betrayed by both his mother and his late wife. Though others are killed, Shelby encounters little danger until the evening of the local Halloween costume gala, where the culprit makes a final attempt on her life. McBride's letter bomb premise will strike many readers as implausible; her story displays an obvious lack of awareness of how a multi-state letter bombing campaign would play out in the post–9/11 world. In addition, Shelby emerges as smug, controlling and, for an advice columnist, wildly unobservant; among other blunders, she actually draws the bomber—someone she has ample clues to distrust—directions to her hideaway. Although McBride's portrait of the rough-edged yet sensitive Mick is drawn with winning depth and the marital sparring between Shelby's parents is funny and insightful, these virtues fail to offset the story's slapdash plotting and unsympathetic heroine.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Shelby Simon finds it surreal that news outlets are reporting that letter bombs are exploding all over the country due to her advice column. Her boss decides to put her column on hiatus, and the local police send a burnt-out cop to play bodyguard, but it isn't until Shelby's mailman is a victim right before her eyes that she truly believes she's in danger. Mick Callahan is in no way eager to babysit, but when the letter bomb explodes, he's all business as he throws Shelby into his old fast-back and screams away from the scene. They stop at his run-down apartment, pick up a few things, and make their way to Shelby's summer home. It doesn't take long before she starts seeing Mick as more than a cynical bodyguard, or for him to see Shelby as attractive and affable rather than as the stuck-up snob he first imagined. McBride offers a witty and effervescent story of unexpected love. Maria Hatton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Forever (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446613746
• ISBN-13: 978-0446613743
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.8 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,797,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Loads of fun....4 and half stars, March 4, 2004

By 

Debbie Jett - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ms. Simon Says (Mass Market Paperback)

After reading MS. SIMON SAYS, I've added Mary McBride's backlist to my "must have" list.

Wow! Ms. McBride takes a fairly standard 'bodyguard' storyline and gives it a totally fresh face with engaging characters, clever dialogue and heavy dollops of humor. The main setting of this story - a small lake town in Michigan - and the author's knack for adding some nice little touches to her character's lives, only added to its appeal.

Ms. McBride definitely has a flair for creating warm, believable characters. Shelby Simon, is a quirky, meddlesome and fun heroine in contrast to the dour, wounded-hero type, Mick Callahan. But this duo balance each other beautifully and are electrifying together. This pair is dynamic, intelligent, inspired, with just loads of sexual chemistry. And its refreshing to read a hero, particularly one as gruff as Mick, admit - at least to himself - that he's wild about the heroine. MS. SIMON SAYS is also peppered with well-written secondary characters, particularly Shelby's parents.

The suspense storyline in MS. SIMON SAYS is equally well done, but Ms. McBride wisely chose, I think, to distance the death and mayhem from her characters. The result is a story that sparkles with warmth and has a lots of appeal - a real gem.

Debbie Jett
...

4.0 out of 5 stars Dear Abby meets Murder, She Wrote, September 21, 2007

By 

Tracy Vest (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ms. Simon Says (Mass Market Paperback)

Syndicated advice columnist Shelby Simon is targeted by a bomber; letter bombs addressed to her have arrived simultaneously at several papers that carry her column. Chicago police dismantle the one in her office and arrange to put her in protective custody until the culprit is apprehended. Reluctantly, widowed Mick Callahan is assigned to hide her at her parent's home in northern Michigan, but before they leave, a letter is received at her apartment, and the mail carrier is killed. Mick immediately takes control and gets her out of harm's way. As he comes to grips with his feelings about the loss of his deceased wife, sparks ignite between he and Shelby, forcing them to confront their feelings for each other, while a mad bomber is still out for vengeance.

McBride has created a charismatic and tortured hero in Mick. Shelby at first comes off kind of petulant, but soon readers will warm to her just as Mick does. The mystery surrounding Mick's dead wife is very intriguing, though the identity of the bomber is pretty easy to ascertain. While the story requires you to suspend belief in light of mail terrorists like the "Unabomber," her story is engaging, and the couple's romance sizzles. Followed up by "Say it Again, Sam," featuring Shelby's kid sister, Beth.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 stars..., May 19, 2004

By 

Samantha (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ms. Simon Says (Mass Market Paperback)

Not a bad book... Not great, but not bad. Definitely farfetched. As if the cops would really let the target of some bomb threats CHOOSE where to go, as long as she got away. And her meddling was pretty annoying. Okay, so I didn't really like the heroine, Shelby. I did like Mick - his background made the story somewhat more interesting. I'm not usually very into romantic suspense, but this book wasn't bad. Still, I'll probably pass on the sequel, "Say it Again, Sam".