Customer Reviews

Name Dropping

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As she did in her previous books, Jane Heller in her latest book, Name Dropping, provides her readers with a light and witty reading experience.

Nancy Stern, a divorcee living in New York, spends her days as a nursery school teacher at the prestigious Small Blessing school. She spends her nights with friends listening to them chart their romances or lack of romances and wonders if she'll ever meet Mr. Right among the play-doh.

Then out of the blue she begins receiving invitations to society eveneings, phone calls from strange men and even beautiful bouquets of flowers. As she wonders what's going on, the mystery is solved when she learns that the celebrity interviewer and writer, another Nancy Stern, has moved into her building. And then when a man calls asking for a blind date with the other Nancy Stern, nursery school teacher Nancy decides its time to seize the man and spice up her life. What ensues is a comedy of errors and intellignece which only a witty writer like Jane Heller can deliver to her readers.

This is a fun book, most likely meant to be read this summer on the beach. But remember when you laugh out loud, others around you may be wondering why.

Have fun with this book.

Name Dropping begins with two women, both named Nancy Stern, living in the same building. One of the women interviews celebrities for a living and the other (our heroine) works at a preschool. When the preschool-teaching Nancy starts receiving invitations to parties with celebrities and phone calls from strange men wanting to sleep with her, she knows there's been a mix-up between the two Nancys. Annoyed, our Nancy accepts a blind date with a man who unintentionally called her while trying to reach the other Nancy. There's a murder and some missing jewels, and our Nancy has to try to sort everything out.

I really liked the characters in the book. Preschool-teacher Nancy was fun and believable, as was Bill (the blind date she fell for). Celebrity Nancy was easy to dislike. The kids at the preschool were entertaining as were the other teachers. I read the book quickly because I wanted to find out what happened to everyone.

While this was by no means a literary masterpiece, the writing style was enjoyable and easy to read. I felt like I could relate to the people and the surroundings even though I had never been in that particular situation. The plots and subplots kept the book moving and there wasn't much lag time between events.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy first-person, self-depracating novels about women who aren't gorgeous or important. I would also recommend it to people who like light mysteries without much horror or blood.

Meet Nancy Stern, nursery school teacher with the girl next door looks and a nice studio apartment on the upper east side of New York City. Life is easy, steady and rather unexciting until one day roses arrive for her from someone she doesn't know; then fancy party invitations and interesting phone calls. As Nancy investigates these odd occurrences, she finds that another Nancy Stern has moved into the penthouse of her building. She's blond, rich, gorgeous and writes celebrity profiles for popular magazines. She's got the kind of life that nursery school Nancy wishes for. So when a nice sounding man calls nursery school Nancy for a blind date, thinking she's the other Nancy Stern, our girl goes for it pretending to be celebrity Nancy. So far, so good, until celebrity Nancy is found murdered in her apartment. Confusing? Not really. Jane Heller gives you a light, witty, well written mystery full of funny scenes and irreverent dialogue. The writing is wonderful, the characters, interesting and the story line, just lots of fun. Did the killer get the wrong Nancy? Hang in there to the very satisfying ending and find out. This is a great book to take along to the beach. Read and enjoy!

I've read several of Jane Heller's novels, including Crystal Clear, Sis Boom Bah & Infernal Affairs. Name Dropping tops them all. Bill & Nancy were characters I cared about. Ms. Heller did a wonderful job of creating two completely different Nancys and putting them into a plot that, for me anyway, was believable. I'm sure that many of us have, at one time or another, wondered what it would be like to step into a more glamorous life and once we'd tasted it, I'm also sure that some of us would be, like Nancy Z, reluctant to let it go. Bill Harris was a man with a few secrets himself. How they are revealed and the ramifications to his relationship with Nancy was one surprise after another, held my interest, and kept me glued to the story.

Ms.Heller created an inriguing blend of mystery and romance and wove them together against the backdrop of two disparate environments: a pre-school and an upscale jewelry store. The cast of secondary characters was not so long as to bog down the story and contained enough variety to spice it up.

I liked this book much more than Sis Boom Bah, and hope Ms. Heller's next novel is as good as Name Dropping.

Heroine: average

What if two women with the same name lived in the same apartment building? Invariably they would accidentally swap mail and phone messages, but men . . . and murders?

When Bill Harris, with his extremely "nice" voice, calls Nancy Stern the disillusioned preschool teacher for a blind date she knows with that certain sinking feeling that this call is really meant for the glamorous freelance journalist in the penthouse, just like all the others. All right, so she didn't want to keep the other Nancy's mile long credit card bills, and she absolutely couldn't keep the fabulous fur coat that had been mistakenly delivered to her apartment. But jet set Nancy had so many men wooing her, would she really miss just one tall, handsome, sexy jeweler??

Unfortunately preschool Nancy gets more than she bargains for in this particular swap. When the other Nancy turns up dead preschool Nancy thanks her lucky stars just this once for being the "wrong Nancy". But when her purse is snatched, her apartment is ransacked, and her new boyfriend's mysterious past begins to reveal itself, she begins to wonder if she was so lucky after all.

What worked for me:

I love Heller's writing style. She's got a great knack for coming up with pithy phrases, such as labeling preschool Nancy as "The Brunette Who Keeps Her Head".

This novel particularly resonated with me because I've worked with children on and off for years, so the preschool scenes were a bit of a flashback for me.

Size-wise Nancy was a comfortable sounding average, who was fine with her figure until she met the other Nancy Stern, with her impossibly long legs and huge...[chest].

What didn't work for me:

I was sick to my stomach the entire time plain Nancy was trying to pass herself off as "fancy Nancy". I would hate trying to do something like that myself. (Odd, but I don't recall feeling that way when I read Goldsmith's "Switcheroo", and in that case the identity swap took place over a much longer period in the novel. Go figure!)

I kinda felt bad for glitzy Nancy, snarky woman that she was. Her life obviously didn't make her happy, her death was untimely, and she faded away from the novel once her purpose had been served, as did her mysterious daughter. Poor things.

Overall:

Fast-paced "Name Dropping" was a joy to read, but didn't quite live up to my expectations, which were set very high after reading Heller's "Princess Charming".

Warning: This book has some steamy moments and coarse words within its pages.

If you liked "Name Dropping" you might also enjoy "Crazy For You", "Switcheroo", "Princess Charming", "Infernal Affairs", "Plum Girl", The Stephanie Plum mystery series, "Welcome to Temptation", "Faking It", "Heaven in Your Eyes", "Getting Lucky", "Fast Women", or "Lola Carlyle Reveals All".

I've read all of Jane Heller's books and this one, once again, does not disappoint. It kept me up for a few nights with its clever dialogue, witty twists and turns, and down to earth heroine. I believe we can all identify with Nancy Stern in some way. Who hasn't envied someone else's life only to discover that it's not quite as great as you thought. If you want to be very entertained in a lighthearted way, read a Jane Heller novel. You will get your money's worth.

both nancy sterns in jane heller's latest book may find themselves being confused with one another with hilarious results.but it's no coincidence to those of us who always are waiting for her latest book,to find she has worked her magic once again. she has the most ironic and hip sense of humor,and her "throw away"comments on the foibles of our current society are priceless.i bet she would be fun to have dinner with.

What happens when two people with the same name live in the same building? You get the other person's mail and deliveries. But what if the person lives a life that only exists in your wildest dreams? That's what happens to Nancy Stern, a preschool teacher and divorcee from Manhattan. Her life couldn't be any duller, but then she starts receiving invitations to glamorous dinner parties and private film screenings with -- oh, no one special -- Harrison Ford. To her surprise, another woman named Nancy Stern -- a famous celebrity journalist -- has moved into the building. Also, Nancy receives notes from a mysterious admirer. Will Nancy become a usurper? There are some exciting twists and turns in the story.

This is a very fun book that should be read on a hot and sunny day at the beach. The situation is funny and entertaining; it will keep you turning the pages. Happy reading!

Preschool teacher Nancy Stern could be the "spokesperson" for every thirtysomething woman looking for a little excitment in her life. I love her character because she has a passion for teaching and helping children who in some cases are nothing but "trophies" in their parent's lives. Then "WHAM". She gets forced into another woman's life who just happens to have the same name she does. Having a "what the hell" attitude she accepts a phone call, meets a wonderful man, falls in love and changes her life for the better. Man, I wonder if there is a woman out there with my name with an interesting career.

This is a "cute book," with an adorable heroine, nice guy hero and many, many coincidences in the plot. It's not nearly as good as one of Susan Isaacs' books,which are frothy but intelligent. If you want to read something that's non-demanding but a bit more substantial than a Harlequin romance, this book is ideal. I was sorry I paid for the hardback.