Phi Beta Bimbo [Mass Market Paperback]

Trish Jensen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Sociologist Leah Smith is sure that a blond bombshell with no credentials will get a job before a flat-chested Plain Jane with lots of skill and experience, so she morphs into "Candi-with-an-I" Devereaux. She has lots of help with her transformation from her brother, Steve, because to test the security in his company, he is pretending to be his twin sister, Stephanie. Of course Candi gets hired, but so does Leah. Then things really get tricky when Leah becomes interested in Steve's security expert, Mark, whom she thinks is a handyman. But Mark knows that Leah and Candi are one and the same. Meanwhile, sparks are also igniting between Steve and his corporate rival, Kate Bloom, who is also inexplicably attracted to Stephanie. As full of disguises as a Shakespeare play or a Mozart opera, this fast-paced, zany comedy is guaranteed to bring on the giggles. Fans of Susan Elizabeth Phillip's Nobody's Baby But Mine (1997), which also features a smart woman masquerading as a bimbo, will go for this hilarious romp, too. Shelley Mosley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Love Spell (January 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0505525852
• ISBN-13: 978-0505525857
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,518,803 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PHI BETA BIMBO is a cross dressing laugh out loud romp., December 28, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Phi Beta Bimbo (Mass Market Paperback)

Sociology graduate student Leah Smith decides to conduct a comparative analysis research study for her doctorate; her subject is to compare a bimbo to a nerd in the work place. To obtain data, Leah accepts two interviews under different names for employment at Just Peachy, her brother's cosmetics firm.

For one appointment she arrives dressed and acting like a "classic" bimbo; for the other she behaves as a nerd. Her sibling Steve hired security specialist Mark Colson to determine who in his successful company is selling secrets to competitors. Mark notices that the bimbo and the nerd are the same person. Leah is his prime suspect for why else would she pretend to be two other people besides herself.

The anecdotal approach seems lacking in terms of statistics, but not in terms of a wacky wonderful contemporary romance. The story line is fun as Leah as the student, the bimbo, and the nerd drives Mark to distraction. Though he suspects she is the culprit, he also finds he loves her in her two distinctive poses, but mostly for her energetic self. Adding to the insanity is that Steve to succeed in a female world comes up with Stephanie as his alter ego. PHI BETA BIMBO is a cross dressing laugh out loud romp.

Harriet Klausner

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! I'm Impressed!, March 21, 2005

By 

Book Lover (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Phi Beta Bimbo (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a longtime Trish Jensen fan, but wow, this book
is the best yet. What a unique premise for a book!
What a title! What great humor! Can't wait to see
what Trish does next.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Story Stuffed Full of Phi Beta Laughs, December 21, 2011

By 

Zoe Jones (Port Isabel, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Phi Beta Bimbo (Mass Market Paperback)

Leah Smith, who has just received her doctorate in Sociology wants to put her education and her theories to the test so she decides to see who would get the job at her brother Steve's cosmetic company, Just Peachy, a busty blond bimbo or a flat chested, smart as a whip, plain Jane. She applies for a job as the company receptionist as both stacked and flashy Candi Deveraus and as Leah Smith, plain and overqualified. And guess what, they both get the job on a trial basis.

But Leah isn't the only one at Just Peachy who is sometimes one person and sometimes another. Her brother Steve has a financial backer who insists that a cosmetic company must be run by a woman, so Steve invented a twin sister for himself. So sometimes he is the head honcho, or rather honchette, named Stephanie and at other times he plays himself as the financial advisor. Once Steve earns enough money to buy out the backer he plans to throw away Stephanie's high heels forever.

To further complicate Steve's live a competing company, Apple Blossom Cosmetics, has launched a number of new products that bear suspicious resemblances to his own products. Kate Bloom the CEO of Apple Blossom denies it, but Steve isn't buying it, even if he is attracted to her. So he hires an ex-FBI agent turned security consultant named Mark Colson to investigate. Mark notices right off the bat that Leah has two different identities, and she becomes his number one suspect, despite the fact that he is strongly attracted to her.

Leah, who only wanted to further her sociological studies, finds herself attracted to Mark as well and winds up acting as bait to catch the spy. Mark is as stubborn as any man alive, maybe even a little over the top, plus there is a whole lot of other stuff going on in this outrageously funny novel that I don't have room to mention here, but if anybody can juggle two different identities, an ex-FBI man and keep everything straight it's definitely a Phi Beta Bimbo.