Customer Reviews

Still Mr. & Mrs.

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Special Agent Angela Holland believed she was happy. Who wouldn't be with a great job that kept her in shape and a boyfriend like Rod Bishop, rated as the Hollywood Hunk of the Year. Unfortunately, Special Agent Angela Holland is still married to Special Agent Bobby Holland. A year and a half ago, Bobby's brother died and the already stoic Bobby completely closed up emotionally, even to his wife.

Meanwhile, President William Riordan has received death threats for his mother at the White House. He solicits the Secret Service to send in a married couple undercover to his mother's house in Hassenfeld, Illinois. Upon arrival to their assignment, Angela and Bobby act as the cook and butler respectively. Angela quickly learns how to cook food that is a little more grand. However, she also learns the feelings she still has for Bobby.

Angela knows a relationship would never work betwixt the two of them because of Bobby's emotional detachment. . .yet they still manage to sleep together in their servent's quarters on a bed the size of a towel.

The estranged couple fights while Mrs. "Crazy Daisy" Riordan finds love of her own in Professor Gerald Dumaurier Gerrard. Comedy ensues as Mrs. Riordan discovers her help is part of the Secret Service and disappears every chance she gets.

McBride created a wonderful story, filled to the brim with tension only a married couple can relate to. Bobby and Angela sincerely love each other and decide that their love takes work. The author speaks through Angela when she states she wants a macho man who for once would cry and wear his heart on his sleeve. Don't we all.

Margaret Riordan, "Crazy Daisy and mother to the president", soundly earns her reputation of irascible behavior, even taking pot shots at the Secret Service assigned to protect her. When her housekeepers leave for an extended vacation, Margaret appeals to her son to locate some help. She quickly catches on that her new domestic help are really more Secret Service people assigned to her protection, but she does not know of the new threat against her life.

A married couple is assigned to guard the president's mother, attempting to maintain their cover even after Margaret may have caught on. Unfortunately, they have also been separated for almost a year, while neither can remove the ring from their finger. But Special Agent Angela Holland's life has moved on, with a hunky movie star pursuing her favors and begging her to see a lawyer so that he might place his own ring upon her finger.

A year and a half ago, Special Agent Bobby Holland's brother died in the line of duty. With horrible parents, Bobby had always looked after his kid brother, even talking him into signing up with the Secret Service. All of his life Bobby has fiercely guarded his emotions, carefully repressing his feelings. Sadly, it was his inability to express his grief over his kid brother's death that finally drove Angela out the door. Now Angela must act as cook, and Bobby as butler, in an effort protect the president's mother. The question remains as to who will protect them from each other, or their own hearts.

Author Mary McBride demonstrates a dazzling gift for creating unforgettable characters and ridiculously comedic moments in STILL MR. AND MRS. McBride achieves an unusually balanced authorial tone, maintaining a sizzling chemistry between Angela and Bobby without the graphic details common to much contemporary romance. Angela desperately needs Bobby to reveal his heart to her, and his initial effort to "wear his heart on his sleeve" is both amusing and poignant. Their marital struggles are convincing, humorous, and endearing as they struggle with a tiny bed and broken hearts. While readers may be a bit skeptical of a first mother's resentment of protection, Margaret's powerful character will quickly earn the heart of the most discerning reader. This fast paced romantic suspense will keep the pages turning and comes highly recommended.

The plot has been well-covered by others so I won't!

I loved the fact that Angela "the cook" couldn't! It was so funny the way she tried to come up with new ways to serve meals. And Craisy Daisy was a woman after my own heart! She sure didn't let the fact that her son was president to cramp her style! Bobby and Angela obviously belonged together even though Angela didn't seem to realize it.

Angela did however confuse me. She came from a very demonstrative family who are constantly crying. She doesn't like it, yet she wants Bobby to be that way. Bobby had a childhood that forced him to be the adult, the strong one, never showing emotion. He was working hard to show his feelings but Angela told him she would leave him unless he cried. Everyone grieves and/or shows emotion in different ways and we should respect that. But she wanted Bobby to fit in the mold of how she thought he should react. She was also very "push-me, pull-me". One minute telling Bobby she loved him, the next telling him she was getting a divorce. She kept going back and forth which got a little annoying after awhile.

Of course, it all worked out in the end! My copy is waterlogged since I read it at the beach and couldn't put it down! And I've already ordered "My Hero".

"Still Mr. and Mrs." by Mary McBride, tell the story of Bobby and Angela Holland, two Secret Service agents on the brink of divorce, buy threats made on "Crazy Daisy" Riordan bring these two people back together.
While I did enjoy the book the reason that I didn't not give five stars was the fact though out the book, Bobby seem to take center stage in dealing with the threat and Angela's abilities as an agent were never really shown. Also the ending seem a little rushed to as if the writer realized that she needed to end the book. Overall, it was good book, but not one that I would keep.

Secret Service agents Angela and Bobby Holland are assigned to protect the President's mother in her hometown of Hassenfeld, Illinois. The trouble is, the Hollands have been separated for almost a year and now have been asked to work together undercover as the married housekeeper and butler. And the other trouble is, no one knows how seriously the recent threats against the President's mother should be taken. So with a feisty senior citizen under their eagle eyes, the Hollands try to make the best of the personal situation: individually wondering about the future of their relationship and simultaneously taking part in drop-of-a-hat domestic squabbles. The way these two go at each other's throats (and hearts) is reminiscent of Ed Stevens and Carol Vessey, seen Wednesday nights on NBC. We think they really do love each other, but even they are not so sure.

McBride's use of varied third person narrative lets us alternate into the minds of Angela, Bobby, and even presidential matriarch Daisy Riordan. This technique accelerates the action and builds the tension so much so that on page 324 of this 358-page book, the reader figures out the truth at the same moment Bobby Holland does. "And then it hit him. Like a bolt of lightning..." From that point on, you'd better be in a comfortable seat, 'cause you ain't goin' nowhere 'til it's over.

I started reading this book when I needed to waste time in a shopping mall food court, and everyone around me probably wondered why I was smiling and why a laugh burst out every once in a while. This book is so good, you *will* smile and laugh at it. I finished it in one weekend.

Every woman who reads this book should afterward loan it to the nearest man. It's not Tom Clancy or John Grisham, but the details of Secret Service machinations and expectations should be enough to interest male readers. And here's some food for thought for those of you who've finished the book: How prophetic is it that Daisy ends up being a concerned mother figure to Bobby? Remember, she gave birth to a son whose nickname could easily have been "Billy."

I found this book quite by accident. I had never read anything by this author. The book was great, containing very entertaining dialogue, cool characters, romance, and mystery. It is the story of two married Secret Service agents who are tasked with protecting the President's mother. Since they are currently separated when the assignment comes through, there are some comical moments. If you like Nora Roberts, Jayne Ann Krentz, you will love this book.

Angela and Bobby Holland are married but separated Secret Service agents living on opposite coasts, forced to go undercover as a cook and butler to protect the president's mother from some threatening letters received at the White House. Angela thought that she was taking steps to move on with her life - even going so far as to date a Hollywood hunk, but one look at her estranged ex and she knows that in close quarters, he'll have her exactly where he wants her. And Bobby still wants her. The two are polar opposites - he illegitimate and from a broken home with an alcoholic for a mother, and she with a huge Italian-Catholic family full of criers. Bobby became the family patriarch as a child and has not been able to forgive himself for his younger brother dying in the line of duty.

The presidents widowed mother Margaret "Crazy Daisy" Riordan has no use for the agents assigned to protect her; she is anything but crazy - just crotchety. And in Bobby (who she will only refer to as Robert) she finds a kindred spirit, as she shares his manner of detachment and inability to wear his heart on his sleeve, which is what caused the rift in the Holland's marriage. But Daisy schemes to get the two back together, while taking a second chance on love herself.

With a plot reminiscent of the movie "Guarding Tess," McBride's light suspense romance is humorous but just seems to be missing something to make it a cohesive and truly satisfying read.

I liked STILL MR.and MRS.; it is well-written with interesting characters, especially the former First Lady. Mary McBride made the marital tension between Angela and Bobby believable and the reason for their separation understandable. It was disappointing, though,to see Angela's experience with the Secret Service down-played and her professional intuition not considered in the midst of things, only her husband's.

Because he withdrew within himself rather than talk to grief counselors or even his beloved spouse, Angela Holland left Bobby. He remains in DC while his wife now works in the LA office of the Secret Service. When a threat considered viable by the Secret Service occurs to President Riordan's mother, Director Mateiro arranges for Bobby and Angela to pretend to be husband-wife servants in order to protect the First Mom.

Bobby and Angela arrive in Hassenfeld, Indiana to temporarily work for and keep safe Margaret "Crazy Daisy" Riordan. As the couple squabble and bicker, their love remains strong. However, both knows duty is first and that means keeping the First Mom and her son safe from a viable threat before exploring their future potentially together.

Though many readers will be skeptical that a First Mom can reject secret service protection, fans will enjoy the action packed romantic suspense thriller. The story line never slows down as it plays out on two levels: that of a serious threat to Crazy Daisy and that of the relationship between the two undercover agents. Readers who delight in a fast-paced thriller filled with plenty of romantic tension and political intrigue will enjoy Mary McBride's STILL MR. AND MRS.

Harriet Klausner