Customer Reviews

No Such Thing As A Good Blind Date: A Brandy Alexander Mystery

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In No Such Thing as a Good Blind Date Ms. Fredman continues with the life and trials of investigative reporter Brandy Alexander as she moves back to her hometown of Philadelphia. We follow Brandy through the perils of being a homeowner, a good friend, struggling with her feeling for the men in her life, and investigating yet another murder. The humor is wonderful! I highly recommend this book to everyone.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these books!!!!! An Amazon discussion group friend recommended these books to me last year and I'm soooo glad she did! Brandy seems to stumble into everything in life, including the homeless street kids in "No Such Thing As A Free Ride". Even though the storyline is dark and serious, the romance and laugh-out-loud humor balance it all into an excellent read. "Free Ride" is the 4th in the series and I would suggest starting with "No Such Thing As a Secret", the first, so you can start with background on Brandy, but each one is a great read on its own. Shelly has a Facebook page, an internet site, and a live yahoo chat group with a lot of fun people participating. Come join us! [...]

March 10, 2010

This is my favorite series. Perfect balance of humor, mystery and romance. Evanovich fans will love Brandy Alexander. I can't wait for book #5!

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
I debated between 4 and 5 stars, but I went with 5 because the author does such a good job of writing a likeable, funny heroine who lies all the time. I was so impressed that I referred to this author on my Profile Page as an example of how to write a character who lies.

This is book 2 in a series about Brandy. These are not romance novels because Brandy is not "with a guy" at the end of each book. But there are two potential love interests. There was a little more romance happening in book 2 which appealed to me. This is not my preferred genre, so I was surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did.

Brandy lies all of the time to most people including herself - and they usually know she's lying. A couple examples follow. A love interest asks her if she's been with a man before. She's only been with two, but she lies and says "Yes. Of course. Lots." As Brandy is eavesdropping on someone at a restaurant she tells herself "I wasn't eavesdropping. I'm sure of it. I was just studying" (the waitress for pointers).

There may be some editing issues, but they didn't bother me.

STORY BRIEF:
Brandy is currently unemployed and looking for her ideal job (investigative reporter). She does part-time waitressing in her brother's restaurant. Toodie is a handyman who needs a place to stay. He becomes Brandy's roommate in exchange for repairing things. Brandy desperately needs some plumbing repairs which she can't afford. Toodie's ex-girlfriend is killed, and Toodie is on the run. He calls Brandy asking for help. She starts investigating, and a series of strange things happen. The potential love interests for Brandy are: sexy Bobby her former boyfriend who is now unhappily married to a woman with mental problems. He is a police detective who constantly tells Brandy to stop doing what she is doing for her own safety. She ignores him. Nick a slightly dangerous Hispanic man who owns a martial arts studio and has connections with underworld types. Brandy frequently goes to Nick for help. He likes her and helps her.

DATA:
Story length: 280 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: 1, just over a page long. Setting: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Copyright: 2006. Genre: humorous female mystery, potential romance to be continued.

OTHER BOOKS:
Following is the Brandy Series in order. You can read any book as a stand-alone, but I think it's best if you read them in order. The first book sets up important things to know.

4 stars. No Such Thing As A Secret
5 stars. No Such Thing As A Good Blind Date
5 stars. No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
5 stars. No Such Thing As A Free Ride

DISCLOSURE:
The author sent this book to me free of charge, requesting a review. I purchased the other three books in the series.

This is a well-written book that leans heavily on some of the same underlying themes as Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. Both series have a perky heroine who won't let anything stand in her way, even if she has no clue what she's doing. Both heroines are involved with a love triangle between a sexy cop and a slighly dangerous Hispanic man with unheard of skills in and out of the bedroom.

Having said that, however, this is most definitely not an Evanovich rip-off. The plot, while a tad slow in the beginning, picks up nicely and has some beautifully written moments. Brandy Alexander is a very engaging narrator, and some of her observations and witty ripostes are hysterical. I look forward to reading the next installment!

And I was thrilled to see her along with her eclectic and sometimes eccentric mix of friends and family. This second book in the "No Such Thing As A" series is a funny as the first with the same page-turning, "I must know what happens" next quality. Brandy is still as lovable, if not always sensible, as ever. Her drive to help a friend or an underdog gets her in a ton of trouble but it's hard to fault her when her motivations are so good. And besides...if she didn't get into all that trouble, we wouldn't need to see so much of the 2 "hot dudes" in her life - Bobby (yum!) and Nick (yum with a side of gulp!) If you want a great mystery that keeps you wanting to read more but also makes you laugh a lot along the way, this is the series for you!

In book two of the Brandy Alexander mystery series, Brandy's moved back to her hometown of Philadelphia and is now proud owner of her parents' rowhouse. Brandy isn't having much luck finding a job so agrees to provide room and board to Toodie Ventura, a former friend, in exchange for plumbing work on the old house. Toodie turns out to be a great roommate but has one flaw: he keeps bringing home junk and storing it in the basement. When Brandy opens a freezer Toodie told her contains steak, she finds a dismembered woman's body instead. Enter Brandy's ex, cop Bobby DiCarlo, and the fireworks begin. Toodie disappears and Brandy's stuck with a constipated dog he left behind. An attorney claims the dog is his and a burglar tries to steal him, and Brandy becomes suspicious. Toodie calls Brandy, claiming innocence and asking her to find Glen, the man who gave him the freezer. No problem there: Glen's stalking Brandy. If that isn't bad enough, so is Bobby's wife, both with evil intent. Brandy goes on the run, straight into the arms of sexy Nicholas Santiago.

Brandy Alexander is a fun character; a woman who isn't afraid of a few calories and is caught up in a triangular relationship with her ex and a man most consider dangerous. Fredman draws her reader into a humorous plot surrounding zany characters and laugh-out-loud scenarios and dialogue. The South Philadelphia setting is full of life and flavor, the writing witty and charming, topped by excellent first-person narrative.

I'm enjoying all the "No Such Thing" books. They are fast to read, witty and enjoyable. I've read the first two and have the third on my bookstand.

This is the second book of the series and enjoyed as much as the first book! It has just the right amount of everything to make the book so much fun to read! I would highly recommend this book to anyone!

I enjoyed this book much more than I did 'No Such Thing As A Secret', even though I enjoyed that one as well. I found that since I knew the characters a bit more, there was a lot of anticipation as to what was going to happen. It is a very entertaining book, so much so, that I read it in one day. Keep up the good work Shelly. I'm definitely a fan. If you haven't read any of these books, and you enjoy this genre, you must get into them.