Though it started out promising, with a jilted heroine chucking peaches at her philandering fiancee, half-way through and just couldn't muster up the will to care anymore. Gone With a Handsomer Man is a book with an identity crisis. It can't decide if it wants to be a mystery or a romance, so it tries to be both and ends up doing neither very well.

For something that should be a quick, snappy, fast-paced read, the plot goes nowhere rather quickly, taking nearly a quarter of the book to get to the More...

This book was perfect. It was just what I was in the mood for. I read through it quickly and have already marked its sequel (which doesn’t come out until April 2012) as “must-read”.
What I loved about the book was that it was pure “chic-lit” but I didn’t feel as though I was losing any brain-cells while reading it. And while I did guess who the murderer was, I didn’t mind at all. I liked watching the story unfold and there were some twists along the way that I did not see coming. I felt like I c More...

I really wanted to like this book which I won in the Good Reads giveaway. There were moments in it where I was taken back to the days when I first starte dating my husband, but only briefly and only in the first part of the book. Then it got a bit ridiculous. There's this girl who seems kinda dumpy and dumb and yet she gets all the guys over these beautiful, intelligent (albeit some murderous)women? Not likely. Coop chose the wrong woman- Ava was my favorite character in the book! I mean, what k More...

I decided to read this book basically because I liked the title and it sounded like a fun read. Well, I've seldom been so disappointed. Parts of it were fun, and I kept with it in the hopes that at least the romance between Teeny and Coop would have a satisfying conclusion. That part was dealt with in the hastiest way possible, and then an abrupt cliffhanger twist left me feeling cheated and manipulated. Obviously, I'm supposed to await the next installment with breathless anticipation. Sorry. Y More...

Teeny Templeton was preparing for her upcoming wedding. When her cake design class was cancelled, she came home to her fiancé, Bing, playing naked badminton with two women. Obviously, the wedding was off. But then her fiancé was found dead and she was the prime suspect for murder. Teeny's lawyer, Coop, is her extremely hot first love that broke her heart. The calamity of characters and events surrounding Teeny while trying to prove her innocence is nothing short of entertaining.

Gone with a Hand More...

Cute book. Stuck home with a bad case of poison ivy and a bag of books from a neighbor.....

STILL READING: I don't usually write a review while still reading a book, but this is exceptional. I am laughing out loud, find the thought process of the characters in tune with myself, and the situations intriguing. It's a little on the edge, but it suits my mood perfectly right now. I'm only around page 50, but thoroughly entranced by this novel. Michale Lee West? She's the best!

So glad my library has more by this author. I'll be reading them all.
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Excellent! A mystery to solve, an u More...

This is one of the zanier comic mysteries I've read in a while. Heroine Teeny Templeton is a southern girl from a peach farm, raised by an aunt when her mother deserted her at the age of nine. What Teeny knows--and what gives her comfort--is food, learned at Aunt Bluette's knee. When depressed, she cooks; when really deperessed, she dreams up lethal recipes for her enemies, like Skewer Your Ex Kabobs or peach pie with the poisonous pits ground up in it. Feeling in love? Make Smother Your Love Gr More...

4.5!! I won this book for making a blog comment and it was such a nice, funny, book to read I just had to pass the word around to tell you how good it is. I got it yesterday and started it after dinner and couldn't put it down. The main character Teeny finds her fiance Bing playing naked badmitton with 2 skanks so her engagement is off. Days later he turns up dead. She now has to figure out who the murderer is and gets help from an old boyfriend Cooper O'Malley. The side characters of Ava, Red B More...

Gone with a Handsomer Man is one of those books that has you either laughing out loud at the trouble Teeny gets into or has you shaking your head in sympathy for the pain she endures. Ms. West uses comedy, love, passion, and mystery to give us this cautionary tale about allowing a man to control our lives from the items we wear to how we speak. The book could have used more of a pre-breakup story between Teeny and Bing as I feel it would have given me more of a chance to loathe the big jerk and More...

Teeny is an out-of-work pastry chef who is affianced to Bing. He has given her a present of some cake decorating lessons but when Teeny arrives home because of a canceled lesson, she finds Bing playing naked badminton with 2 also naked women. Teeny being a woman of heated passions climbs a peach tree and begins lobbing peaches. Teeny is arrested and given a restraining order.

The setting is Charleston. Teeny moves into one of the historic homes downtown courtesy of Bing's aunt Dora whom he dislik More...

Originally posted at http://buriedbybooks.blogspot.com

FTC: Review copy provided by Authors on the Web

I had no idea what to expect from Gone with a Handsomer Man. I had never read a thing by Michael Lee West. I do read a few mysteries now and then, but the cover of this one almost seemed very chick lit. And it's being pubbed in hardcover. Which I tend to avoid.

Wow am I glad I read this book. I read most of it on the plane ride to LA for the RT convention and earned myself some 'is she crazy?' sta More...

3.5 stars

Gone With a Handsomer Man is a zany, comic Southern mystery. Teeny Templeton catches her fiancé Bing naked playing badminton in his back yard with two skanky nude girls. Teeny is heartbroken and enraged, so she climbs a peach tree and uses green peaches as bombs to assault the three cheaters. Bing calls the police, and Teeny is arrested for trespassing and assault. Stung by the unfairness of the entire episode and looking for a place to live, she turns to Bing's Aunt Dora for help. Aunt More...

he novel begins whenTeeny comes home to find her fiance, Bing, playing naked badminton with two "ladies" in their backyard. She takes to a tree and pelts them all with peaches which gets her in trouble with the law and makes her the prime suspect when he ends up dead not too long after.


Gone with a Handsomer Man starts with a bang and never lets up. It had me laughing and reading to the very end. I was eager to figure out the mystery of who killed Bing and I wanted to read more and more about the More...

Teeny finally has it together. She’s getting married soon to a handsome, well-to-do man. Nothing could go wrong. Except when she finds her fiancé playing badminton with two women. And they’re all forgot to get dressed. How could it get any worse? Well, her ex-fiancé is found dead a few days later. And she’s the prime suspect. But what do they have besides speculation? Try the fact that she was found at the scene of the murder.

What Teeny needs now is an amazing lawyer and a kitchen. Baking is her More...

I'm not the biggest fan of mystery, especially something this cutesy, but I really enjoyed this book! Part of it was the setting, which is Charleston, South Carolina. Before having gone to Georgia, the way things are done in the South would not have made a big impact on me. But now having had a taste of the South, it makes a big difference in how I tackle books and characters from there. I really enjoyed this one because the characters seemed real to me.

Teeny Templeton is from Georgia but she i More...

Leaves you wanting more!

Another great ER book!! Gone with a handsomer man kept me interested until the very end. This is a mystery, thriller and a little romance mixed in.

Teeny is the main character in this story. Her life is turned upside down when she finds her fiancé playing naked badminton with a couple of girls. Teeny doesn't go running she throws peaches at all of them. She gets arrested and a restraining order is put in place.

While she is not allowed to be near Bing, Teeny receives a text message from him asking More...

On the back of the book, one of the blurbs states that they hope that there is going to be a sequel...I am with the blurb writer! I love mysteries of all kinds and in the tippy top are the ones taking place in the South. There's humor, food and superb characters along with the mystery solving.


I adore Teeny! She is the epitome of my vision of the strong, sassy, git'r'done Southern woman who finds herself in a pickle and goes about doing what needs doing to get out of it.


The dialogue tickled me n More...

All Teeny Templeton Wanted In Life Was True Love, A Set Of Copper Bottom Pots, And A Good Recipe For Red Velvet Cake, But When She Met Bing Laden At Her Aunt's Funeral She Was Leery Of His Attentions But He Wore Hear Down And She Boarded Up The Georgia Peach Farm And Went To Live With And Marry Bing In South Carolina. As An Engagement Present Big Bought Her Baking Classes But When She Got There To Door Was Locked, She Decided To Go Home And Got The Surprise Of Her Life As She Saw Him Naked Playi More...

I'd never would have picked this book was it not for my book club, but I'm glad I read it because I loved it! How to describe it is the hardest part. Mix a murder mystery (add a few murders as you go), romance, deceit, humor and a whole lot of cake baking, all with a large dose of Southern flair, and it barely gives the book justice.

I'm usually good at guessing mysteries but I never saw this one coming and I loved how things unwrapped, up to the very last sentence. Michael Lee West clearly does More...

I am now a fan of this author. I'm going to be looking out for her other books!
Teeny Templeton is a self-taught cook, baker, and chef looking for work in Charleston, a little ways away from her home, a Georgia peach farm. She's happily engaged until she finds her fiance playing naked badminton with gorgeous skanks. She went from engaged to enraged to unsupervised probation with a restraining order.

All she needs to do is stay out of trouble for six months and get a job both of which prove harder More...

I feel in love with Michael Lee West when I read Crazy Ladies years ago. I'm so excited she's out with a new book, and better yet, a Southern Fiction Foodie book!

I loved this book! It hit all my favorites notes - mystery, southern fiction, foodie fiction, plucky heroine & zany adventures. The story was entertaining & the the characters endearing, I was a bit surprised at the ending and I truly hope that a sequel is in the works.

Thank you, First Reads. After receiving 3 appalling books from First Reads, I did not think I will win a good book. I finally got a book worth reading, Gone With a Handsomer Man. It is really fun, hilarious, easy to read book. The characters,Teeny, Coop, Dora, Ava are all interesting and well-developed. I liked all their eccentricities and quirks. The book is a good bland of murder mystery, romance and chick lit, which are all my favorite genres. The recipes throughout the book were a nice touch More...

I wanted to like this book. I found the beginning a little interesting. However, I quickly became frustrated with how weak and passive she was. Everything happened to her. She does not seem to have will or common sense.

I have read romance novels that are combined with mysteries and some people do them well. This one does not. I had a very hard time believing that Teenie would be more concerned about her relationship with Coop than she was about being found not guilty of murder. There comes a lar More...

Don’t you love when you find yourself reading the right book at the right time? You know, what I mean, don’t you? When you are totally in the mood for deep and scary, and your book is filling that need, or you want a nice period piece to take you back to a kinder, gentler time, or you want some frivolous beach read.

Well, during the tornadoes, we had no power, no internet and no cable. Thank goodness, my kindle was all charged up, and waiting for me was, Gone with a Handsomer Man by Michael Lee More...

This is hardly a mystery. One of the inherent issues is that this book is trying to be a few too many things, and in doing so it isn't truly successful as any. It still may have gelled into something enjoyable except for the problem of the main character. We as the readers are obviously supposed to be charmed by Teeny, but it's difficult to have respect for her or her choices. Never a good sign when you like the protagonist's rival more than you care for her, though I applaud the author's effort More...

I expected more from this book, but at the same time I didn't completely dislike it. What saved this book for me was Teeny.
She's like the ditz in horror movies go goes into the basement even after we tell her not to. She's so naive, it's endearing.
It's hard to categorize because the the mystery is not really well developed or even the point of the novel.
The romance is a decent sub-plot, although I kept expecting a twist there. The sex scenes were short and steamy.

Three words to describe this More...