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Spying in High Heels
(High Heels #1)
by
L.A. shoe designer, Maddie Springer, lives her life by three rules: Fashion. Fashion. Fashion. But when she stumbles upon the work of a brutal killer, her life takes an unexpected turn from Manolos to murder. And things only get worse when her boyfriend disappears - along with $20 million in embezzled funds - and her every move is suddenly under scrutiny by the LAPD's sexi
...more
ebook, 250 pages
Published
October 25th 2010
by Gemma Halliday
(first published January 1st 2006)
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Katharina
It is not appropriate for someone under the age of eighteen. :-/
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30
I would expect better writing and command of the English language from someone who has been the "recipient of numerous awards" (according to her website). There were times I had to stop and re-read a sentence to make sense of it, due to lack of punctuation. I had to stop counting the dangling participles and incomplete sentences, which were very distracting.
Aside from the language and writing errors, this book is a light beach read at best. By the time I hit the halfway mark in the book, I reall ...more
Aside from the language and writing errors, this book is a light beach read at best. By the time I hit the halfway mark in the book, I reall ...more
Better than I thought it would be. The only thing I found is that being written in first person, the entire book is in valley girl speak, and the fashion angst (duh read the title) got to be a bit much. "This book is so not cranky old man." But in the author's defense I don't think that I would fall in her target demographic. Despite being permanently caught in a 90201 wannabe status, Maddie, the protagonist, does have a vein of morality and is a very smart young woman. Not normally my type read
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3.5 stars
What I didn't like: First, all the endless details about what everyone is wearing every second of the day. Bor-ring. Second, the heroine spends the first half of the book unwilling to take an EPT test to know if she's pregnant or not (it starts to be funny in the second half of the book when she finally has the balls but keeps screwing up the test).
What I did like: The author's voice. That's what kept me reading. She's funny as a crutch. (I mean that in the best possible way.) And Ramir ...more
What I didn't like: First, all the endless details about what everyone is wearing every second of the day. Bor-ring. Second, the heroine spends the first half of the book unwilling to take an EPT test to know if she's pregnant or not (it starts to be funny in the second half of the book when she finally has the balls but keeps screwing up the test).
What I did like: The author's voice. That's what kept me reading. She's funny as a crutch. (I mean that in the best possible way.) And Ramir ...more
Needless to say, I've completely eliminated Gemma Halliday from my to-read lists. Geez, halfway through her book, I was dying to put it down. Unfortunately, my tendency to always finish a book forced me to somehow get through that.
I really don't even know where to start with this book. I like chick-lit, don't get me wrong, but that was SO chick-lit, it was just all fluff. I don't even know in how much time the book took place in. This woman lost all sense of time. And Ramirez's and Maddie's rel ...more
I really don't even know where to start with this book. I like chick-lit, don't get me wrong, but that was SO chick-lit, it was just all fluff. I don't even know in how much time the book took place in. This woman lost all sense of time. And Ramirez's and Maddie's rel ...more
Ok so this book was on my TBR shelf and was recommended to me as part of a book club. I got the book for free from Amazon and when I downloaded it, I didn't have high expectations for it but, when someone actually recommended it, I thought I would give it a fair chance. Welllllll....I did try to like it. The books opens with Maddie, the main character and shoe designer, going to meet her lawyer boyfriend. He cancels on her for lunch and then doesn't show up later. He disappears, a murder takes p
...more
Dec 08, 2011
Iris
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery-suspense-thriller
Although the heroine was at times very annoying and a complete ditz (gee, I'm getting shot at while pretending to be a hooker at a sleezy motel where to went to confront a murderer. But by all means let's see how much more danger I can get myself in to rather than just facing having to pee on a stick!), I still found myself enjoying this book. It was equal parts exasperating and hilarious. And after finishing it, I find myself strangely wanting to pick up the next book in the series just to see
...more
Some days, you just need an escape and light reading that doesn't require you to devote too many brain cells to the story, and this would be the book for you.
It's not very well-written with many grammatical errors and typos and many of the situations aren't true to life, but it was funny and cute on a day that called for funny and cute. Much of what I read are dark, supernatural, or thrillers so this was a nice break.
It wasn't an edge of your seat, can't wait until the end thriller, but it did ...more
It's not very well-written with many grammatical errors and typos and many of the situations aren't true to life, but it was funny and cute on a day that called for funny and cute. Much of what I read are dark, supernatural, or thrillers so this was a nice break.
It wasn't an edge of your seat, can't wait until the end thriller, but it did ...more
I got this book for free on my iPad and, since I'm a sucker for chicklit and spies, I decided to give it a try.
Overall, the story is cute. Maddie is a fun main character. She portrays the usual "dumb blonde" stereotype, but in a similar, lovable way as Reese Witherspoon did in Legally Blonde. At times, her inability to think things through comes across as annoying and at times unbelievable, but I really wasn't expecting a realistic murder mystery when I started reading. The characters are all di ...more
Overall, the story is cute. Maddie is a fun main character. She portrays the usual "dumb blonde" stereotype, but in a similar, lovable way as Reese Witherspoon did in Legally Blonde. At times, her inability to think things through comes across as annoying and at times unbelievable, but I really wasn't expecting a realistic murder mystery when I started reading. The characters are all di ...more
DNF
I made it halfway through and couldn't take any more. What was entertaining behavior from the teenage heroine of Deadly Cool was unbearably annoying in the adult heroine of this novel.
Also, if you've read Deadly Cool (which I have, and which is the reason I picked this one up) the story is almost exactly the same -- I had a little mental checklist going:
* vacuous but charming heroine who has a hard time facing reality and a fondness for junk food matched only by her disinterest in exercise
* b ...more
I made it halfway through and couldn't take any more. What was entertaining behavior from the teenage heroine of Deadly Cool was unbearably annoying in the adult heroine of this novel.
Also, if you've read Deadly Cool (which I have, and which is the reason I picked this one up) the story is almost exactly the same -- I had a little mental checklist going:
* vacuous but charming heroine who has a hard time facing reality and a fondness for junk food matched only by her disinterest in exercise
* b ...more
A fluff book, brain candy, vacation read - call it what you will, I had a good time reading this book today, courtesy of Ellie's impromptu (to me) Read-a-thon. Like a blonder, California-er version of Stephanie Plum, Maddie Springer could be your typical girly-girl shoe designer with the handsome lawyer boyfriend and wacky best friend. Only her boyfriend disappers, she finds a couple of dead bodies and a hunky LAPD cop comes in asking questions and makes her re-think how wonderful her relationsh
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4.5 stars.
Aw I loved this!! Easy, light and fun reading with the added bonus of a rather dashing love interest. This series should help keep me sane while I await Sophie Kinsella's next book. The styles are quite similar.
Aw I loved this!! Easy, light and fun reading with the added bonus of a rather dashing love interest. This series should help keep me sane while I await Sophie Kinsella's next book. The styles are quite similar.
This would be another chick-lit meets murder mystery except the main character, Maddie Springer, is so much fun. She's a fashionista and an upscale kids shoe designer. Her boyfriend disappears at the same time she's worried about whether she's pregnant or not. In addition, her lawyer boyfriend's client is caught cheating and embezzling millions and everyone assumes he did it. Maddie can't help but investigate, while attempting to dress what she thinks the part should look like. At one point she
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A fun read with a good plot. Nothing new & exciting but fun.
Author of The Jessica Hart Series
JennBrink.com
Author of The Jessica Hart Series
JennBrink.com
Find this review, plus more, on my blog: Booklikes OR Blogger
Basic Info
Format: Kindle
Pages/Length: n/a
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Reason For Reading: Challenge
At A Glance
Love Triangle/Insta Love/Obsession?: Slight Triangle.
Cliff Hanger: No
Triggers: n/a
Rating: 3.5 stars
Score Sheet
All out of ten
Cover: 5
Plot: 7
Characters: 7
World Building: 6
Flow: 7
Series Congruity: n/a
Writing: 7
Ending: 7
Total: 7
In Depth
Best Part: Hooker talk!
Worst Part: Pointless actives
Thoughts Had: Nice start
Conclusion
Continuing the ...more
I learned about this series through the DailyCheapReads web site and although I didn't need to add any more books to my Kindle, I enjoy quick light-hearted mysteries (ala Stephanie Plum, Kinsey Milhone, etc.) and thought I'd give this a try. I checked the "Stop You're Killing Me" website to learn a little more about the series and the author and saw that "Spying" is the first in the High Heels series so I went ahead and clicked through.
While the story can stretch the imagination and one occasion ...more
While the story can stretch the imagination and one occasion ...more
Boy, oh boy ... how I wish I were the type of person to put down a book once started. Really, I only give this book one-quarter of a star!
The book is filled with drivel! The author constantly used words and phrases like: Eek, Yuck, D'oh, mental smack of the forehead (a favorite), I sooo don't want to be a girly girl, I so didn't need to be thinking about bad cop and his six pack abs right now, I so needed a gallon of coffee, I so wanted to be the one to find Richard, I so blah-blah-blah blah-bl ...more
The book is filled with drivel! The author constantly used words and phrases like: Eek, Yuck, D'oh, mental smack of the forehead (a favorite), I sooo don't want to be a girly girl, I so didn't need to be thinking about bad cop and his six pack abs right now, I so needed a gallon of coffee, I so wanted to be the one to find Richard, I so blah-blah-blah blah-bl ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I read this as part of a boxed set, Vol I books 1-3 plus a short story, but I don't see it on the goodreads list.
One of my co-worker's told me about the box set, it was on sale for only 99 cents for the four stories. She had finished the first one and thought it was like the Stephanie Plum books. She was right, it did remind me of the Plum books and I liked it. I liked that the mystery was solved kind of by accident. While the main character, Maddie, was busy thinking it was someone else, the re ...more
One of my co-worker's told me about the box set, it was on sale for only 99 cents for the four stories. She had finished the first one and thought it was like the Stephanie Plum books. She was right, it did remind me of the Plum books and I liked it. I liked that the mystery was solved kind of by accident. While the main character, Maddie, was busy thinking it was someone else, the re ...more
One of the books I picked up on my new e-reader.
The book was entertaining for the most part, but it was hard getting to like the protagonist. Maddy is just too much of a ditz who, in stumbling along from accidental clue to accidental clue, seems to fulfill every dumb blonde stereotype in existence. I also don't like the book's portrayal of anyone who's not thin, blonde, or sexy.
SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT
Seriously...spoiler alert. Stop reading now if you don't want to know who did it.
LAST CHANC ...more
The book was entertaining for the most part, but it was hard getting to like the protagonist. Maddy is just too much of a ditz who, in stumbling along from accidental clue to accidental clue, seems to fulfill every dumb blonde stereotype in existence. I also don't like the book's portrayal of anyone who's not thin, blonde, or sexy.
SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT
Seriously...spoiler alert. Stop reading now if you don't want to know who did it.
LAST CHANC ...more
In a lot of ways Spying in high heels probably doesn't deserve the full five stars, but I loved it. The story was good, Maddie was fun and for me it all just worked. It was a very easy read.
I will undoubtedly be reading more of the series in the very near future :)
Me and this book had chemistry and I love when that happens.
I will undoubtedly be reading more of the series in the very near future :)
Me and this book had chemistry and I love when that happens.
Things never turn out as expected for Maddie Springer, a self made investigator who seems to find more questions than answers. We begin to wonder about her boyfriend, but she isn't giving up on him... You have to wonder why. And you are left wondering right up until the end! A best bet read! ( And I have never said that before! )
Mar 28, 2018
Hilary (A Wytch's Book Review)
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
cozy-fashion
Maddie is running late - on more than one count! But as she arrives at her boyfriends place of work (late for lunch) she sees him with someone else and he cancels lunch. Then her boyfriend goes missing, money has gone missing and Maddie is up to her eyeballs in problems (not least running perpetually late for anything to do with her mother's wedding!)
So so. mystery was good but some stretches were assumed. Lots of references to sex and sexual encounters but not really any explicit scenes.
This book ends well but the first part of the book makes me want to send the main character to counseling for being so dysfunctional. It does have interesting characters. It is world away for those of us who live a life in rural America.
What made me pick up this book?
First of all, the title – “Spying in High Heels” – sounds cool and different, like a female version of James Bond, spying and hunting down criminals, Charlie’s Angels type. Secondly, the tagline resonates of a promising plot “High Crime meets High Fashion”, something that reminded me of Sidney Sheldon books (I so loved them). Finally, the genre did it for me – Mystery Fictions, how I love reading them!
And am so glad I decided to give it a read.
‘cause it was the ver ...more
First of all, the title – “Spying in High Heels” – sounds cool and different, like a female version of James Bond, spying and hunting down criminals, Charlie’s Angels type. Secondly, the tagline resonates of a promising plot “High Crime meets High Fashion”, something that reminded me of Sidney Sheldon books (I so loved them). Finally, the genre did it for me – Mystery Fictions, how I love reading them!
And am so glad I decided to give it a read.
‘cause it was the ver ...more
This is the first in a series. I don't remember how I acquired the Kindle version but it certainly held my attention. Maddie Springer, a children's fashion shoe designer, thinks her life is going pretty well. Sure her life as a shoe designer isn't keeping her in the lifestyle to which she would like to become accustomed, and she does have to fight with her boyfriend's secretary every time she wants to talk to him but there are worse things. Like perhaps when he disappears and is suspected of hav
...more
Loved this as much ad her YA series! Going to definitely read the next one! (It's a good mix of silly fun and mystery)
Pros (Sorry being lazy today).
~ Humour - Halliday's works always have a lot of humour and that's what wins me over all the time, and why I had to read this whole thing in one short last night and not sleep until 3am (I started late lol).
~ Romance - I usually really despise a romance focussed plot and hence I will only read romance only every once in a while for a change, but hal ...more
Pros (Sorry being lazy today).
~ Humour - Halliday's works always have a lot of humour and that's what wins me over all the time, and why I had to read this whole thing in one short last night and not sleep until 3am (I started late lol).
~ Romance - I usually really despise a romance focussed plot and hence I will only read romance only every once in a while for a change, but hal ...more
To read this review and others like it check out my site, www.ufreviews.com
So I bought Gemma Halliday's series in bulk, something I never do. I mean what if I hate the first book, then I am out all the cash and stuck with the rest of the books in the series. But as ashamed as I am to admit it, I decided I liked her before I even read the book, because of a cover of hers a saw (shockingly enough the cover I liked was of a book I didn't even buy). Well thank goodness, I loved the first book. I ha ...more
So I bought Gemma Halliday's series in bulk, something I never do. I mean what if I hate the first book, then I am out all the cash and stuck with the rest of the books in the series. But as ashamed as I am to admit it, I decided I liked her before I even read the book, because of a cover of hers a saw (shockingly enough the cover I liked was of a book I didn't even buy). Well thank goodness, I loved the first book. I ha ...more
3.5 stars
Spying in High Heels was one of the cutest chick lit books I've read recently. The book is the story of Maddie, who is a shoe designer. She designs kiddie shoes and has an obsession with anything shoes. Maddie with a cast of really unique characters move the story forward.
I loved Maddie. She was sweet and funny. The way she thought made me laugh out loud many times. Many people think that Maddie is nothing but a five foot one inch dumb blonde with an obsession for high heels. I loved ...more
Spying in High Heels was one of the cutest chick lit books I've read recently. The book is the story of Maddie, who is a shoe designer. She designs kiddie shoes and has an obsession with anything shoes. Maddie with a cast of really unique characters move the story forward.
I loved Maddie. She was sweet and funny. The way she thought made me laugh out loud many times. Many people think that Maddie is nothing but a five foot one inch dumb blonde with an obsession for high heels. I loved ...more
Jun 07, 2017
Bobbie
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
no one
Shelves:
2018-reading-challenge
The writing itself was not too bad, and Spying in High Heels is far from the worst thing I've ever read, but this book was just... not good.
The biggest problem I had with it was that it was full of clichés and stereotypes. Instead of describing what life is like for Angelenos, it described what someone who doesn't live in the Greater Los Angeles Area thinks living there is like. On the off chance that the author is actually from the L.A. area, then I would say it read like what she thought peop ...more
The biggest problem I had with it was that it was full of clichés and stereotypes. Instead of describing what life is like for Angelenos, it described what someone who doesn't live in the Greater Los Angeles Area thinks living there is like. On the off chance that the author is actually from the L.A. area, then I would say it read like what she thought peop ...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Million More Pages: Cozy BR - Spying in High Heels (High Heels#1) - OCT 9 | 21 | 24 | Oct 16, 2015 07:33AM |
Gemma had a hard time figuring out what she wanted to be when she grew up. She worked as a film and television actress, a teddy bear importer, a department store administrator, a preschool teacher, a temporary tattoo artist, and a 900 number psychic, before finally selling her first book, Spying in High Heels, in 2005 and deciding to be a writer.
Since then, Gemma has written several mystery novels ...more
Since then, Gemma has written several mystery novels ...more
Other books in the series
High Heels
(9 books)
3 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
“Okay, if there's one thing you don't ever say to a woman on the edge it's that she's hormonal.”
—
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“All men should be required to have their marital status tattooed on their foreheads.”
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