"Bubbles' keen wit and fortitude make her one broad I'd love to know."

Bubbles Yablonsky, Lehigh, Pennsylvania beautician-turned- reporter, finally has her chance to secure a regular staff position at the local News-Times newspaper. She's just been given a one-week try-out for an official, full-time job, and she must not do anything to blow it. Easier said than done for Bubbles, who attracts trouble like a magnet.

First, convicted murderer Carol Weaver shows up on her doorstep after having escaped from prison. Carol's steel- executive husband was killed with cyanide-tipped fingernails, but Carol claims she's innocent of offing him and needs Bubbles help to find out who really did the dirty deed.

Shortly after sending Carol away, Bubbles' home is invaded and her bed is shot at. Luckily, she heard noises and ran, and the shots were only from a BB gun. This incident gives sexy photojournalist Steve Stiletto the perfect excuse to move her into his house for safekeeping. And he's making it clear that it's finally time to consummate their relationship. Oh, brother, now Bubbles is really scared! It's been so long since she's had sex, she isn't sure she remembers how.

Bubbles' first assignment of the week, covering the local historical society meeting, evolves into a catfight and nearly ends her journalistic career. But Bubbles has a nose for news and her investigative instincts are usually right- on. She's able to convince her boss that there's more to Carol's story than just murder -- possible corruption and cover-up at the highest levels in the local steel industry. So Bubbles is given her try-out period to uncover the facts and write the story.

The usual cast of characters from previous books is on hand to again help (and hinder?) Bubbles' investigation. And it's a testament to her fortitude, intelligence and sharp wit that she's able to achieve success in spite of (or because of) everything she has to deal with. This is one broad I'd love to know!

Each successive installment of Strohmeyer's mystery series (including BUBBLES UNBOUND, BUBBLES IN TROUBLE, and BUBBLES ABLAZE) is better than the last. As we become more familiar with the characters and their strengths and weaknesses, we enjoy and admire them even more. With laugh-out-loud one- liners and introspections, fast-paced plotting and quirky twists and turns, BUBBLES A BROAD kept me engrossed from first page to last. And when Bubbles finally has sex with Stiletto (at last, a man she loves who also loves her!), it's close to an epiphany for both of them. Wow! I can't wait for the next Bubbles book!

Reviewed by Tanzey Cutter
Posted May 12, 2004

Summary

Bubbles Yablonsky, everyone's favorite flaky hairdresser/ reporter/amateur sleuth, goes all the way in this latest wacky mystery starring the woman Jennifer Crusie calls "Pennsylvania's answer to Erin Brockovich... You're going to love her!" After a cat fight at a stuffy historical society meeting nearly kills her career, Bubbles is given just one week to prove her worth to her editors at the News-Times and earn a real job there by cracking her biggest story ever— finding out who really murdered Carol Weaver's steel-executive husband with cyanide-tipped fingernails. More than Carol's own jail sentence for the homicide is riding on Bubbles's investigation. Also at stake—uncovering possible corruption in the steel industry at the highest level. Nothing will deter Bubbles this time! Not trying to drive with a cell phone in one hand and a mascara wand in the other. Not the shenanigans of mother LuLu, the pressure of getting daughter Jane into a good college (maybe Princeton, maybe Two Guys Community), or the roadblocks posed by Jane's ever-clueless boyfriend G. Not even hunky, gonzo photojournalist Steve Stiletto, who takes Bubbles to bed in a scene so steamy it finally puts pay to her Mel Gibson crush. Gutsy, intuitive, and delivering her best one-liners along with beauty recipes, Bubbles is "behind the wheel, and a wild ride awaits" (Publishers Weekly). It's all in a day's work for a broad like Bubbles.