cover image Drop Dead Gorgeous

Drop Dead Gorgeous

Linda Howard. Ballantine, $7.99 (347pp) ISBN 978-0-345-48658-5

Although someone is trying to kill fitness salon owner and former cheerleader Blair Mallory yet again, she retains her winning comedic voice in Howard's follow up to 2005's To Die For. Southern belle Blair remains perfectly matched with police Lieutenant Wyatt Bloodsworth, who has given her one month to execute their wedding, or else he's taking them to Vegas. Things take a turn when a crazed driver nearly runs Blair down in the mall parking lot; it's not long before Blair starts receiving strange phone calls and spots a car tailing her, but the normally astute Wyatt doesn't put two and two together. Though the danger is real-and escalates violently-this is no heart-thumping suspense novel, but instead an old-fashioned clash of the sexes: Blair's high-maintenance style versus Wyatt's alpha male tendencies. Funny and sexy throughout, Howard's latest is marred only by Wyatt's shoddy policework, a convenient misstep that propels the plot but rings false. Regardless, fans of this couple will delight in their rematch, and Howard's recently revealed comedic talents are sure to secure her new readers.