~~I received this in exchange for my honest opinion~~

This is the first book that I have read by Laina and I can tell you right now that it isn't going to be the last. Presley Thurman just quit her job and went back home. She needs to figure out what she wants to do with her life, but first she is going to visit her friends back in her home town. She has a chance to get an interview with a senator, but after her interview she is the last one to see him alive.

I love the mystery that Laina writes in this book. Twists and turns in this book keep you on your toes, and just when you think that you figured it out, guess again. The storyline is compelling, and it keeps your interest. Pick up this book!! I'm off to go and read another one of Presley's adventures!!

Life is too short to spend reading something that doesn't entertain or enthrall.
I found this so full of superfluous description that by the time I was half way through, I was skipping pages of text in hopes of just reading pertinent information to the plot. At around 59%, I gave up.
There are quite a few grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes in this as well.
Some people enjoy descriptions of things that do nothing to advance the story. I am not one of those people.

First in the Presley Thurman Mystery series revolving around an idiot woman I would prefer to see die. Gee, Kath, tell us what you really think...

My Take
Omigod, the woman is oblivious...what am I saying? She's not a woman, she's still an immature girl who has got so much growing up to do yet. At age 33. Her whining about having to actually listen to Brian is a major indicator. Grow some balls, girl. She's overly obsessed with accessorizing and, yeah, I know a lot of other books have had characters who are too focused on shallow material things. However they've done it well. I suspect Turner is channeling Sex and the City. It's not working.

Pres sees nothing wrong with pushing, pushing, pushing at everyone else to talk about their issues, but the first two sentences about her own issues has her running for the door. And being upset that they would have the nerve to push! Oooh. Gag. Turner has worked hard to find every possible cliché about women and then worked even harder to fit them in whether it's consistent with Presley's character or not. Presley is truly flexible. And so is any concept of continuity.

There weren't even any cute agents, so the entire thing was a waste of my time.

Consistency in her character would be a treat. One minute she's thinking she's a lousy lay and the next she thinks she's God's gift. Then there's the "only the senator and Tobey know about the gambling" when she already knows that other people know. Does she even read her own story? She knows she's smarter than everyone else. Which only proves what an idiot she is. If Turner is trying to be snarky, it ain't workin'. She's got enough savings to last a couple months and now she says the bill collectors will be calling in a week. Hey, what the heck? Let's go shopping. Presley already knows how much Helen despised Tom and now she's asking if Helen didn't care for Tom? I swear to God, the woman is not reading what she's writing.

I was sure he had to be incredibly busy, or he would have jumped at the chance to spend more time with me.

Plus, who wouldn't want me? In fact, he should feel lucky to be this close to me.

At her age, why is she still allowing her mother to nag her every single minute of the day? Why not just sit down with her and point it out? Explain that if she cancelled the nagging and guilt tripping, she would be back to visit more often. Duh.

What's with the jumping back and forth between points of view? Sure, I know it's done, but with A LOT more skill than is shown here. It's just confusing. Y'all need to read up on the basic rules about formatting dialog.

I'm shocked. Just shocked. Presley owns flip-flops? I do so hope they're at least designer. She moans and groans so much about designer this and designer that, I would have expected her to have better taste than thinking Pottery Barn is the height of sophistication. She barges into Tony's place and then gets pissy because he's not being a good host?

I am struggling to read this. Christ, I feel as though we're still in high school with all the self-centered angst. When did we learn that Simon was Palazzo's son? Okay, it's pages later, but we do find out that, yes indeedy, Simon is Palazzo's son.

No, actually she's still single because she's too freaking self-absorbed to notice anyone else in the room. Poor thing, she keeps having to wait, what, five to fourteen minutes for people. I don't how she survives.

She actually believes she can tell Cooper that she had a run-in with an employee of his, Katy throws coffee at him and then Cooper'll just be satisfied with that? If she's the epitome of smart, I am desperately worried for the rest of the planet.

Oh, she thinks she's just been threatened? Oh Lord, please see to it that Presley Thurman gets knocked off by the end of this story. If only for purposes of genetic selection and to preserve the rest of us from having to ever read about her again.

Omigod, Toby just told them that Chris' life is in danger and Presley wants to know what the hurry is. Oh, yeah, and then she hits Cooper while he's driving at 90 miles-per-hour.

I was going to beg Turner to get herself an editor, but I notice in the preface that she's thanking an editor. I'm not sure if I should be appalled at how it ended up or more appalled to wonder what the editor started with! This desperately needs a content editor who hopefully will finish cleaning up the spelling and grammar.

The Story
It's amazing how lighthearted Presley Thurman feels about losing her job. She's always loved writing...I can only hope Pres is better than Turner; maybe losing her job is a sign to pursue the job offer Trevor made her just days ago.

It's just that her first assignment sends her back to the hometown she fled all those years ago to interview Senator Daniels. She'll have to endure her mother! Ick. As well as no access to Starbucks and decent shopping.

Well, her mother's welcome is as expected, but the senator's fate is not and Presley finds herself caught up in a murder investigation. I'd like to say there was tension and drama, but the only emotions I experienced were how soon can I get out of this!

The Characters
Presley Thurman is a vain, self-centered twit who doesn't notice anything happening around her except in relation to herself. Sue and Clark Thurman are her parents. Her mother is a whiny, nagging bitch more concerned with appearances while her dad is a sweetheart. Jesse is her drifting younger brother. Katy Smythe is her best friend through high school and now runs Katy's Klassy Kuts, a beauty salon in town. Rick is her loser ex-boyfriend who is too hardheaded to get the message. Trevor Jameson is a friend and editor of Our World; he's with Doug.

Senator Tom Daniels is a typical politician---a jerk and a womanizer. It seems he has other problems as well. His long-suffering, rich wife, Helen, has been busy on her own behalf. And what a bitch she is! Whoa. Turner starts by saying Daniels is an up-and-comer who may run for president in the next election and later on Presley wonders why he needs security. Um, just how out of touch with reality is Turner? Tobey Stone is the senator's assistant; his brother, Chris is very protective of him. Simon Atkins is part of the senator's security team. He's got one heck of a past. Garrison Palazzo is one of the owners of the Blue Royale Casino where the senator has lost a lot of money.

Brian Ames is her old high school boyfriend whom her mother insists on inviting around. Good thing his girlfriend, Barbara George, doesn't find out. Derrick "Dirt" Robinson is the sheriff now and another old schoolfriend. Cooper Sands is the proverbial bad boy from school. Now he heads up his own security company, Sands Security Solutions, and he's currently in charge of the senator's security. He's got a thing for Presley. Must be a masochist. Ruth Johnson is the town librarian, a closet gossip, Helen's friend, and tight with Presley's mother in the Junior League. Bobby is her loser son whose marriage has broken up. Naturally, it's his wife's fault. Betty runs Betty's Baked Goods and I'd love to visit if only to taste that peach cream cheese muffin!

David Ritter is the chauvinistic jerk of a boss at McLaughlin Industries and he switches between being the vice-president of sales and the CEO. Tonya is her best work friend who keeps meaning to quit smoking. Gary is Presley's boss and the vice-president of human resources; he's spoken to Ritter in the past about his sexual harassment.

The Cover
The cover is cute with its stiletto shoes in the middle of a pool of blood.

The title is accurate enough for it's the combination of Stilettos & Scoundrels that this story revolves around.

Fun cozy mystery

A wonderful and quirky who dun it with a chick lit spin! I fell in love with Presley Thurman from page one and couldn't wait to hear all about her adventures. The large cast of characters was hard at times to remember who was linked with whom, but once it was all settled I couldn't find out who was the killer and why they committed the murder. I had my thoughts and debated a few times, but in the end she got me and I couldn't wait to find out all the details!

The one thing that I didn't fall in love with was the random times it switched to another's persons thoughts or head. I would be reading along and then all of the sudden I would be hearing how a different character was thinking about what they were encoutering with Presley. A little confusing and made for some moments of wonder.

I would absolutely recommend it to those who love a little suspense and love a little chick lit when they pick up a book. Any murder using a shoe is worth reading in my book!

This is definitely a slow burn read that takes time to warm up to but once you start to get into it it is a pretty good read. Presley is as interesting character and there are times I like her and other times I really dislike her which was kind of ok as no one is perfect. I will give book two a go to see if the writing smooths out a bit more and I start to like Presley more as this series really has potential and think this could be a great series.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

After an "incident" in her boss' office, Presley Thurman is let go from her position as HR manager. Needing time to assess her situation, she heads to her hometown for quality friends and family time. Then a murder is committed and her friends are implicated; it's up to Presley to put things together and save the day.

To be honest, I had a hard time putting together my synopsis for this book. Partly due to the fact that I was switching rapidly between other novels and partly because my mind kept wandering, I couldn't nail down the exact plot by the time it came to write my review.

The good: The story does flow. There was no need to page back and re-introduce myself to side characters because I'd forgotten who they were. And all of the characters, both main and secondary, had their own personalities.

The bad: Even though my copy was one that was updated, I still found typos and grammatical errors that were off-putting.

All in all, I liked the book and didn't love it. Presley was too immature and superficial in her values. If she had been younger (maybe as much as ten years younger), it might have been forgivable. I still wouldn't have clicked with her, but I'd be more understanding. There was also a TSTL moment in the final moments that just killed the entire project for me.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Stilettos and Scoundrels by Laina Turner is a fast-paced, humorous cozy mystery and the first book in the Presley Thurman Cozy Mystery Series. 

Who killed the Senator, and what happened to the people that Presley grew up with?

Presley Thurman

Presley is our sleuth, main character, and point of view. She has this funny inner voice that keeps adding humor to even the most dangerous scenes. Presley was recently let go from her long-time position at the big company in Chicago. She was fired, but she stood up for herself and really showed her grit. So, with nothing else to do, she decides to go home and visit her parents for a bit. Trouble seems to find Presley all of the time. 

Go home, see her parents and old friends, relax and enjoy the time off, this is what Presley thought she was signing up for. However, all of a sudden, she is investigating the murder of a local senator. One of the things that I like about Presley is she eats, she may regret it later, but that doesn't seem to stop her. Presley also talks a bit about doing yoga but how it didn't work out for her. Then there is her need for coffee and shoes. Oh, and boy does she have an attitude.

Mystery

OK, first I have to tell you that I so didn't see that one happening. It completely caught me off guard. Who and why the senator was killed, I so didn't follow that. However, it makes sense now. Presley wasn't going to figure this out no matter what. She didn't have enough facts about the players. She was basing her assumptions on gossip. But honestly, I want to try one of the peach cream cheese muffins. They sound amazing. Oh, and I hope that Presley and Copper get together. I love the way he pushes her buttons. 

Five Stars for Stilettos and Scoundrels by Laina Turner

I was so entertained by Stilettos and Scoundrels that I wasn't even tired. What a fabulous story. My rating is five stars for this one. If you like mysteries, shoes, food, and coffee, this is a great one for you. 

The Presley Thurman Mysteries Series

 



Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Stilettos and Scoundrels by Laina Turner.

This Guest Review is for Baroness' Book Trove. Thank you for the opportunity to review this book on your site and to the author for supplying this marvelous book.

Until the next time,



 

This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove

My rating: 4

This was my first novel by Laina Turner, and while it was her debut novel, the writing style just didn't work for me. That being said, I was able to look past it and enjoy the story. It just felt very amateur compared to other novels and debut novels that I've read.

We first meet Presley Thurman at her job in HR and she's just been fired from her job for dodging her boss's sexual harassment attempts. She's a shopaholic and has to support that, so she finds a new job through a friend working freelance on an online magazine. She ends up being assigned to interview her hometown Senator, Tom Daniels. Not soon after the interview, Tom winds up dead - a stiletto left at the scene. She, having no life at this time, winds up getting herself involved in solving the murder, of course.

This was a cute, cozy, easy read. A fun mystery, although sometimes predictable, a good read for a rainy day. There is a good bot of humor thrown in, which suits my style. The killer was someone that I predicted, but I had a running list of suspects in my head throughout the book. I will definitely be reading the next book in the series soon for review, and I'm hoping to see some author growth and development in her writing style as well.