Bubbles A Broad

Written by Sarah Strohmeyer

Narrated by Barbara McCulloh

Sarah Strohmeyer's unconventional heroine Bubbles Yablonsky has been called "Pennsylvania's answer to Erin Brockovich" by best-selling author Jennifer Crusie. Bubbles, a hairdresser/reporter/amateur sleuth, runs into trouble when supposed husband-killer Bonnie Weaver shows up on her doorstep. Before long Bubbles is up to her eyeliner in intrigue. She'll need all the help she can get from gorgeous beau Steve Stilletto and her wacky family to avoid ruining her makeup-permanently.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 21, 2008
• ISBN: 9781436153799

Sarah Strohmeyer

Sarah Strohmeyer is a bestselling and award-winning novelist whose books include The Secrets of Lily Graves, How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True, Smart Girls Get What They Want, The Cinderella Pact (which became the Lifetime Original Movie Lying to Be Perfect), The Sleeping Beauty Proposal, The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives, Sweet Love, and the Bubbles mystery series. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Boston Globe. She lives with her family outside Montpelier, Vermont.

Reviews for Bubbles A Broad

[bookconcierge · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Book # 4 and the plotting is weak. This mind candy isn't worth the calories.

[whybehave2002 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lots of fun with a surprise ending. Towards the end there were so many female suspects that I had to keep referring back to who was who and what was the connection.

[drled_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Synopsis: Bubbles is getting one last shot at being hired as a reporter. She is assigned a photographer who happens to be a woman whose hair she ruined and who has anger management issues. This on top of being visited by an alleged murder who has broken out of prison lead Bubbles into another front page story about big steel and death.Review: Fun to read with a bit of a twisted plot, this leaves the reader ready for the next book.

[glade1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Bubbles Yablonsky, the protagonist of Bubbles a Broad, belongs in the category with Stephanie Plum (Janet Evanovich; One for the Money), Kinsey Milhone (Sue Grafton; A is for Alibi), and Izzy Spellman (Lisa Lutz; The Spellman Files), all working-class "broads" who have the wits and tenacity--often more tenacity than wits--to solve crimes that fall into their laps. They tend to have eccentric friends and relations, they somehow remain svelte and sexy despite their reliance on junk food, and their stories all have a strong sense of place.I had read the first Bubbles book several years ago and enjoyed it well enough. I read this book over the weekend. Bubbles is a hairdresser trying to break into journalism. She likes big hair, animal prints, and flashy cars. She lives in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania, and in this book she takes on a steel corporation as well as a disgruntled former customer, the local historical society, and rival newspaper staff, while also finding time to increase the heat in her relationship with a studly news photographer. To get the story rolling, a prison escapee contacts Bubbles to plead for help in proving her innocence. Of course, wackiness and life-threatening adventure ensue but eventually all the loose ends are tidied up and Bubbles lives to tell another story.Bubbles's stories are lighthearted and entertaining, sometimes venturing into the ridiculous. This was a nice weekend read. It didn't have me laughing out loud like Stephanie Plum usually does, but is fun nonetheless.

[kymmayfield · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another great book from Sarah Stohmeyer! I read this one very quickly a definate page turner. I laughed, screamed, and was irritated all at the same time lol. Bubbles is really a character that you can relate to if you are a mother. Her daughter is a total teenager that you want to strangle sometimes lol. This series is really a must read for anyone that likes mysteries or comedies.

[darla_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Also the fourth in the series, Bubbles A Broad also features a newbie reporter as a heroine. Reading this and Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die back to back begs me to compare them, so I will. Both are mystery series, and both feature quotes from Jennifer Crusie on the covers, so you know the writing is good. Both stories have the cases turning up on the heroines' doorsteps, and both heroines have drool-worthy love interests. But the similarities are only superficial.Bubbles and Nora are from opposite sides of the track, and the books reflect that. Bubbles A Broad is more broadly comedic, inviting comparisons to Evanovich. In this episode, the case lands on Bubbles's doorstep in the form of Carol Weaver, who's escaped from prison after being convicted of the murder of her husband, and she wants Bubbles to help her find out who really killed him.In addition to solving the crime, Bubbles has to contend with her teenage daughter trying to get into Princeton, her daughter's oddball boyfriend G, her career as a journalist that she nearly loses before it begins, and her boyfriend Steve Stilletto.Much fun, and I'm looking forward to the next installment.