Trouble in High Heels

Brandi is an up-and-coming lawyer with great grades at law school but she’s very naïve. After her fiancé dumps her, she spends seven grand on clothes/makeovers and has hot sex with a total stranger, Roberto. Turns out, Roberto is a suspected jewel thief and she’s the new lawyer assigned to his case.
Brandi has a bad history of men controlling her life, but she doesn’t see any problem with what they do to her. Her emotionally abusive and estranged father often calls her stupid. I hate to agree with him. She has so many chances to act like a strong, smart woman, but she continues to trust those she shouldn’t.
Even Roberto doesn’t treat her with respect. He forces her into dangerous situations without telling her why and she show more doesn’t ask why. Since a judge remanded him into her care, she’s his babysitter and responsible for every little wrong thing he does (like planning a jewelry heist). Roberto promises he wouldn’t do anything to get her in trouble, but then he does it anyway. Brandi’s not upset over the lies and she nearly gets them both killed and almost ruins an FBI operation when she tries to rescue him.
I couldn’t relate to Roberto. He admits to Brandi that he’s a jewel thief and seduces her into not going to the police. He also states she can’t say anything because of the lawyer/client confidentiality. Her law firm is trying to prove his innocence, after all, and she doesn’t want to ruin the case.
At first I liked her boss. He’s a family friend and she thinks of him as her uncle. When she tells him Roberto is taking her to meet dangerous criminals which could affect his defense in court, her boss tells her to dress pretty because it’s her job to stay on Roberto’s arm like eye-candy. So she does. After that, I just couldn’t like her boss anymore.
I never saw any real romance between them. Hot sex and a lot of adventure? Yes. The whole stereotype about big-breasted blondes being brainless toys played a big role in the book. I don’t like to see women objectified and I really felt bad for Brandi. Roberto never even apologized to her for all the lies and for endangering her life.
I usually love Christina Dodd books, but I found the writing repetitive. There were lots of POV shifts and half the time I didn’t know who was talking. The jewel heist plotline was fun and interesting, but I wish Brandi would’ve been a willing participant.
2 Stars

Disclaimer – I found this book at the library. I am a reader. I am not paid or compensated in any way, shape or form for this honest review. I will not change or alter this review for any reason. show less

There's the heroine, Brandi, who has issues with her parents - her parents divorced and she overheard a few too many cruel comments before her dad finally walked out. She's so terrified of being in the same situation as her mother, needy and feminine, that she essentially repudiates her Mother and everything she has taught her to be (feminine, sweet, dependent) in order to become a self-sufficient lawyer who needs nobody.

Over the course of the novel she learns a lot of hard lessons - that the fiance she picked to be the exact opposite of her father is really a lot like him; that she has become like her father by rejecting and infantalizing her mother. She has to face them, and make new choices, finding a man who will treat her right, show more re-forging her relationhip with her mother. And she has to kick her father out of her life entirely.

The hero, Roberto, is not as richly drawn. He's actually very hard to understand, and although his POV is scattered through the novel the reader never gets to see deep enough into his thoughts to understand his motivations and behavior. His feelings about Brandi seesaw without any apparent logic; one day he wants no commitment and is all love-em-and-leave-em, and the very next day he's introducing her to the family and mentioning marriage. His purpose in Chicago is a little unclear; he wants revenge of some kind, and redemption, but we're left to wonder what exactly that means to him - although this turns out to be easy enough to guess, and eventually I wondered how Brandi had failed to spot the obvious.

But really, so far, so good. It's in the execution that things really go awry.

"Trouble in High Heels" does two things that make me instantly hate any romance novel:

(1) The heroine is always angry or snappish or bickering, and the hero finds this adorable. There's a point after some minor trauma where the hero says something like, "Ah, there you are, snapping at me again - you must be back to yourself! How delightful!" I don't like heroines who have nothing nice to say, and I don't like the heroes who find them delightful.

(2) The book concludes with a lengthy grovel on the part of the hero. I can't stand it when the high-point of the novel, the real proof of the hero's worthiness, is that he's willing to abase himself for the heroine no matter how persistently she rejects him. On top of which, in this case I didn't think he'd done anything wrong and I had no idea where Brandi got off being angry.

But there's so much more. Here's a typical example. There's a subplot about how Brandi turns her back on ballet because her father thinks its worthless, and she says she hasn't danced since she was thirteen; except other times, she brings it up and is very proud of being a ballerina and is apparently still practicing. The ideas are there but the development is poor and inconsistent. show less

Trouble in High Heels
3.5 Stars

When Brandi Michaels’ cheating fiancé elopes to Las Vegas, she decides to pawn his engagement ring and treats herself to a one night stand in the arms of a gorgeous stranger. Little does she know that said stranger, Roberto Bartolini, is about to become a whole lot more familiar come morning . . .

A cute read, but Brandi and Roberto’s chemistry is lukewarm at best and the suspense plot lacks any real excitement.

Aside from their mutual attraction, Brandi and Roberto’s relationship is not all that believable. She is intelligent and resourceful, but also organized, rational and looking for security. He is charming and debonair, but not exactly stable considering his secrets. Although their sexual close show more encounter is reasonable given the circumstances, the rest of the romance plot doesn’t make much sense.

The suspense sub-plot involving Roberto’s sideline business reads like a paint-by-numbers robbery caper with events unfolding one after the other in a predictable fashion and connections made rather conveniently and coincidentally. The climax lacks any real tension and the big reveal is obvious.

All in all, a quick, light read but Dodd has certainly written better. show less

This is not my first experience with Christina Dodd. The few books I’ve read of her’s in the last few years, I thought to be alright reads. I really had fun reading Trouble In High heels. Brandi, and Roberto had tons of chemistry. The books was fun, sassy and had me cracking up a few times. The plot, I thought kinda compared to Once A Thief by Kay Hooper, only the writing was so much better (I’m no fan of Ms. Hooper). If I read this book and didn’t know who the author was, and had to guess I would have picked Linda Howard. Trouble In High Heels reminded me of some of Ms. Howard’s more entertaining books like Open Season and Mr. Perfect.

This is a romance novel with a bit of humor, action, and mystery. I liked the story and found the characters interesting. The author provides enough background on the characters to make sense of their motives and actions. I recommend the book for its entertainment value.

Synopsis:

Brandi Michaels moved to Chicago to be with her fiancé--only to discover he'd hopped a flight to Vegas to marry his new girlfriend. So she pawns her engagement ring, buys herself a ridiculously expensive pair of shoes, and spends one sultry night in the arms of a gorgeous Italian stranger named Roberto Bartolini, convinced she's found the perfect revenge...

But when Brandi returns home, she's shocked to discover that her apartment's been ransacked and she's the mark for a killer. Finding herself entangled in a web of danger, Brandi has no choice but to turn to Roberto--a man who's destined to be either her savior or her downfall. But one thing's for sure: she's not going down without a fight...

My review:

I enjoyed this book show more immensely. What started out as revenge turned into love. It just shows you, love comes at the most unexpected times and places. I will read more of Ms Dodd's books show less

This isn't something I would normally pick up and read, but since it was one of the selections in a book group I'm in, I thought I'd give it a shot. Well, I liked it enough to come home from work today and read for almost 2 hours to finish it. It's no literary treasure, but it was a cute, fun, kicky romance with very little angst and just enough sex.