Trouble in High Heels by Christina Dodd

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
You can just about picture the Reese Witherspoon of Legally Blonde as the spunky heroine of Christina Dodd's first contemporary romantic thriller, a sparkling, sexy payback tale.

Brandi Michaels, a young, gorgeous lawyer, moves to Chicago to join her fiancé, only to find out he's gone to Vegas to marry his pregnant girlfriend. She pawns the engagement ring, vamps herself up, and prepares to sleep with the first sexy man she meets that night. That man turns out to be a playboy Italian count and jewel thief, Roberto Bartolini, and the weekend is as hot and heavy as she could wish. On Monday, there's another surprise -- guess who turns out to be the client of her new law firm? Brandi not only gets to defend Roberto, who's accused of stealing a jewel, but to spend time with him 24/7, as a judge remands him into her custody. Can she reform this handsome bad boy in a hurry and prevent the jewel heist of the century in the process? Ginger Curwen

From the Publisher

When Brandi Michaels discovers her fiancé hopping a flight to Vegas to marry his girlfriend, she pawns her engagement ring, buys herself a fabulous outfit, and spends one sultry night in the arms of a gorgeous Italian stranger named Roberto Bartolini. When Brandi becomes the mark for a killer, she 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….

Publishers Weekly

Despite a cover featuring a modern pair of designer heels, this far-fetched romantic intrigue feels like a Regency awkwardly dressed in contemporary clothes. You have your arrogant rake, playboy Italian count and indicted jewel thief Roberto Bartolini; the woman who can tame him, his gorgeous attorney Brandi Michaels; and a gaggle of high-society supporting characters among the Chicago elite. Throw in a steamy, melodramatic early encounter between Roberto and Brandi, a world-renowned diamond called the Romanov Blaze, a Chicago crime ring and a silly court ruling that places Roberto in Brandi's custody, and you have a romance with an identity crisis. There are moments of suspense and flashes of sensuality (buried beneath groaners like "I only want to take you to the brink of pleasurable insanity"), but the story doesn't hang together. The protagonists rarely transcend their stock roles, and the chaotic plot is oddly predictable. Dodd, who cut her teeth on historicals, has penned memorable contemporaries (see Close to You), but this tale is much like cubic zirconia-sparkle and flash but little else. (Aug.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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