Batteries Required by Jennifer Apodaca

From the Publisher

"Frothy fun." -Publishers Weekly on Ninja Soccer Moms

If only life came with operating instructions. Samantha Shaw's dating service, Heart Mates, is barely paying the bills, and her relationship with private investigator Gabe Pulizzi isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of her knack for romance. And now Sam's friend Angel has disappeared just as she was about to launch a new lingerie business, leaving behind a ransacked, bloodstained house. Detective Logan Vance-alias romance novelist R.V. Logan-is busy fending off the advances of a lovesick fan so, with Gabe in tow, Sam questions Angel's ex-husband, Hugh Crimson. Sam knows her friend's divorce has been filed under "unpleasant" but she can't believe Hugh's capable of ex-wife-napping-or murder. If Hugh isn't a killer, who messed up Angel's house-and why? Where is Angel? And what's Sam going to say when Gabe insists she make a decision about their relationship? Solving this case will require every ounce of energy Sam's got, and she's going to unearth some high-voltage surprises along the way.

Publishers Weekly

A kit of sex toys, a stolen diamond necklace and a crazed romance-novel fan all figure in Batteries Required: A Samantha Shaw Mystery, the somewhat lackluster fourth entry in Jennifer Apodoca's cozy series to feature the kooky and charming head of a California dating service (after 2004's Ninja Soccer Moms). Soon after the requisite corpse shows up late in the story, we learn "whodunit," and the rest of the book is simply a tedious, extended chase scene, as Sam breathlessly tracks down the bad guy. Agent, Karen Solem at Spencerhill Associates. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Despite owning a dating service, Samantha still has a rocky relationship with PI boyfriend Gabe. At the moment, however, she's worried about a sample kit of sex toys, a missing and possibly murdered friend, and a lovesick client who wants an introduction to a pseudonymous writer (a.k.a. Det. Vance). More cozy wit from the author of Dying To Meet You. Apodaca lives in southern California. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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