Kirjahaku

"PJ Evanovich is the love child of Janet Evanovich and Elmore Leonard." - The Toronto Star (Rita Zekas)This is HEELS OF FORTUNE: WHEN $6 MILLION IS NOT A GIFT, the sequel to the first PJ Santini romantic crime thriller, HELL ON HEELS: THE TV NEWS BUSINESS CAN BE MURDER. PJ Santini uncovers the shocking truth about her late husband, yeah, the guy who died on her, literally, on their honeymoon. The secret she uncovers places her in grave danger. Danger of death by "fettuccini Alfredo", danger of trusting the wrong man, danger of an actual terrifying end to her screwed up but satisfying life. Fortunately, she is armed with a good Italian family, decent common sense, a spectacular set of 38DD's, a retired cop for a father, a "connected" cousin, and a protective, smoldering PI boss. But will these be enough? Which one should she use first? How about her boss, Tango Daly. Mysterious, tanned, toned, a martial artist with a para-legitimate past tucked lustily into seductive slacks and silk shirts. He's her number one protector. The thought of him makes her head fizzy and her shoulder-length out-of-control red hair curl. Then there's Johnny... Johnny Renza. Lanky and handsome in his trademark cream linen suit, the first boy she ever loved... over and over, all through high school. He grew into a pretty damn good crime reporter working at the tv station where she works, when she shows up. He still knows how to hotwire her with fattening food. They both grew up with a creep named Frank Longoria, who somehow went from juvenile delinquent to Buffalo PD Chief Homicide Detective. Only a little bit mobbed up... according to PJ's cousin Sandro "The Eel" DiLeo, the relative with the shiniest suits in the family. PJ's family. Life is not dull. Then there's Pop, a retired cop who's running Cold Crimes out of the basement; Nonna Giovanna just relocated from Sicily and speaks Soprano's English; PJ's lovable ADHD brother Tony, a cable guy; and PJ's BFF Vicky, whose liaison with Sandro has her wearing blacker eyeliner every day and teasing her hair so high she has to duck to walk under paddle fans. And all PJ wants to do is pay her bills, keep buying 4-inch heels, be reasonably fulfilled by her private detective and reporting work, be loved and protected, get some sleep, and kick some ass when it feels good. And stay alive. A little about the first book.

"PJ Santini is the love child of Janet Evanovich and Elmore Leonard." - The Toronto Star (Rita Zekas)Quirky and witty, HELL ON HEELS: THE TV NEWS BUSINESS CAN BE MURDER is fast-moving recommended reading for those who crave danger and passion in life, but still want to be home by dinner. Welcome to blistering summertime in Buffalo, NY, scene of the crime. Thirty-three year old PJ Santini, TV news reporter and mildly successful private eye, is on a wild ride between men, her certifiable Sicilian family, and insufficient funds notices, ever since her husband died on her - literally. But good news, she's inherited the juicy journalistic job of Gerald Sigmund (Siggy), a sleezy vestigative reporter who has vanished into thin air. Her first assignment is to find him, dead or alive. She's also inherited his disgusting office, which holds a secret that's worth her life. But she has no idea what that secret is, or who would kill her to get to it. All she knows is that she just threw up all over the most valuable piece of evidence. Her only comforts are Chianti, four-inch heels and chocolate. And two men. Fiercely protective Tango Daly is her mysterious, tanned, toned private detective boss, a martial artist with a para-legitimate past tucked lustily into seductive slacks and silk shirts. They play exhilarating mind games when her stilettos get caught in the thick carpet of his office. Upstairs, the place is equipped with more surveillance electronics than Cheyenne Mountain...and a bed with satin sheets. Lanky Johnny Renza is darkly handsome in his trademark cream linen suit, and the first boy PJ ever loved... over and over, all through high school. Now he's a top-notch competitive crime reporter who gets away with plenty, because he still knows how to hotwire hert with fattening food. As her butt is about to get it own zip code, it's getting harder to concentrate on staying alive.

"PJ Santini...is the love child of Janet Evanovich and Elmore Leonard. Lynne Russell's spunky private eye had me at PJ's peeing into a one-pound coffee can during stakeouts." -Toronto Star "Talk about a Renaissance woman, Lynne Russell does it all " -Warner Bros. Television"A news anchor with the personality of a professional wrestler." -The New York TimesABOUT THIS BOOKNo good deed goes unpunished. It puts you in the crosshairs. Of a murder rap, or a Meaningful Domestic Relationship. Which is more dangerous? PJ Santini, private investigator and television news reporter, is dusting off her Louboutin stilettos after a 2 a.m. cemetery shootout in Buffalo, NY. Already, her tanned, toned PI boss's new society divorce case is turning into a homicide investigation. It may kill her, but it won't get in the way of Chianti and pasta. Ma cooks. Pop works Cold Cases in the basement between meals. PJ wants those leggings that compress fat, pushing blood up to your temples and swelling your lips to new fullness with a perky smile that looks like you're passing gas. Her Sicilian Nonna, whose specialty is revenge, is jilted by her lover and invents Bidet therapy. Her "connected" cousin, Sandro "The Eel" DiLeo, needs a favor. What could go wrong?ABOUT THE AUTHORLynne Russell anchored CNN for 18 years, the first woman to anchor a regular network nightly newscast, over 33,000 of them. For her unbiased dedication to the People's Right to Know, The New York Times called her a "just-the-facts stalwart of CNN Headline News". They also called her a news anchor with the personality of a professional wrestler, which she took as a compliment. In the Washington Journalism Review: a spot as Best in the Business. A private investigator, double black belt, and former Deputy Sheriff, Lynne now writes romantic crime novels. She and her husband live near Washington, D.C. and in Italy.ABOUT PJ SANTINIPJ Santini lives in an uncharted corner of Lynne's brain. When PJ spends long, boring hours stuck in a car on a surveillance job, she amuses herself by counting all the places on her body where she can stash her gun - she's up to twelve, now - and she wishes to thank Lynne for the idea. It helps to make up for the indignity of having to pee into a one-pound coffee can.EXCERPT (c) Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved CHAPTER ONE - The morning after "So how was your night?" I asked him, gulping Colombian roast from a diner mug with somebody else's lipstick on it. On general principles, I try to start off the day not remembering what I did the night before, even if it was my fault. Men do this, and they wind up carrying a lot less baggage into the morning. For men, every day is a new adventure. Nothing we think we taught them in the previous twenty-four hours makes it through the night. But I knew exactly how Daly's night had gone. We'd been caught up in the moment, mixing business with pleasure, and things had gotten so far out of hand, I was going to have to retire the number on my favorite French lace red teddy. I was trying hard not to think of it as love. But who wouldn't fall for him? By breakfast we - my private detective boss, Tango Daly, and I - had put ourselves back together and had gone on to wrap up the paperwork on the 2 a.m. graveyard shootout. We hadn't hung around Buffalo's oldest and finest cemetery to talk to the cops, and they still hadn't come for our version. Why not? The coffee was cooling off fast under the paddle fans, and the guy in the next booth was having trouble lighting another cigarette in the breeze. This worried me, because only a cop would chain smoke in a place like this, with No Smoking signs everywhere, and not even order toast. He also was making notes while we talked. Daly caught it, too. Somebody obviously thought, maybe hoped, that there'd be more to our story than we'd write into our official report, and they could charge us with ...