Being that I don’t often read detective novels, so it’s a wonder a picked this one up.  A friend suggested it since I was looking for a light read.  Boy was it light!  Actually  wasn’t sure what I was going to get, but it was ditzy blond hairdresser becomes part-time reporter.

Bubbles Yablonsky’s “body resembles a Barbie doll’s and her fashion weaknesses are hot pants and tube tops.”(Bubbles Unbound, p. 1)  Do I need to say more?  She has divorced her husband and is mother to Jane, an adolescent who insists on dying her hair various colors with Kool Aid.  Bubbles’s husband Dan has to pay her education since she supported him all the way through law school.  Problem is Bubbles can’t seem to pass any of the classes at the local community college; until she takes a journalism class.  From there Bubbles becomes tied up in a complex, murder, which is linked to an apparent suicide from the past.

This book reads fairly quickly and doesn’t challenge the brain whatsoever, but that’s what I wanted.  Bubbles is likeable and says and does the funniest things.  Regardless, you’re behind her all the way.  You want her to succeed at getting her big break and writing her first story.

The writing style flows quickly but isn’t stellar and the story unfolds as Bubbles discovers clues through all of her crazy mishaps.  I also enjoyed the beauty recipes at the end of the chapters, like how to dye your hair with Kool Aid or the miracle face mask.  Some of the other characters are real comic relief like Bubbles’s mother and her friend Genevieve.  As for the character development of Bubbles, it  is probably going to occur throughout the series since it consists of six books including this one – Bubbles in Trouble, Bubbles Ablaze, Bubbles A Broad, Bubbles Betrothed, and Bubbles All the Way.

Problem with this book is that it resembles Evanovich’s earlier Stephanie Plum books.  I’m going to give Sarah Strohmeyer the benefit of the doubt and accept that there is room for another author to write this style of book.  Some may say that Evanovich is a better writer, but that is the opinion of each reader.  Certainly Bubbles Unbound won’t win her the Pulitzer but it’s not bad. I quite enjoyed it.  I gave it 3 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.  Strohmeyer has written many other books which were also successful bestsellers, like The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives, The Sleeping Beauty Proposal, Smart Girls Get What They Want, The Penny Pinchers Club, Sweet Love, and The Kindred Spirits.  The Cinderella Pact was even turned into a movie for television called “Lying to be Perfect” starring Poppy Montgomery.  Strohmeyer graduated from Tufts University and has worked as a journalist for various publications.  She now lives in Vermont with her family.  You can follow her on twitter at @sarahstrohmeyer or follow her blog on Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/26791.Sarah_Strohmeyer/blog

If the writing is honest it cannot be separated from the man who wrote it.

  Tennessee Williams