Avon, $6.99, ISBN 0-06-087522-4
Romantic Suspense, 2006

I’m much tempted to direct the reader to my reviews of the two previous books in this author’s contemporary series because it’s pretty much the same thing and therefore I have also the same things to say. Rick Addison is back, Sam Jallicoe is back, and she’s still blue about her past while Rick is still concerned about her safety. This time around, Sam is still getting paid to come up with measures to keep artworks safe from thieves but the thief in question may be her father Martin, who she believes all this while to be dead. If you guess that Sam will never tell Rick about her father until the author has decided she has enough conflicts to keep the story going until the word count is met, you’ll be right.

Maybe I’m just an odd reader because if an author wants to write a mystery series, I expect a story where the mystery is at least a little challenging to follow. Here, everything is pretty transparent and it’s just a matter of time waiting for the brain trusts in this story to realize the obvious. Some of the things these characters do make me scratch my head but I suppose heroines aren’t likable by general conventions unless they are hanging from a cross begging for the readers and the hero to love them unconditionally. The characters aren’t too bad although I can’t say they are interesting either since they seem to be watered-down stereotypes typical of “funny” cozy mystery stories.

Really, I don’t know what I can say here that I haven’t mentioned in the previous books. Maybe it’s just my expectations that are too high but all I know is, when the story cares more about the heroine’s apology for her past than presenting an actually credible mystery, it’s not the kind of story I generally enjoy reading. I don’t read a story solely to pass judgment on a heroine and deem her worthy of the hero no matter what I’ve written on this website may suggest, heh. I need an actual story that doesn’t have a plot that feels like something submitted to and rejected from an amateur mystery writing competition. If this book is relying on its characters to drag it to the finish line, the characters aren’t anything new and original. Alas, I don’t find what I am looking for in Billionaires Prefer Blondes, that’s for sure. It will do for some light entertainment but it doesn’t have any qualities that make it stand out as a book that I will remember in days to come.