The Running Bibliophile

In the sequel to Spying in High Heels (High Heels, #1) by Gemma Halliday, we reunite with kid shoes designer Maddie Springer, her best friend Dana, and LAPD Detective Jack Ramirez. When Maddie receives an odd message on her answering machine from her estranged father, Larry Springer, she's determined to find out what kind of trouble he is in, and travels to Sin City (a.k.a. Las Vegas, Nevada) with Dana to investigate. Killer in High Heels (High Heels, #2) by Gemma Halliday stays true to fashion to this series as a cozy mystery and chick lit. If you're looking for a great beach read, I definitely recommend this book because overall, it is just a super fun, light hearted read. When Maddie brings up the topic her biological father to her mother, it's no surprise her mother isn't happy with all of the questions seeing as Larry ran off to Las Vegas with another woman named Lola and has had virtually no contact with their daughter for 26 years. This is the most re...

Mary-Anne Spier knew she shouldn't have thrown out the chain letter she received. Not only is she having the worst luck, but the rest of the baby-sitters club keep having bad things happen to them too! When Mary-Anne starts receiving letters threatening her and the rest of the club, and a bad luck charm necklace to wear, several emergency meetings of the baby-sitters club are called by Kristy so they can figure out how to counter act the bad luck. What can I say about Mary-Anne's Bad-Luck Mystery (The Baby-Sitters Club, #17) ? Holy nostalgia, Batman! This book made me feel nostalgic for my childhood . . . do kids even send chain letters any more, and do they still believe in things like breaking a mirror causes seven years bad luck? This is one of the books in the series that I remember better than some of the others, and it was such a joy to reread. I figured out who sent the threatening letters and bad luck charm necklace very easily just as I did as a child.  The...

I've been in a bit of a reading slump the past few months . . . nothing really has been able to keep my attention very well, not even books by my favorite authors. So, I've been doing a lot of rereading of some of my favorite books, including those from my childhood, in hopes to get out of my slump. I recently had the yearning to reread the first book in the High Heel Mysteries by Gemma Halliday. Synopsis of Spying in High Heels by Gemma Halliday:  Maddie Springer works as a fashion designer . . . that is a designer for kids shoes. In the midst of her current project of designing "Strawberry Shortcake" tennis shoes for tots, her attorney boyfriend, Richard Howe, cancels their lunch plans and goes missing. Howe becomes the prime suspect in a murder and fraud case involving his client Devon Greenway. Wanting to clear her boyfriend's name, Maddie is determined to insert herself into the police investigation in any way she can. I enjoyed Spying in ...

Influenster.com sent me a VoxBox that had a full size bottle of Head and Shoulders Citrus Fresh 2 in 1 Pyrithione Zinc Dandruff Shampoo and Conditioner. It is supposed to promote an "Invigorated Scalp and Shiny Hair" and is infused with yuzu and mint essence. I received this product for free in exchange for my honest review of the product. Who doesn't enjoy getting something for free to try out? I definitely enjoy and appreciate being able to test out free products. There were a few things I enjoyed about this Head and Shoulders Citrus Fresh 2 in 1 Dandruff Shampoo and Conditioner. It definitely made my scalp tingle, but in a good way. I could tell it was doing its job to keep me from having dandruff. Normally, when I use shampoo and conditioner that are combined into one product, it doesn't detangle my hair, but the Head and Shoulders Citrus Fresh 2 in 1 did a great job in conditioning my hair. On top of that, it left my hair looking very shiny and soft ...

Jessi's Secret Language (The Baby-Sitters Club, #16) by Ann M. Martin is about eleven year old Jessi Ramsey agreeing to babysit two days a week for the Braddock kids, nine year old Haley and seven year old Matt. There is one catch, Jessi has to learn sign language because Matt is deaf. On top of this responsibility, Jessi auditions for her dance school's ballet production of Coppelia and lands the lead part, which adds even more rehearsal time to her already busy schedule. There is a lot that I enjoyed about Jessi's Secret Language (The Baby-Sitter's Club, #16) because it teaches kids many life lessons that even some adults could benefit learning about. Namely being accepting and inclusive of people with special needs . . . in this case, learning sign language so that Matt could easily communicate and play with others. I thought the book was well thought out showing how two different families dealt with having a deaf child . . . the Braddocks went out of ...

In the process of rereading books from my childhood, I picked up the book Little Miss Stoneybrook . . . and Dawn (The Baby-Sitters Club, #15) by Ann M. Martin. Typically, I don't care for books that are written about beauty pageants because they don't usually represent them correctly. This book was no exception. One of the reasons I usually take exception to books about pageants is that I participated in them for eleven years (from age 8 through age 19) and have fond memories of them; beauty pageants are usually portrayed in a negative light, especially by those who have never competed in them. After the death of JonBenét Ramsey, beauty pageants were put in more of a negative light. Pageants where contestants wear a lot of makeup started to be referred to as glitz pageants, and many pageants popped up where there was minimal makeup worn. (Yes, I know this book was written pre-JonBenét.) The events in the beauty pageant weren't exactly represented correctly. Ther...