Rating: 
Summary: lighthearted amateur sleuth
Review: At the Pocono's Passion Peak Resort, Bubbles Yablonsky anxiously waits for Associated Press Photographer Steve Stiletto to arrive so they can begin their romantic weekend. While she impatiently anticipates his appearance, her boss at the Lehigh News-Times sends a fax ordering her to go over to Slagville to cover the story of a businessman shot to death. When she arrives at the Number Nine Mine she sees her cousin's car there and thinks she was set up for a practical joke.She is proven wrong when Stiletto arrives saying his boss emailed him asking him to take pictures at the homicide scene. Someone pushes them into the mine where they find the body of Bud Wilcox, the man determined to bring gambling to Slagville. Somebody causes a rockslide trapping the duo inside the mine but they find a way out and investigate the story that they are a part of. Bubbles realizes that someone is orchestrating events behind the scenes, but how her missing in action cousin and a fortune in coal just waiting to be excavated once certain people vanish fits in is something she struggles to figure out. Anyone looking for a lighthearted amateur sleuth novel starring a street savvy heroine, who is no longer an amateur since she is paid to investigate and report, will want to read BUBBLES ABLAZE. Bubbles is always underestimated because of her looks and the spandex clothing she wears so it is easy for her to get people to talk to her for a story. Sarah Strohmeyer has created a fine mystery novel to bring to the beach, as the upbeat tale is pure fun to read. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Offbeat but a little off....
Review: Bubbles is trouble and a "laugh-and-a-half". Almost a Lucy Ricardo type. I've read all her books and totally enjoy them and the quirky corner of Pennsylvania, where the stories are located.
However, this one, "Ablaze" never set off the fire for me. First of all, this part of Pennsylvania is rather depressing - and economically depressed - (I've visited there) so its a little hard to make light of. I read half the book and put it aside for a few months before I could get into it again. But now I am totally confused with so many characters, subplots - like is Strohmeyer and/or Bubbles in a manic state or something? I felt the writing was just rushing one from one detail to another character to whatever was next. A little Lithium here, please!! Still, I love Bubbles and will stick with her no matter what, though I wish she's get out of Slagville. How about a little visit south to Bucks County for some relief?
Rating: 
Summary: Chaos, mystery and a huge splash of comedy...
Review: Bubbles Yablonsky has a habit of stumbling into trouble. When a romantic weekend turns into a near-death experience, she's got more than just a bit of trouble. There's her teenaged daughter's boy/men trouble and near-kidnapping, a corpse, a mysterious bodyguard, a missing cousin-in-law--and Steve Stiletto who's oh-so-right, even though they can't seem to get the timing right. The trouble just keeps piling up, leaving the Bubbles to one of the biggest stories of her hairdressing...uh, reporting career. Chaos, mystery and a huge splash of comedy makes Bubbles Ablaze a complete reading delight!
Rating:
Summary: Cute and sassy--a fun read
Review: Bubbles Yablonsky just wants a weekend of sin and sex with her boyfriend Steve Stiletto. When she gets a fax from her newspaper boss telling her to pursue a murder, she wants to blow it off--but Stiletto hasn't shown and Bubbles is a reporter, willing to do whatever it takes to get the story. The fax was a fraud, but the murder was real--real enough that the killer nearly got Bubbles and Stiletto with the same mine disaster. Now Bubbles needs to track down the truth--and write the kick-ass story that will get her byline in major press. But everyone seems anxious to keep her away from the story and everything seems to conspire to keep her from ever getting Stiletto in the sack. Bubbles Yablonsky, combination reporter/hair stylist, is a charming character--a woman who loves her daughter but wouldn't be caught dead without the right makeup and high-heeled shoes. Her quest for the truth in a world where women have perfected the nag and feed spell to keep their men under control, where the police chief is bugging all the town's phones, and where everyone seems related and knows everyone's business is funny and sympathetic. Author Sara Strohmeyer delivers the goods in this fast-paced comic mystery. Between the Celtic ruins of Pennsylvania, references to the Molly McGuire gang of the 19th century, and the ever-burning coal fire deep in the mineshafts under Limbo, PA, Strohmeyer's offers a fascinating world that has enough nuggets of truth to compell interest. Although Bubbles sometimes comes off as purely silly, her concern for her family (especially too-smart for her own good daughter Jane), jealous affection toward Stiletto, and love for her odd mother and cousin, make the reader identify and sympathize. A few research error crop do crop up--I am still trying to picture how Stiletto fit in the back seat of a Miata. They don't have back seats. Trust me, you won't care. Still, I'm not sure I'm ready to try out any of Bubbles's beauty secrets.
Rating:
Summary: Bubbles Fun
Review: Have you read the other Bubbles books? If you have not, stop right here and go read the others! They are very funny and witty! Bubbles, our favorite living Polish-Lithuanian Barbie, is using her investigative skills again. The lust of her life is injured as her practical-joking cousin-in-law is on the lam and Bubbles has to find out what is going on in coal country. Mama Lulu is here running a pierogie shop with Genevieve and Jane is back with G. Then to confuse issues there is Zeke, and ya gotta love his parents! Also, the author of this book is really nice and very involved with her yahoo group!
Rating:
Summary: Watch out, Janet Evanovich!
Review: I am a die hard fan of the Stephanie Plum series, but I think
Sarah Strohmeyer's heroine, Bubbles, has Stephanie out classed.
Sarah Strohmeyer is definately an author to watch. All three installments in the Bubbles series (which I read for the first time this weekend) are saucy, upbeat and fun. In an age where so many female heoines (can we say Stephanie?) are smart and good at just about everything they do, Bubbles is real. She could be your next-door-neighbor. She could be you. Ms. Strohmeyer has created a loveable cast of characters. I love these books!
Rating:
Summary: Ok, but not her best
Review: I have read all the Bubbles books and enjoyed them all. This one was not as good as the others. SPOILER Don't read farther if you don't to have the end given away: The "bad" guy was not even a character introduced in this book. One reason to read a mystery is to figure out who did it and why. This plot seemed to be cheating. Any book in a series should be able to stand alone, but if you never read the last Bubbles book you wouldn't even know who this character was. I also had a difficult time believing that Silletto loves Bubbles as much as he seems to claim when he keeps leaving her when she needs him. And allows the beautiful reporter he is working with to imply there is more going on. example: "Come on Loverboy, we will miss the party" As he is leaving Bubbles after someone tried to kill them??? It is time for the relationship to move ahead, with Steve showing he loves her, saying it doesn't make it true. I will give Bubbles one more chance, but if the next mystery pulls another fast one, I will just have to re-read Stephanie Plums adventures.
Rating:
Summary: Ok, but not her best
Review: I have read all the Bubbles books and enjoyed them all. This one was not as good as the others. SPOILER Don't read farther if you don't to have the end given away: The "bad" guy was not even a character introduced in this book. One reason to read a mystery is to figure out who did it and why. This plot seemed to be cheating. Any book in a series should be able to stand alone, but if you never read the last Bubbles book you wouldn't even know who this character was. I also had a difficult time believing that Silletto loves Bubbles as much as he seems to claim when he keeps leaving her when she needs him. And allows the beautiful reporter he is working with to imply there is more going on. example: "Come on Loverboy, we will miss the party" As he is leaving Bubbles after someone tried to kill them??? It is time for the relationship to move ahead, with Steve showing he loves her, saying it doesn't make it true. I will give Bubbles one more chance, but if the next mystery pulls another fast one, I will just have to re-read Stephanie Plums adventures.
Rating:
Summary: Best Bubbles so far
Review: I love funny mysteries like Evanovich's, but I also love plot. Bubbles Ablaze has it. I read the first two and they were good but this one gripped me from the start. I read it in two nights. It's not heavy reading, mind you, but I finished it wanting more. I'll definately buy the next one.
Rating:
Summary: This One "Bubbles" Along - A Beach Read
Review: I see that some here think Bubbles is going to give Stephanie Plum a run for her money. Maybe, but I doubt it. There is a lot of similarity between the two "heroines". They have some nutty relations, they are having problems with their love life, someone is often trying to hurt them and there is always a mystery or two that needs solving. Bubbles is a hairdresser/reporterette rather than a PI, but the stories are similar. I found this to be an entertaining but light read. If you like this kind of fare, you will probably enjoy it.
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