Rating: 
Summary: Sparkle is so sparkly and spunky!
Review: "Fifteen thousand cabbies in New York, and I have to get the one who speaks English. I took down his medallion number. I don't know why. What was I going to do? Complain? Yes, Mr. Singh insisted on driving safely and being charming and wise. See that it doesn't happen again."
This is Robin Hudson's mind, her thoughts and inner most feelings all laid out on a cab ride in which she just wants to get to where she wants to go. Also, this quote from "What's a girl gotta do" was one that had me literally cracking up with laughter. She is a witty woman, that Sparkle.
The story is told all in first person by Robin Hudson. She's quick witted, honest and a totally red hot dame. This dame is also a reporter/journalist who has lost credibility in her field due to some antics. Like, belching into the mike(not knowing it would carry so far) at a press conference. She also asked someone what human meat tasted like. This is a girl who has nothing holding her back. Along side is her impending divorce. With these two strikes against her, she goes full throttle into the investigation of the murder of Griff, a private eye who had some personal information on not only Robin but a few other employees of ANN (ALL NEWS NETWORK) Otherwise known as Robin's place of work.
Griff is found murdered at the Marafles Hotel, on New Year's Eve. This is after he meets face to face with Robin on the dance floor at her work party. He tells her to come up to his room to retrieve this "information" Before she can meet him, he is found dead, apparently murdered. Robin becomes a suspect. She spends most of her time trying to prove she is innocent and find out who the real killer is. Keeping up with the frenetic pace, Robin goes about her life as normally as she can. She is working on a sperm bank scandal for the news, and is also trying to solve Griff's murder. Eventually another murder happens..no not our dear Robin. We need her to keep the story going, and she does it so well. A great face paced story that will make you laugh. I think Robin is a character many women will relate to very well. She's got strength, determination, and will not give up. A true woman of the 90's! Even though she does look like Rita Hayworth.
This debut novel of Sparkle Hayter is a murder mystery/comedy/behind the scenes of t.v. news type story. She seems like an extremely intelligent woman yet also close to comedic genius. I like how she writes. She knows how to blend comedy in with a good story, and she knows how to "hook" the reader. When I read both this and "Naked Brunch" I was immersed into a world of Sparkle's world that I didn't want to leave. I instantly fell in love with her writing when I read "Naked Brunch", which I read before this one. It's not empty mindless fun, like I said Sparkle is a smart chick. She has had some experience in the field of journalism and is also a sometime stand up comic. Smart, sassy, and Witty is how I describe her.This is the first of five Robin Hudson mysteries. I don't usually make it a habit of reading series books, but that habit is about to start.
Rating:
Summary: Sparkle is so sparkly and spunky!
Review: "Fifteen thousand cabbies in New York, and I have to get the one who speaks English. I took down his medallion number. I don't know why. What was I going to do? Complain? Yes, Mr. Singh insisted on driving safely and being charming and wise. See that it doesn't happen again."
This is Robin Hudson's mind, her thoughts and inner most feelings all laid out on a cab ride in which she just wants to get to where she wants to go. Also, this quote from "What's a girl gotta do" was one that had me literally cracking up with laughter. She is a witty woman, that Sparkle.
The story is told all in first person by Robin Hudson. She's quick witted, honest and a totally red hot dame. This dame is also a reporter/journalist who has lost credibility in her field due to some antics. Like, belching into the mike(not knowing it would carry so far) at a press conference. She also asked someone what human meat tasted like. This is a girl who has nothing holding her back. Along side is her impending divorce. With these two strikes against her, she goes full throttle into the investigation of the murder of Griff, a private eye who had some personal information on not only Robin but a few other employees of ANN (ALL NEWS NETWORK) Otherwise known as Robin's place of work.
Griff is found murdered at the Marafles Hotel, on New Year's Eve. This is after he meets face to face with Robin on the dance floor at her work party. He tells her to come up to his room to retrieve this "information" Before she can meet him, he is found dead, apparently murdered. Robin becomes a suspect. She spends most of her time trying to prove she is innocent and find out who the real killer is. Keeping up with the frenetic pace, Robin goes about her life as normally as she can. She is working on a sperm bank scandal for the news, and is also trying to solve Griff's murder. Eventually another murder happens..no not our dear Robin. We need her to keep the story going, and she does it so well. A great face paced story that will make you laugh. I think Robin is a character many women will relate to very well. She's got strength, determination, and will not give up. A true woman of the 90's! Even though she does look like Rita Hayworth.
This debut novel of Sparkle Hayter is a murder mystery/comedy/behind the scenes of t.v. news type story. She seems like an extremely intelligent woman yet also close to comedic genius. I like how she writes. She knows how to blend comedy in with a good story, and she knows how to "hook" the reader. When I read both this and "Naked Brunch" I was immersed into a world of Sparkle's world that I didn't want to leave. I instantly fell in love with her writing when I read "Naked Brunch", which I read before this one. It's not empty mindless fun, like I said Sparkle is a smart chick. She has had some experience in the field of journalism and is also a sometime stand up comic. Smart, sassy, and Witty is how I describe her. This is the first of five Robin Hudson mysteries. I don't usually make it a habit of reading series books, but that habit is about to start.
Rating:
Summary: Robin Hudson's one tough cookie --
Review: -- And so she should be if she's to survive her reversals of fortune at work and in love. Relagated to an undesireable job at the TV station where she works (due to un-couthness during a live White House broadcast) and demoted to the title of ex-wife, Robin seems to be one of those people to whom trouble is perpetually attracted. Having to face the ex's chipper young 'other woman' *and* deal with a murdered blackmailer requires all the resourcefulness Robin can muster. The 'who' in whodunit came as a surprise to me. This is my first book by Sparkle Hayter, but it won't be the last.
Rating: 
Summary: New York TV scene
Review: A funny mystery set in a New York TV news network. It is something of a roman a clef with some characters based on real life. Moderately well plotted (although loose ends in the sperm bank sub-plot) and moderately funny. I thought "Nice Girls Finish Last" was better but you should really read this one first because the murder suspects are fellow TV workers and some of them turn up in the later books.
Rating:
Summary: Fast-paced and humorous murder mystery
Review: Although the murder mystery aspects of the plot are straight forward, it is the author's humor that moves the book forward at a rapid pace. Robin Hudson is not your typical fictional sleuth, because she spends more time working than investigating murder mysteries. Robin's caustic wit is the highlight of the book, and one that could sustain a continuing series.
Rating:
Summary: This book truly "Sparkles"
Review: Do not judge this book by its cover! Sparkle's character, Robin Hudson, is a laugh a minute. If you love mysteries and laughter and you haven't read this book I advise you to put this one in your shopping basket without further delay. You won't regret it
Rating: 
Summary: Pales in comparison...
Review: Having read the first in the Robin Hudson series, I must admit I am disappointed. Originally drawn to this genre by Janet Evanovich and later Katie Munger, I was expecting the kind of tongue-in-cheek, leg-slapping, laugh-out-loud hilarity I had grown so fond of. As much as I devoured Evanovich and Munger, completely unable to put down their books, starving for more from each author, I had to force myself through Hayter's first effort.
It's not a bad story, mildly amusing at times, but not funny. It occupies the mind, but doesn't feed it and leave it hungry for more. I'm sad when I've finished an Evanovich or Munger...sorry that it's over. I don't get that from this book.
Maybe I'm spoiled. But call me spoiled and disappointed. I bought the entire Robin Hudson series with high hopes. Now I'm wondering if I'll even read the rest...
Rating:
Summary: Fast, funny and wry. A mystery, too.
Review: Hayter is a great writer. Robin, her fictional heroine, sizes up people and situations with lightning speed and acerbic wit. I would pay her to hang out at my office and write about what she sees. The book is a mystery, but I didn't notice. I was more interested in listening to Robin get herself in trouble with her superiors, insult her detractors and describe the overall state of her disheveled life. I imagine Hayter can do well in most genres, both fiction and non-fiction.
Rating:
Summary: What a talent....
Review: I am so glad I discovered this author! She has a wonderful, lively writing style that grabs your attention, and doesn't let go. And I was actually surprised by "whodunit", which is unusual for me. I am ordering more books by the author today!
Rating:
Summary: Her first book may be her best...
Review: I finally got the chance to read Sparkle Hayter's first book What's A Girl Gotta Do? I must say, it's probably one of her best...
Robin Hudson is a soon-to-be divorced journalist who has been shunted off to the tabloid story department of the TV network she works for. One day she gets a message from a private investigator revealing a lot of personal/intimate information about her that she thought nobody knew. But before she can meet with the guy to figure out what he wants, he's murdered in such a way that it looks like she could be the killer. The more she picks at the story, the more she finds out, and it looks like a number of the personalities at the station were also investigated and blackmailed. While she's trying to stay alive, stay out of the bed of a co-worker, and deal with her soon-to-be ex and his pregnant fiancee, she also has to do an undercover story at a sperm bank posing as the wife to her slimebag boss.
This is a wacky story with funny, snide, and sexy characters. This book sets a lot of the background color for many of her future Robin Hudson novels that I've already read. This may well be my favorite of all her novels, and it will be interesting to see if her future work can work back up to this level.
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