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killing bridezilla

When writer-for-hire Jaine Austen signs on to script vows for the ultimate Bridezilla, "I do's" soon become "I wish I hadn't's"-and curtains for the bride spell a veil of woes for Jaine...

Jaine's accepted her share of lame gigs to pay the bills, but rewriting Shakespeare's got to be an all-time low. The fiasco begins with a call from Jaine's high-school nemesis, uber-rich uber-witch Patti Devane. It seems Patti will soon be sashaying down the aisle with another former classmate from Hermosa High, and she'd like the exchange of vows to evoke Romeo and Juliet...except without the "downer" of an ending.

Even worse than the assignment itself is dealing with Patti as a client. At least Jaine's not alone, as nobody can stand the demanding, spoiled, and incredibly rude Bridezilla from Hell. Patti's managed to rack up an amazingly long list of enemies in a short time, not the least of whom include her prospective mother-in-law, the soon-to-be ex-wife of Patti's stolen soon-to-be groom, and just about everyone involved in the wedding preparations. So it isn't a complete surprise when the erstwhile Juliet plunges to her death during her balcony scene.

The loosened bolts that brought down the bride were clearly an act of sabotage-what's not so obvious is whom, among Patti's numerous haters, committed this murder most foul. Was it the caterer she threatened to ruin? The bridesmaid tossed out of the wedding party for being too chubby? Jaine's determined to learn the truth-if only to end the hideous walk down memory lane kicked off by her association with Patti.

Between fending off advances from the nerd of her high school nightmares and figuring out ways to stop Prozac the cat fromcorrupting the victim's pet Poodle, Jaine's involvement in this case keeps veering between comedy and tragedy. That is, until another body is discovered-and the killer starts laying plot for a final act-starring Jaine...

Read A Review:

Patti Marshall made Jaine's life hell in high school. Now she's hired Jaine to rewrite Shakespeare for her upcoming wedding. The only reason Jaine agreed was the high salary.

Patti stole Dickie from his wife at a high school reunion. She soon sees that Patti much since high school. She's still a cruel selfish individual, and Jaine can't figure out what Dickie sees in her. The caterer is another high school classmate who loathes Patti but also only took the job due to the salary. The former bridesmaid, one of Patti's inner circle friends from high school, detests Patti. 

Dickie's ex-wife, Normalynne, shows up at the wedding and threatens to kill Patti. So when Patti plunges off the balcony to her death, Normalynne is the prime suspect.

Jaine doesn't believe she did it, so she begins to investigate all the other people who hated Patti. But did they hate her enough to killer and have the opportunity and motive?

I really like this series. Jaine is such a likeable character who is very down to earth. In this book her interactions with her former classmates is so real. I think most people can relate to it. I especially found the scenes with Walter realistic. There always seems to be one geek in the class pining after a girl that keeps turning him down

This series is so much fun I find myself laughing out loud while reading it.  I highly recommend this book and the whole series.  Try it.  I think you'll like it.

Dawn Dowdle


Jaine Austen is a writer PI who struggles to pay the rent. She is excited to write old high school “friend” Patti Marshall’s wedding vows for $3,000. This seems great until Patti demands Jaine to rewrite Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Then Patti terminates one of her bridesmaids because she has gained too much weight and hires a model to take her place. Veronica, another high school “friend” caters the event, to be told to fire a waiter because his hair clashed with her décor! Bridezilla!

Patti taunts Jaine and teases her about not having a man and before Jaine knows it, she tells Patti about her neurosurgeon fiancée Francoise. Now to make matters worse, she doesn’t even know anyone who can fake it so she rents a gorgeous escort. But of course nothing goes as it should and Jaine’s gorgeous neurosurgeon is recognized as a stripper, in fact the one who had performed at Patti’s bachelorette party the night before. Jaine stays for the wedding anyway to have a bigger event than her humiliation occur. Dickie is Pattie’s intended and his ex wife Normalynne rushes down the aisle shouting I hope you fall to your death Patti. And while Patti is giving her vows her balcony breaks sending her to her death, speared on Cupid’s bow. It’s not long before it is determined that the balcony was tampered with. Not surprisingly, Normalynne is accused of Patti’s murder. Jaine does not think Normalynne did it and offers her services as a PI to help clear her.

Julio, the gardener claims to have seen a woman with a drill tampering with the balcony. But which one, so many hated Patti.

As Jaine embarks on clearing Normalynne we journey with her through a dork of high school boy who grew into a bigger dork of a man with a $29 toupee. We follow her through the questioning of the suspects which is fun and amusing and we get to watch her cat Prozac rule the home.

Ms. Levine writes in the first person in such a charming fun style that you feel as if you are walking beside Jaine with her. You can taste Veronica’s food as she prepares it. You can feel the hair on your arm stand up every time Jaine works with Patti. The storytelling is fun. The book is a fast, quick read. I was sorry to have it over. KILLING BRIDEZILLA is a delightful escape into the world of Janie Austen. I can’t wait to read more by Laura Levine; she has made a fan of me! I loved it!

On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 5!

Cynthia Lea Clark, Psy.D.