Review: Don't Make Me Choose Between You and My Shoes by Dixie Cash

Don't Make Me Choose Between You and My Shoes
Dixie Cash {Myspace}
Series: Domestic Equalizers #4
Publisher: Recorded Books
Publication Date: June 1, 2008
Audio Book {8 hrs}
Source: Public Library
Genre: Contemporary
Characters: Debbie Sue Overstreet, Edwina Perkins-Martin
Challenge: 50 States, Whisper Stories
My Rating:

New York City is miles from Salt Lick, Texas, in more ways than one, but Debbie Sue Overstreet and Edwina Perkins-Martin are rarin' to go. The best friends/beauty shop owners/private-eye partners have been offered an all-expense-paid trip to the National Association of Private Investigators convention in the Big Apple. Debbie Sue sees the invitation as validation, but Edwina has one goal: to get her feet into a pair of super-glam designer shoes, not easily had back home. Yee-haw!

As a sign of things to come, the two Texas tornadoes don't even get out of the state without causing pandemonium at the Dallas airport. And once they land in the Big City they meet Celina, a small-town librarian who's broke and bereft from getting robbed, and Cher, an amiable "working girl" with a heart of gold. Taking them under their wings, they head right for trouble as Edwina nearly starts a riot in the hotel bar.

But the Big Apple hasn't seen nothin' yet! While helping shy Celina hook up with a hunky young police detective, the Domestic Equalizers bumble their way into a murder investigation that could end up leaving Debbie Sue deceased and Edwina stone-cold in her new Jimmy Choos!

Debbie Sue and Edwina head to the Big Apple to speak about their PI skills at a national conference. Of course trouble and mayhem follow in their wake.

Edwina, afraid of flying, has to get overly medicated for the big trip. She causes great embarrassment to herself and "Deputy Do," I mean Debbie Sue, before they even set foot on the plane.

When they do arrive in NYC they find that someone is killing prostitutes. Leave it to Edwina to befriend one. Edwina strikes up a conversation with working girl, Cher, who mistakes Edwina as a fellow pro. Edwina and her fashionable attire, who could blame Cher for thinking Edwina a hooker.

Fellow Texan from Dime Box, Celina, meets Edwina and Debbie Sue at the conference and becomes roommates. While Selena is becoming involved with one of New York's Finest, Debbie Sue and Edwina are dragging her into all kinds of mess. So when the Domestic Equalizers hear a murder taking place in the hotel room next door and no one believes them, they have no choice but to take matters into their own hands.

This is another laugh a minute riot by Dixie Cash. It wasn't as good as Since You're Leaving Anyway, Take Out the Trash, but hilarious all the same.

Read by Peggity Price

Duration: 6 hours

The narrator took some getting used to when I first started this series, but now that this is book #4,  she's growing on me. The accents that she bring to Debbie Sue and Edwina are half the laughs. Just hearing her do the witty banter of these two with that Texas twang is an added bonus. 

Review: I Gave You My Heart, but You Sold It Online by Dixie Cash

I Gave You My Heart, but You Sold It Online
Dixie Cash {Myspace}
Series: Domestic Equalizers #3
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: September 1, 2007
Format: Audio Book
Source: Public Library
Genre: Contemporary
Characters: Allison Barker, Taggert Freeman, Quint Matthews, Debbie Sue Overstreet, Edwina Perkins
My Rating:

Heat Level: 1/5
Synopsis:

To single mom Allison Barker, men are a heap of heartbreak. So when her twelve-year-old daughter confesses that she's posted Allison's profile on an Internet matchmaking service and has been pretending to be her mom, Allison hits the roof . . . just before the doorbell rings. Standing on the porch is her date—he's Hollywood handsome and all male and he looks somehow familiar.

Turns out he's famed ProRodeo bull-riding champion Quint Matthews. He whisks Allison off to dinner, but it's not Quint who captures her interest—it's his old friend, rodeo bull fighter Tag Freeman.

But Quint's got something—or rather, someone, more on his mind than Allison—because the very next day he's off to visit Debbie Sue Overstreet. Debbie Sue was once taken in by Quint's sky-blue eyes and tight jeans, but that was before she remarried the best-looking man in Texas, Buddy Overstreet. When Quint turns up at Debbie Sue's door begging for help, she can't turn him down. Seems that Quint has finally gotten his comeuppance—his identity has been stolen, by a woman no less, one he met through an online dating service.

The Equalizers take the case—after all, Quint is an "old friend" and, even better, he can pay! But no one would ever have guessed that the investigation would lead to murder . . . or that gender-confused Eugene/Janine—whom the Equalizers have tangled with before—would return to stir the stew. Or that there would be mixed messages and broken hearts all over the place.

Of course, as Edwina has often said, there's nothin' that a pitcher of strong margaritas and some serious snooping can't cure . . . but not until Debbie Sue and Edwina go on a crazy ride across West Texas!

Quint has had his identity stolen and has a very public relationship with a woman who just so happens to actually be a man. But instead of giving up on finding the right woman, he turns to internet dating. This is where he meets Allison, or meets Allison’s daughter pretending to be her mother.

Allison is stunned that her daughter would sign her up for a dating site. She finds Quint to be attractive, but it’s his BFF Taggert Freeman who really catches her eye and her heart.

As always Dixie Cash’s writing never fails to keep me entertained. The toy party would have to be the highlight of the story. This one brought back another murder mystery like Since You’re Leaving Anyway, Take Out the Trash, although it wasn’t a major part of the story.

The budding relationship between Tag and Allison was almost immediate. I as the reader could see what a great match she and Tag would be before they even met. At times Allison did come across as a little dry and boring. Allison and Tag seemed more family-oriented whereas Quint was more into having a good time. I do truly hope to see Quint find some happiness.

Review: My Heart May Be Broken, But My Hair Still Looks Great by Dixie Cash

My Heart May Be Broken, But My Hair Still Looks Great
Dixie Cash {Myspace}
Series: Domestic Equalizers #2
Publisher: Avon
Published: September 1, 2006
Format: Audio Book
Source: Public Library
Genre: Contemporary
Characters: Paige McBride, Spur Atwater, Debbie Sue Overstreet, Edwina Perkins
My Rating:

Heat Level: 2/5

Synopsis:

This is smart, sassy fiction with some terrific Texas humour. With a fantastic set of characters, including the best set of trouble makin' gal pals since Lucy and Ethel, this book is bound to capture female readers of all ages!

When we last saw Debbie Sue Overstreet and her pal Edwina they were running the Stylin' Station hair salon and their detective agency the DOMESTIC EQUALIZERS. For them, there's no heartbreak that a little hairspray and a little poking around can't solve. But when Paige McBride comes to town (Paige is a little spoiled and a whole lotta rich), trouble follows. Horses start disappearing, and to make matters worse, local vet Spur Atwater is the object of Paige's desires.

Hair will be styled, horses lost and found, casseroles will burn, and justice will come to all who break the law. But not before Debbie Sue and Edwina get themselves, and Paige, into a whole lotta trouble.

Paige has been living her life as a spoiled little rich girl when her daddy suddenly decides to cut the purse strings. Now quickly approaching 25, she has to get a job but she has no marketable skills what so ever.

Paige literally runs over the hottest cowboy she's ever seen. But Spur Atwater knows a spoiled daddy's girl when he sees one, and wants nothing at all to do with Paige. Too bad his "roommate" has other plans and won't let Spur forget about Paige.

I enjoyed this one just as much as the first one. It was nice to watch Paige grow out of that rich girl image into a more thoughtful caring woman. Edwina and Debbie Sue of course make lead appearances that keep you cracking up the whole way through. Characters from the first Domestic Equalizers novel make brief appearances such as Quint and CJ.

My Heart May Be Broken, But My Hair Still Looks Great has just enough mystery as its predecessor and an abundance of humor. Another great addition to the series.

Review: Since You're Leaving Anyway, Take Out the Trash by Dixie Cash

Since You're Leaving Anyway, Take Out the Trash
Dixie Cash {Myspace}
Series: Domestic Equalizers #1
Publisher: Avon
Published: August 12, 2004
Format: Audio Book
Source: Public Library
Genre: Contemporary
Characters: Debbie Sue Overstreet, Edwina Perkins, Buddy Overstreet
My Rating:

Heat Level: 2/5

Synopsis:

The strongest, sexiest, and sassiest debut contemporary romance we've seen since Rachel Gibson! The quality of Dixie's writing combined with the pure romance of the story guarantees that Avon Romance has just acquired a new star.

Debbie Sue Overstreet is still the best–looking gal in Saltlick, TX–and her ex–husband Buddy is still the best–looking sheriff. Thanks to a thriving gossip mill (also known as Debbie's hair salon), there isn't a thing in Saltlick that she doesn't know about before anyone else. That is, until somebody offs snooty Pearl Ann Carruthers. With Buddy on the case, the woman who has to know everything is stumped by not just one, but two questions: first, who killed Pearl Ann and why, and second, how on earth did she ever let Buddy Overstreet get away? Lucky for Saltlick and Buddy both, she means to find out the answers, no matter what it takes!

Debbie Sue and Edwina are two best friend that run a beauty shop out in Saltlick, Texas. Sheriff Buddy Overstreet is Debbie Sue's ex-husband whom she's still very much in love with. So when Debbie Sue's best customer, or should I say richest, is found murdered, she and Edwina set out to find the culprit. This putting Buddy right back in the middle of her life.

I really truly enjoyed all of the characters in this book. Every one of them seemed to have their own unique personalities that made it seem to come to life. There was a lot of dry wit that keeps you laughing and very strange Southern sayings. I thought with my being from Texas, I would have heard a lot more of them.

I listened to the audio book version and the narrator took some getting used to, with her doing an over the top Texas accent. But once I did, I loved it. I had never read Dixie Cash before this book, and what drew me to it was the comments that if you enjoyed Mary Kay Andrews you would love Dixie Cash. And I did. I will definitely be continuing the Domestic Equalizers series.