This HaBO was sent in by SciFiGirl, who is looking for a romance she never finished (horror!):
Hello, Bitches! I need your help. I’ve been trying to remember a book I started reading years ago–back when I was in my freshman year of high school. The thing is I don’t remember all that much about it, although I’m fairly certain that it was a romance novel as it was in a basket of books (all of them romances) my neighbor gave me.
This book came out sometime before 2000 (as that was the year I started high school), but it was probably published after 1995 because there were cell phones and it wasn’t a novelty to the characters. The cover was white and I think was a bit cartoonish. I remember there being yellow bits on it.
As for the plot, I don’t remember much. The heroine’s friend was killed and I think the prime suspect was the dead girl’s husband. The heroine may have been a PI because I remember her investigating the case and being qualified to actually do so.
I remember there being a scene with the heroine driving over a bridge. I vividly remember reading this scene during my study hall period and then getting distracted, and leaving it behind during a fire drill.
I also remember a scene with the victim’s husband telling the heroine she shouldn’t investigate because it could be too dangerous, although she thinks this is because he killed her friend.
I really hope that someone knows this book because technically this was the first romance I read (the first romance I finished was Her Private Bodyguard by Amanda Stevens). I would love to actually finish this book, so, please, someone know this book!
Imagine, not finishing the first romance you ever read. That just makes me sad! Do you recognize this book?
@ SciFiGirl
Did you have a feeling of whether or not it was going to be suspense, or a dramedy, or spyfi, or straight up contemporary, or???
Do you remember if it was a longer or shorter book?
Where was it set?
Had you met the hero? Was it the best friend’s husband or someone else?
How did the best friend die?
I don’t believe I’ve read this book, but the answers to these questions (and possibly more I haven’t thought of) might help in the search.
This is a tragedy that needs to be rectified. I’m unqualified to do so, but am waiting with bated breath for anyone who can help.
@Coco
Did you have a feeling of whether or not it was going to be suspense, or a dramedy, or spyfi, or straight up contemporary, or???
I have a feeling that it was romantic suspense/mystery. I don’t think it was heading towards spies nor do I think it would have been a tearjerker,
Do you remember if it was a longer or shorter book?
It was probably somewhere between 350 and 400 pages.
Where was it set?
I think it was set in Florida, but it could be another tropical (i.e. warm) state. Definitely not one of the landlocked states in the middle of the country, since there was the bridge scene. I don’t think it was Hawaii.
Had you met the hero? Was it the best friend’s husband or someone else?
I believe the hero was the best friend’s husband. I probably was less than 100 pages in when I lost the book, so that might be wrong.
How did the best friend die?
I think she was run off the road, possibly on the same bridge the heroine was driving on.
I don’t believe I’ve read this book, but the answers to these questions (and possibly more I haven’t thought of) might help in the search.
‘White cover, cartoonish, bits of yellow’ make it sound like one of the Harlequin Duets, except the timing isn’t quite right. The cartoony covers didn’t start till late 2000….
I think it was set in Florida, but it could be another tropical (i.e. warm) state. Definitely not one of the landlocked states in the middle of the country, since there was the bridge scene. I don’t think it was Hawaii.
Long bridge or tall bridge? If tall, it’s probably the Sunshine Skyway, which crosses the mouth of Tampa Bay at St Pete. Long bridge probably means the 7 Mile bridge or one of the other bridges on the Overseas Highway to Key West. Of course, we’ve got lots of other bridges, too, those are just the most iconic.
@Sandra, it seemed like it was a long bridge, but then I have a bridge fear, so any bridge is long to me. 🙂
Could it be a Jayne Ann Krentz? or maybe a Karen Harper?
You lost the book because of a fire drill? I feel for you! There was a book I lost in the middle of reading at about the same age, and I still recall the intense frustration and the wondering for literally years afterward how it turned out. (No chance of my recalling what book it was, though; it was a fantasy novel and the only thing I remember about it at this point was the main character was looking at a cardinal hopping around, wondering why it looked odd, realizing it had no crest — must be a magician in disguise, indeed it was the bad guy; idea was that when a human disguises themself as an animal there’s always one thing missing.)
@Olivia
You guessed JAK because of the bridge, right? But it can only be Krentz if someone tried to run them off the bridge, or, or if the friend died by driving or jumping off the bridge. There has to be some kind of symbolism there.
I’ve never actually read Krentz… :$, Amanda Quick, yes. I picked her, because on allromancewriters under Romantic Suspense PI category, she had quite a few listed.
@Vasha, you should not give up! That little detail would be enough for some people to ID the book. You should post it on the Goodreads group What Was That Book and see what happens. Now I want to read it too!
@PmaG and @Olivia, it might be a JAK. That is ringing a faint bell and I do think the victim was run off the road.
It’s actually starting to sound familiar to me too. I had thought maybe JAK but I always associate her with the Pacific Northwest.
There are certainly plenty of bridges in the Pacific Northwest. I spent two weeks in Washington and every single time we left the apartment, there was a bridge. I’ve never been on so many bridges in my life.
Actually, now I’m thinking Stella Cameron
or Lisa Jackson, she’s really good at “who can you trust?” plot
@Vasha, I’m SO SURE I read that book.
I really hope someone knows this one because it’s now making me crazy. I was sure I knew it, but came up dry when looking thru my books last nite. (I thought it might be an old Harlequin Signature Select. Possibly one of Kathleen O’Brien’s books. But nothing matched either the book or cover details.)
Late 90s RS with a cartoony cover sounds like Susan Andersen or Tara Janzen. You might browse the titles of those authors. Good luck!
Could it be a Heather Graham. She had some romantic suspense in florida back then
Heather
@ SciFiGirl
Check out JAK’s The Golden Chance. Originally published in 1990, reissued in 1997, there are champagne glasses with yellow cartoony bits on the cover of the reissue.
http://contemporaryromancewriters.com/Bookinfo.cfm?bookID=10904
According to the description: Stunning, stubborn, and independent, Philadelphia Fox lost the best friend she ever had because of the fabulously rich and powerful Lightfoot family of Washington state. Now she’s got her friend’s controlling shares in Lightfoot Industries — an inheritance that brings Nick, the family’s prodigal and extremely attractive son, knocking at her door. The last thing Phila expects is to fall in love — but the spark that ignites their quick wits and suspicious hearts soon blazes into an extraordinary passion. In Nick’s arms, Phila finds the deepest satisfaction she has ever known, but behind his gray eyes lurks a disturbing enigma. Lost in the confusion of her own feelings, wary of her own passionate abandon, Phila faces the choice of her life. Love has never come easily for her…and if she wants it now she must believe not only in Nick, but in his formidable family as well…for this golden chance will never come again.
I hope you let us know when you find it. I’m terribly interested.