I CAN’T MAKE YOU LOVE ME, BUT I CAN MAKE YOU LEAVE ME by Dixie Cash

Publisher: William Morrow
Date published: April 2011
ISBN: 9780061910142
Cozy Mystery
Trade Paperback
Reviewed by Valerie
Obtained by publisher


Salt Lick, Texas gets a surprise visit from former Country singer Darla Denman. The inhabitants who still remember greet her with the same sentence. ‘Thought you were dead!’ Still, Darla is touched to find so many fans. In fact, she is in trouble. She is on a comeback tour and the bus has broken down, there is no money in the pot, the two backup singers have packed up and gone home and her ex-husband now manager’s new wife is driving everyone up the wall! But, Debbie Sue and Edwina, the Domestic Equalizers, are happy to show Darla some true Texan hospitality and they give her and her entourage a place to stay and a vehicle to get them to their first gig. Debbie Sue and Edwina are even roped in to pose as backup singers. Life couldn’t get more exciting! Well, Roxie Jo, the new wife, shows up dead in her closet sized dressing room and Darla confesses to the crime. Debbie Sue and Edwina are convinced she’s not guilty and are determined to clear her name. They have resources!

I was so happy to get another Dixie Cash book to read and meet up again, with Debbie Sue and Edwina. These are two ladies I would love to visit and sit down with for an afternoon. Debbie Sue seems a bit more down to earth and Edwina is just a bale of laughs. I love them both. Dixie Cash, who is a writing team of two sisters, does a wonderful job of bringing these characters to life and casting them in a small Texan town. Ms Cash writes wonderful dialogue which is quick-witted and often just laugh-out-loud funny. Most of this story is introducing the characters and seeing their interaction with each other. You learn to really hate Roxie Jo, so it’s no wonder she gets murdered. Just about everyone who knows her would like to have done the deed. So, it was no wonder that I really didn’t guess who did it until the very end. Ms Cash cleverly kept that from me. The real mystery solving is in the last third of the book and will certainly keep you turning those pages to find out who-dun-it! I for one am looking forward to the next Domestic Equalizers book, to see what Debbie Sue and Edwina are up to next!

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

OUR RED HOT ROMANCE IS LEAVING ME BLUE by Dixie Cash

Publisher: Avon
Date published: June 2010
ISBN: 978-0061434396
Contemporary romance
Paperback
Reviewed by Valerie
Obtained by publisher


This is the latest adventure of the Domestic Equalizers. Debbie Sue Overstreet and Edwina Perkins-Martin are hairdressers by day and part-time private detectives in their free time. They have already dealt with Elvis shoe thieves, cheating spouses and even murder. Now they are ghost-hunting.

Justin Sadler’s wife died and he is trying to carry on with his life. But someone is trying to pay a practical joke on him, or is his departed wife trying to contact him from beyond? He hires the Equalizers and they in turn hire a psychic who is really the real deal. Edwina is scared witless, Justin is confused and baffled and Debbie Sue would rather be in the arms of her handsome husband. But, these gals are not ones to give up. Can they capture the one who is playing pranks on Justin and maybe do a little match-making to boot? Is Justin’s wife really trying to contact him from the dead?

You will find the answers to these questions and more in this hilariously, funny story. I just love these books and Debbie Sue and Edwina are such funny women, you would want to have them as your best friends and batting on your side. I almost screamed with laughter at Edwina’s reaction to the ghostly things that happened. And the banter between them and their husbands just had a permanent grin on my face. These stories are set in Texas and this one has a psychic from El Paso in it too. Dixie Cash gives her readers a truly exciting and entertaining story that will capture you on the first page and have you turning them frantically until you get to the end. There is also a teeny bit of spice as we see Debbie Sue interact with her handsome husband, and Edwina’s husband seems to be a hunk too. If you enjoy a rollicking good ride of a story then you must pick this and all the other books about the Domestic Equalizers. They are not to be missed!

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

CURING THE BLUES WITH A NEW PAIR OF SHOES by Dixie Cash

Publisher: Avon
Date published: July 2009
ISBN: 978-0061434389
Crime
Trade Sized Paperback
Obtained via: Publisher
Reviewed by Valerie


January 8th, and it’s Elvis’s birthday. In Hogg’s Drive-In, where the King many times had a burger before he became famous, they are celebrating by showing Elvis’s very first pair of blue suede shoes. But someone steals the shoes from their showcase. Enter Debbie Sue Overstreet and Edwina Perkins-Martin, The Domestic Equalizers. Debbie’s husband is away and she feels that they can both solve the crime without any help. Things get complicated when thousands of fans come to the city to see the shoes. Then there is the local sherriff, who is rather simple. Two young reporters are also in town, hoping to get a good story. As Debbie and Edwina are professional multi-taskers, a little bit of matchmaking seems to be in order too.

I love these stories about these two funny and entertaining women. Dixie Cash has a way of making the south come alive and gives her readers a wild ride with quirky characters, an interesting plot and lots of fun and games. This story twists and turns as the Domestic Equalizers try to solve the case of the missing shoes and get the two reporters together. I have read previous books in this series and have enjoyed them very much. I was a little disappointed that the crime aspect was not really the main point in this story, but all in all, this is still a book you don’t want to put down until the last page is read. Sharper than a red hot chili and smoother that Texas oil let Dixie Cash take you on a trip you will never forget!

THIS IS NOT AN ENDORSEMENT OF THIS BOOK. THIS IS AN OBJECTIVE UNBIASED REVIEW.

DON’T MAKE ME CHOOSE BETWEEN YOU AND MY SHOES by Dixie Cash

Publisher Avon
Date published May 2008
ISBN 978-0-06-082974-2
Crime
Trade Paperback
Reviewed by Valerie


Debbie Sue Overstreet and Edwina Perkins-Martin are best friends, beauty shop owners and private-eye partners. They receive an invitation to attend a convention for detectives and to be speakers. New York City is a long way from Salt Lick, Texas but the gals are raring to go. And as everything is all expenses paid, how can they refuse? Their men even agree they can go, knowing that with all the other detectives and police who will be attending they can’t possibly get into trouble. Boy, were they ever wrong. They meet Celina, who’s broke and upset at getting robbed on her journey to New York and begin to hook her up to the hunky police detective who helps them when they discover a murder. Yes, the Equalizers bumble their way into a murder investigation that could leave Debbie Sue and Edwina deceased.

Here they are again, the two Southern Belles on an adventure of mayhem and Jimmy Choos. This is a fast paced, rollicking story that will have the reader’s eyes tearing up...with laughter! I just adore these two women, especially Edwina with her Southern wit. This Brit felt as if she were right there with them and could hear that southern twang in my head. Dixie Cash is supreme in writing sharp, witty dialogue, great characters and adding lots of interesting secondary characters to bring the story alive. I especially liked the subplot of Celina and her little romance. This is the fourth book in the series of stories about Debbie Sue and Edwina and the third I have read. I know it won’t be the last and I hope this author keeps churning out these brilliant stories for her readers to enjoy.