This Pen for Hire (Jaine Austen Series #1)

Side Splitting!

Memo to self...

Do not drink anything while reading this saucy book.

Do not read this book while in public due to outrageous fits of laughter that will bubble up & the next vacation you take will be @ the LoOnY Tunes Ranch : 0.

Be prepared for the looks, stares, gazes & head shaking you will receive as your family, friends & strangers finally realize you have officially gone off the deep end.

Be prepared to have tears flow endlessly from laughing hysterically.

Warning...

Reading this book will spoil you & you will crave more.

Oh, yeah, don't forget the chocolate ; 9.

Laura Levine knocked it right out of the box w/ her quick witted, smartly paced debut. This Pen for Hire is brimming with humor.

Meet Jaine Austen ~ her mom's not too big on spelling . Jaine is one of the most down-to-earth & utterly charming amateur detectives to come along in a long time.

Laura Levine created not only an appealing, crafty, brassy, character ~ she hit the nail & penned a fun, fast~paced mystery that is laugh~out~loud funny!!!

Laura has an invigorating knack for writing in a style that gives the impression that Jaine is personally talking to you. Love that!!!

Laura's clever narration is unquestionably refreshing!!! I love how Jaine often shares what she wishes she could say.

Her communication w/ her parents is definitely a side-splitting adventure. And her imagined conversations with Prozac are uproarious.

Jaine is such a magnetic heroine, it won't be long before you become absorbed in her endless high jinks.

Jaine's best friend Kandi is a blast. Jaine's neighbor Lance is riotous. Her cat Prozac is priceless.

Jaine Austen is definitely a character you'll love. Laura Levine is a keeper.

I adore this series so much it is a must to have the moment it hits the shelves. I pre~order all of her books.

The only thing I don't like about this darling series is I have to wait a year for the next Jaine & Prozac adventure. : /. Grrr...

Oh, How I long to have a character named after moi ; p ...



Don't miss out on this.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Cute easy read - not too long

The author has an easy to read, light writing style. I'd say this is a good "beach" read. There is only about 160 reading pages so it is easy to get through. I'm not sure I'm in love with her protagonist. There are times when I wish she'd show more backbone. I don't like characters that let others walk all over them. I'd say buy it if you want a quick light-hearted book. I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to buy the next one...

This book was pretty good!

It was short, but it was very good! It was a chick lit book and about a writer who stumbles upon a crime scene. I plan on getting more of her books in my library!

Very witty

Easy to read on Nook...

Fantastic Series

Loved it! Funny fast read. Addicting series.

Really funny--So much fun

I enjoyed this book and will read the rest in the series. Not only was it a fun read, but this is one "who done it" that kept me guessing.

TV fare in book format

I've read three books in this series (including this one), and they all read like your run-of-the-mill TV episode. Good for some mindless entertainment during work breaks, but nothing remarkable. The heroine, Jaine Austen, is an ordinary woman with a self-deprecating attitude and an insatiable appetite for good food. She is refreshing at first (a break from perfect, self-confident heroines), but after a while, her low self-esteem (about her looks in particular), bad luck in the romance and job department, and inability to exert the self-discipline she craves gets a bit depressing.

But the above is not why I rated the book just one star. Here's why: this series has a recurring, highly offensive theme that actually had me steaming angry by the third book. This is it: the dumb, nasty, and shallow blonde. Now, I wouldn't have had THAT much of a problem with that particular characterization if only one or two blonde characters fit that description, but so far EVERY SINGLE blond-haired female character has been nasty, icy, "brittle" (to use the author's words), abysmally unintelligent, and shallow. Not to mention that the murder victim has always been the nastiest blonde of them all. Now, it seems highly likely to me that the author has some sort of problem with blondes; it would be to her benefit if she would grow beyond hateful stereotypes and start viewing blondes as individuals with diverse personalities.

If Ms. Levine had systematically characterized blacks, Asians, or Indians in such an offensive manner, the outcry of racial prejudice would have been so high that she'd probably be out of the novel-writing business by now. However, since blonde white women are the object of her vitriol, no one seems to mind. Therein lies the hypocrisy.

I am exceedingly relieved that I got my copies from the library free rather than dishing out money for them. Authors like Ms. Levine, who promote hurtful stereotypes and who seem to believe that anti-white prejudice is not racism, do NOT deserve my hard-earned money.

Great read!

This book was so funny. There was at least a few laughs on each page. and it keeps you guessing until the very end. I highly recommend this!

ON the edge of my seat!

This Pen for Hire kept me wanting to read, at the end of each chapter it left me wondering what was going to happen next. Best book I've ever read!!

Did she write a letter that caused murder?

Jaine Austen runs a writing service out of her apartment, in Los Angeles, called This Pen for Hire. She writes resumes, letters, brochures and personal ads ¿ lots of personal ads. She shares her apartment with her cat Prozac. Jaine¿s neighbor Lance Ventable is constantly telling Jaine to be quiet. He must live with his ear on their adjoining wall. He even complains that Prozac is too loud! Howard Murdoch hires her to write a love letter to Stacy Lawrence, the aerobics instructor at his gym. Much to Jaine¿s surprise, Stacy agrees to go out with Howard. Then Stacy is found dead, bludgeoned to death with a Thigh-Master. Howard is arrested, but he says he didn¿t do it. Detective Rea feels they have the right person in jail. Jaine decides to look into it. She feels responsible because, if she hadn¿t written the letter, Stacy wouldn¿t have agreed to go out with him and Howard would be arrested. In the course of her investigation, Jaine meets Cameron Bannick, a major hunk, who knew Stacy but had an iron clad alibi. She is very happy about this when they start dating. She can¿t believe her luck. Jaine uncovers quite a few people who weren¿t too sad that Stacy was dead. Some even had possible motives to kill her. In the course of her investigation, the killer begins to catch on and in the end, Jaine finds herself in a lot of danger. I truly enjoyed this book. Jaine is such a likeable character. She is very much a three-dimensional character. The additional characters in the book are all well written and the plot is well crafted. I highly recommend this book and the series. The 2nd book Last Writes has been published and is another terrific book!

A Great Read!

This was a fun and easy read, perfect for when you just want to enjoy a book.

MIRTH AND MYSTERY ARE A GREAT COMBINATION

'This Pen For Hire' could just as easily be called 'This Pun For Hire' because it's a rollicking, laugh-filled mystery by Laura Levine, an L.A. based comedy writer with many hit television programs to her credit. In this, her first novel, she introduces witty and wary Jaine Austin who views life, love, lust and Los Angeles with a practiced albeit jaundiced eye. Jaine is a writer for hire who has authored everything from libido laced personal ads to ardent vows of true love. This is her daytime job. At night she's out and about searching for her one-and-only in Hollywood's bistros. Enter a gawking geek, Howard Murdoch, who retains Jaine to write a love letter to Stacy Lawrence, a heart-stopping aerobics instructor whom Howard has never met. Crime comes quickly when Howard discovers Stacy beaten to death with a Thigh Master. The hapless Howard is, of course, fingered for the killing. Jaime is determined to prove his innocence. Wielding her Bloomies card like a press pass and totally disregarding all obstacles Jaine is hot on the trail of the killer who wants to make a real ghost writer out of her. 'This Pen For Hire' is a fun beach read, and Jaine a likeable heroine. Hope Laura Levine is back at the computer coming up with a second adventure for this dauntless dame.

amusing and cleverly designed amateur sleuth tale

Her almost namesake (mom could not spell) is probably turning over in her grave with the type of writings that freelance ad author Jaine Austen flushes from the deepest bowls of her mind. Industrial strength toilets not romances are Jaine¿s typical ballads. So when nerd Howard Murdoch hires her to write a love letter to aerobics instructor Stacy Lawrence, Jaine feels this is her chance at scribing an Emma. Jaine succeeds and reticent Howard goes on a date with Stacy.

On Valentine¿s Day, someone murders Stacy using her thigh master as a sledgehammer. The police arrest Howard. Jaine feels that her client is innocent and that in a way she caused his current predicament. There is also conceited LAPD detective Timothy Rea needing some comeuppance plus she needs an excuse to stay in touch with the victim¿s gorgeous neighbor Cameron Bannick.

THIS PEN FOR HIRE is amusing and cleverly designed amateur sleuth tale, but the romance comes across as interceding with the wonderful who-done-it. Jaine¿s humorous dialogue about her personal pitfalls turn her into quite a character study and makes for a superb novel. Laura Levine has written an amusing tale, so original that readers will want more works starring the other J. Austen.

Harriet Klausner

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