Death, Taxes, and Hot-Pink Leg Warmers

Tara Holloway #5

by Diane Kelly

It’s bad enough that Tara has to go on trial against the mortgage-frauding “Tennis Racketeers” who cheated banks and homeowners out of millions in between doubles matches. Now she has to go undercover—in a strip club—to strip the sleazeball owner of his indeed illegal livelihood. At least she’s working as a bookkeeper, not a pole dancer. And who needs tips when her undercover crush, Special Agent Nick, is the club’s bodyguard?

With so many hot bodies on display, Tara agrees to join her boss, Lu “the Lobo” Lobozinski, in her daily workouts at the Y. Lu’s on a health kick after recovering from cancer, and she’s pulled her leotards, tights, and hot-pink leg warmers out of mothballs. Which is okay with Tara. If she hopes to put Mr. Geils behind bars, grab the tennis boys by the balls, and lock lips with the unsuspecting Nick, she needs to be in the best shape of her life…

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Romance, Chick Lit, Cozy, Fiction, Humor

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 4, 2013

About the author

Award-winning author Diane Kelly writes romance and romantic mysteries featuring feisty heroines, quirky sidekicks, and sexy leading men, with humor that leaves readers laughing out loud.

Reviews

[Book Concierge · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5**

From the book jacket: It’s bad enough that Tara has to go on trial against the mortgage-frauding “Tennis Racketeers” who cheated banks and homeowners of millions in between doubles matches. Now she has to go undercover – in a strip club – to strip the sleazeball owner of his indeed illegal livelihood. At least she’s working as a bookkeeper, not a pole dancer. And who needs tips when her undercover crush, Special Agent Nick, is the club’s bodyguard?

My Reactions
This is book five in the series featuring IRS Special Agent Tara Holloway. I haven’t read any of the others, and picked this one strictly to meet a challenge for a pink cover.

I like that Kelly has given us the premise of a strong female heroine – intelligent, resourceful, powerful – but she doesn’t really deliver. I could do with fewer segues to think about what Tara and Nick might be doing in bed, and more concentration on the professional woman. In fairness, the hot-pink cover, not to mention the title, was a pretty good clue that this would be a lighter, fluffier “crime” novel.

It’s a fast read and mildly entertaining, but I’m in no hurry to read more of the series.

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another hilarious installment in this series. I love spending time with IRS Special Agent Tara Holloway, who can't seem to stay out of trouble in the line of duty.

Reviewed for Affaire de Coeur Magazine. http://affairedecoeur.com.

[Moondance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing like taking a baseball bat to the head to ruin a girl's faith in herself.

Tara, her partner Nick, DEA agent Christina and police detective Aaron are working undercover in a strip club to take down meth dealers.

I don't know why I waited so long between books in this series. Tara is one of my all time favorite characters. She gets into situations that make me laugh, cry and keep me coming back for more.

Working as a bookkeeper in a shady strip club while continuing to carry out her daily investigations for the IRS has Tara stretched thin. Oh, and her relationship with Nick is heating up. I must say that I was Team Brett for a long time but I am very happy to see Tara with Nick. Adding to the already full day, Lu has decided that she needs to get in better shape and drags Tara along with her to the gym.

These books brighten my day. Tara gets into situations that are intense and sometimes baffling. (I will never look at a frozen turkey the same again!) I love how dedicated to her job Tara is. Once she has an assignment it is game on.

The secondary characters were excellent. I wanted to know so much more about aging former showgirl, Bernice. I love when Tara's parents are a part of the story as well. There was a very nice conclusion to Tara's relationship with Brett. That made me happy.

I have the next book lined up to read. I plan to get caught up with the series in the new year.

This is a fun, action packed series that I highly recommend.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! Tara's cases were interesting and I love the relationship between Tara and Nick. I really wish the book had ended about a chapter before it did since I did not like what happened at the very end. Luckily I am reading the next book later this month so I will see what happens next!

[K.C. Hilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG! That ending! Damn good stuff! A+++ Well done, Kelly.

[Genevieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

How could you Diane Kelly? How could you leave this book on a cliffhanger. Now even with a bunch of books I am reading I am going to have to get the next book just to find out what happens next.
This book was really good. Tara and Brett have broken up but can't have sex with anyone else for a month to see if they want to get back together. So Tara and Nick are very frustrated. To the cases Tara is working on two big cases one undercover and one she is giving testimony in.
I love this series. Tara is an amazing main character. She is tough, opinionated, smart, good with a gun and can also be sexy, feminine and sweet. A wonderful package. Nick is a great guy nice, tough and willing to be a partner to Tara and watch her back. It is so nice to have a guy who isn't telling the female character to change their ways or to be something they are not. I also really like the side characters like Lu, Christine, Tara's family and other co-workers. Josh the geek who has played a much bigger role in past books is only very minorly mentioned in this one which is a little disappointing since he is usually so geeky that you got to laugh and smile at him.
All in all a great book and a great series.

[Tina Axell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucky me, I started reading this series just a couple months ago and was able to finish one book and dive right into the next. Now I will have to wait a couple of months for the next installment to be released...and what a cliffhanger Ms. Kelly has left on this one! Can't wait to meet up with Tara and Nick again!

[Kaitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably one of my favorite within the series... I can't wait to read the next one!! :)

[Ashley Cate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Death, Taxes, and Hot Pink Leg Warmers is another fun adventure with IRS Special Agent Tara Holloway. In this book Tara is working undercover as a bookkeeper for a strip club called Guys and Dolls, that the local police got a tip about running a drug and prostitution ring out of. She’s also dealing with the trial of the Tennis Racketeers, four partners that play tennis together at the country club and also run a mortgage fraud scheme (as well as fail to pay what they owe on their income taxes).

I enjoyed the fact that there were a couple of different cases that Tara was involved in. It made the book more interesting and definitely held my attention as I wanted to learn what would happen next in both cases. I really enjoyed this book, although I was definitely surprised by the ending, and can’t wait to read more Tara Holloway adventures. Who knew life at the IRS could be so exciting?!

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fifth in the series and the first I have read. I can’t believe I missed this series by Diane Kelly. I won this audio version.

This is definitely not a cozy mystery. I love the concept of an IRS Special Agent, Tara Holloway. Apparently, she is on hiatus from her soon to be ex-boyfriend, Brett. She is working undercover as a bookkeeper in a shady strip club while continuing to carry out her daily investigations for the IRS.

I found the characters to be quirky and entertaining. Loved the humor throughout the book to include the frozen turkey incident.

I was surprised by the ending. I did not expect the author to end the book that way even though in real life that probably would have occurred.


I am not required to leave a positive review.

[Tameka · Rating 4 out of 5]

What the heck. I'm not at all happy with the ending of this book. As much as she sticks her neck out on the line. With all the murderous and lecherous attempts that she has been through. Talk about life throwing you a curve ball. I am glad that things between her and Brett worked out. I was worried for a moment. Let the turkey's fly... and she used non-lethal force for that one. All the moments up until this book had her doubting her abilities until SWAT messed up. I could have sworn she gave them the code, or maybe that was my imagination. Ugh! I am stomping my feet on the ground right now. She was good at her job.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like this book as much as the Peach Tee one. Sure, the job Tara Holloway gets with Nick (and, ahem, benefits too) is interesting, as is the case they're assigned. Genevieve, one of the dancers they meet, is a fascinating character - I loved that she finally married the guy who was always teasing her. I liked that Maddie got clean and regained custody of her daughter. But I could see the ending coming - and while I could understand it, I really didn't like it. Not sure whether I'll read another. We'll see.

[Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Death, Taxes and Hot Pink Leg Warmers by Diane Kelly is the 5th book in the Tara Holloway Mystery series. IRS agent tara Holloway is assisting in an undercover investigation at a strip club suspected of drug distribution as well as investigating a mortgage fraud ring. A very entertaining and fun book where Tara and Nicks relationship develops and it was nice to see the amicable way Tara and Brett parted. Lots of action and danger and a shocking ending.

[Denver Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kelley has a very unique riding style. I find it to be one of the most fascinating, i’ve read yet. She has this uncanny ability to write soft core porn (an exaggeration on my part of course), humor, and real life scenarios while keeping me right on the edge of my seat and wanting to know what else is going to happen. Diane, please keep writing, I swear I will keep reading! Love your works so much!

[E'Who'Reads'a'Thousand'Mysteries · Rating 5 out of 5]

This high quality classic mystery is loaded with lots of twists and turns as the story unfolds. The characters are interesting, the dialogue flows naturally, and I'll definitely read more books in this series!

[Diane Segura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny and entertaining. Loved this book.

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book, as both series has been. APL

[Dre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lou is one of my favorite characters in this series.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loving this series; wonderful cast of characters.

[Becke Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun read with Tara. I love her relationship with her boss!

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are great. A true escape.

[C'antel Birmingham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Left me wanting for more, easy read, enjoyable

[Gloria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprising

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

More Tara Halloway fun wrapped up in leg warmers! Perfect July read!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much “girlie bits”, lame romance, but fun mystery, good cases, and fun progress.

[Sylvia McIvers · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually enjoy this series. This book, not so much.
There's a double plot, The Tennis Racketeers cheating on real estate mortgages and a strip club dealing drugs & not paying taxes on that income.

There's some lovely snark at the rich racketeers, some lovely pathos at the club, and the humor seems to be directed at Tara's fat, fat boss deciding to get some exercise in, wait for it, hot pink legwarmers & clothing several decades out of date. Bleah. Although the other context where the legwarmers show up is moderately amusing.

[Chelsey Wolford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tara Holloway and I are best friends. I am serious. If she were a real character, we would be the best of friends. Diane Kelly is a phenomenal writer and I agree with many other reviews I have read in saying that this is the best book in the series yet. Diane writes this fast-paced lifestyle and these characters that all feel real. I have never been so interested in tax evasion before this series! The only thing that I always hate about her books is that I am left wanting more, and in this case I am stuck waiting until October of this year for the next book in this series. Again, this book is filled with filthy bad guys trying to evade taxes, and a spunky Tara Holloway who is right on their trail.

Diane Kelly can put readers in some pretty unpredictable, filthy scenarios full of drugs, strippers, prostitutes, you name it and while all this is going on I am loving every minute of it. Diane really knows how to draw readers into a scene. I always know what is going on and it’s almost as if I am a tiny camera sitting on Tara’s shoulder. Diane makes readers a part of the story and really allows them to connect with other characters in the same way that Tara does. She gives them each crazy, funny, quirky personalities in order to make them stand out.

These books just keep getting better and better. I swear I do not know how she does it! Diane Kelly is one of my favorite authors because of her Tara Holloway series. Tara becomes more of a pistol with each book, and to be honest I will so sad to ever see this story end. Her sex scenes are steamy, her action scenes have me on the edge of my seat, and the moments when you think you know for sure what is going to happen next she comes in and sets off fireworks!

***A copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at St. Martin’s Paperbacks in exchange for my honest review***

[Lynn Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars This is one of the more entertaining installments in the Tara Holloway series. Yes, some of the tired old gags are still there but they're not relied upon quite as heavily this time around. In their place, we get some real storytelling and it's good stuff.

First of all, those who have been reading the entire series are going to want to know which guy Tara ends up with. This book pretty much resolves it - at least for now. I'm not usually a fan of love triangles. However, the author does a good job with this one. Depending on which guy you're rooting for, you may not like the outcome, but I did think the author wrote it gracefully.

And then there's the mystery. My husband and I joke that every law enforcement series eventually seems to end up in a strip club and that's exactly what happens here. Tara and some of her IRS colleagues are pulled into a federal investigation of a strip club believed to be involved in the drug trade - and perhaps some failure to report taxable earnings. So, Tara goes into the club undercover as a bookkeeper and while there, gets a pretty eye-opening look at how that industry works. Some of what she sees is pretty sobering stuff and that's part of what makes this such a good book. We have some of Tara's trademark snark, but we also get to see a new side of her as she ponders what makes her new co-workers tick and as she confronts some of the demons they struggle with working in this environment. The mixture of humor with more thoughtful musings worked well and I started to like Tara even more after reading this book.

As with others in the series, this book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, so I'm anxious to get started on the next installment!

[My Book Addiction and More MBA · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the general plot of this book- going undercover to catch the bad guys, while dealing with the day to day of the usual casework, throw in a hot partner and there ya go. I didn’t know this was a 3rd or 4th book of a series, or I would have been aware of the fact the main character is in the IRS, and talks way too much about taxes and people getting over on the government. I, myself, am not a fan of taxes, so that was a bit distracting to me and decreased my level of enjoyment a bit. Most readers would know about that ahead of time though, and wouldn’t have issues with it.

Nick, Tara, and the others are engaging, believable, have a great chemistry, and work well together throughout the book. I did find it a little hard to believe that although Tara is working undercover on one case, she was allowed to testify for a second one and be recorded for news bits in the same town. I get Dallas is big, but strippers and drug runners watch TV too right? Wouldn’t you try to avoid the risk of getting caught and avoid the trial altogether, let your partner handle the face to face? On a side note, I enjoyed the visual of Nick with his 80s mustache, and Tara in her 80s leg warmers.

As for heat rating, the buildup of heat and tension between the two leading up to their “special night” was a nice change from the usual romance and made me think how fun it would be to plan a “no nooky” month in my house for a little while, just to see what kind of alternatives we could come up with…

Rating: 4

HEAT Rating: Hot

Reviewed By: Daysie W.

Courtesy of: My Book Addictions and More

[Teena in Toronto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tara is an IRS agent and has two cases on the go. Four men dubbed the "Tennis Racketeers" have ripped off desperate homeowners and taken their homes. Tara and her partner, Eddie, investigate and testify at the trial. In the other case, Tara becomes an undercover bookkeeper at a strip club where it's suspected the slimy owner is dealing drugs. Nick, Tara's new boyfriend and fellow IRS agent, is also working undercover at the club as a bodyguard,

This is the fifth book in the Tara Holloway series (I've read the previous ones) and the sixth book I've read by this author. It works as a stand alone as there was enough information from the past ones so you know what's going on.

I enjoyed this book. I liked the writing style ... it was funny and sarcastic. It is written in first person perspective from Tara's point of view. As a head's up, there is swearing and adult activity.

I like Tara and Nick together ... they seem well-suited and fun together. I did find their constant obsession with having sex annoying ... it's all they seemed to think and talk about. It was interesting to see how Tara's view of the world of strippers changed as she worked at the club and she got to know the workers. I like the supporting characters like Eddie, Tara and Nick's parents, etc.

I'm enjoying this series and look forward to reading more. We were left with quite a cliffhanger in this one!

Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2014/08...