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Body Movers #0.5
Party Crashers
Jolie Goodman never yearned for a life in Atlanta's fast lane. All she wants is a career in real estate, and she's willing to sell shoes in Neiman Marcus over the holidays to make ends meet. But recently, her boyfriend vanished -- with her car -- and her search for answers leads her to some very exclusive circles. Jolie hooks up with a pair of retail fashionistas who have made crashing society bashes an art form, and soon findsherself rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous ... and rubbing other body parts with one of Atlanta's most eligible bachelors!
But Jolie can't shake the feeling that she's being pursued ... right into a dangerous clique where friends and enemies look the same, and flirtation is the preferred party favor. Jolie and her gal pals become the toast of the town ... until a body turns up at a sexy soiree the women have crashed. The fun and games come to a dead end when the "crashers" are fingered for the murder. The women have to pull all the tricks out of their designer bags to try to trap a stalker before Jolie, once the life of the party, becomes the death of the party.
But Jolie can't shake the feeling that she's being pursued ... right into a dangerous clique where friends and enemies look the same, and flirtation is the preferred party favor. Jolie and her gal pals become the toast of the town ... until a body turns up at a sexy soiree the women have crashed. The fun and games come to a dead end when the "crashers" are fingered for the murder. The women have to pull all the tricks out of their designer bags to try to trap a stalker before Jolie, once the life of the party, becomes the death of the party.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
230 people are currently reading
1883 people want to read
About the author
Stephanie Bond
265 books1,784 followersUSA TODAY bestselling author Stephanie Bond was seven years deep into a systems engineering career and pursuing an MBA at night when an instructor remarked that she had a flair for writing and suggested that she submit to academic journals. But Stephanie, a voracious reader, was only interested in writing fiction–more specifically, romantic fiction.
Upon completing her master’s degree and with no formal training in writing (her undergraduate degree is in computer programming), she started writing a romance novel in her spare time. Two years later in 1995 she sold her first manuscript, a romantic comedy, to Harlequin Books.
In 1997, with ten sales under her belt to two publishers, Stephanie left her corporate job to write women’s romantic fiction full-time. In 2011,
Stephanie launched a self-publishing business. Since that time, she has sold more than 1 million copies of her own books. To-date, Stephanie has published over 70 novels and has over 6 million copies of her work in worldwide distribution in numerous languages and formats.
Upon completing her master’s degree and with no formal training in writing (her undergraduate degree is in computer programming), she started writing a romance novel in her spare time. Two years later in 1995 she sold her first manuscript, a romantic comedy, to Harlequin Books.
In 1997, with ten sales under her belt to two publishers, Stephanie left her corporate job to write women’s romantic fiction full-time. In 2011,
Stephanie launched a self-publishing business. Since that time, she has sold more than 1 million copies of her own books. To-date, Stephanie has published over 70 novels and has over 6 million copies of her work in worldwide distribution in numerous languages and formats.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews
July 14, 2018
Pretty good book. Mostly its a good setup for the series. Our heroine doesn’t develop into a very strong character and our hero doesn’t get enough play to develop, either. Its the side characters that are most interesting and thats who stars in the next book.
The story is interesting, though. Our group of daring gals crash parties until a murder ends the party.
The story is interesting, though. Our group of daring gals crash parties until a murder ends the party.
December 14, 2008
This one read like a Nancy Drew novel with a few paragraphs of purple prosey sex thrown in to give it that grown-up element. And then I remembered that the author is a BIG Nancy Drew fan.
Nancy, Bess and George ... oops! I mean Jolie, Carlotta and Hannah dress up in disguise and crash high society parties trying to solve a mystery. Jolie's boyfriend, Gary, has disappeared and taken her car with him. Gary's own car is found in the river with an unidentified women strapped in the passenger's seat. More dead bodies start popping up and Jolie discovers that Gary's past is more than a little shady.
Jolie originally meets Carlotta and Hannah on her first day of selling shoes at Neiman Marcus. Jolie's plan is to make enough money to open her own real estate brokerage office. When Carlotta and Hannah let her in on their party crashing plans, they explain to Jolie that they buy designer items with their employee discounts and then return them the next day after wearing them to parties. (They put tape on the bottom of designer shoes and leave the cardboard inserts inside, put cardboard over price tags on clothing and tuck them inside, etc.) Jolie's response is ... "but that is dishonest"... and then she proceeds to spend the rest of the book dressing up in designer clothes and returning them, justifying it by hoping to solve Gary's disappearance.
Now ... I worked retail when I was in college. This does not work! Employee purchases/returns with an employee discount are tracked and too many returns sends a red flag to one's employer. Not to mention I didn't work for a trendy big-time employer like Neiman Marcus. One can only imagine how they really handle these situations.
And then there is the fact that Jolie is the TSTL heroine. Her constant stupidity and failing to cooperate with the police put in harm's way more than once.
This is when knight-in-shining-armor, Beck Underwood (heir to an Atlanta media tycoon), steps in to rescue Jolie over and over and over again. Beck was ... PERFECT. And I could never understand his attraction to Jolie or his patience with her. She did nothing for him except cause more problems and smear his good name.
For the mystery element, this book is a good read. There are many twists to the plot, including a big surprise I was not expecting at the end. Totally threw me!
To be honest, I read this book for the secondary character - Carlotta. She completely overshadows Jolie and is as funny and colorful as they come. I can totallly understand how she ended up with her own series (Body Movers). The person who loaned me this book encouraged me to suffer through it so I could get a glimpse of Carletta's flamboyant character and have a better understanding of Bond's new series (which is much better than her old stuff I might add!)
Nancy, Bess and George ... oops! I mean Jolie, Carlotta and Hannah dress up in disguise and crash high society parties trying to solve a mystery. Jolie's boyfriend, Gary, has disappeared and taken her car with him. Gary's own car is found in the river with an unidentified women strapped in the passenger's seat. More dead bodies start popping up and Jolie discovers that Gary's past is more than a little shady.
Jolie originally meets Carlotta and Hannah on her first day of selling shoes at Neiman Marcus. Jolie's plan is to make enough money to open her own real estate brokerage office. When Carlotta and Hannah let her in on their party crashing plans, they explain to Jolie that they buy designer items with their employee discounts and then return them the next day after wearing them to parties. (They put tape on the bottom of designer shoes and leave the cardboard inserts inside, put cardboard over price tags on clothing and tuck them inside, etc.) Jolie's response is ... "but that is dishonest"... and then she proceeds to spend the rest of the book dressing up in designer clothes and returning them, justifying it by hoping to solve Gary's disappearance.
Now ... I worked retail when I was in college. This does not work! Employee purchases/returns with an employee discount are tracked and too many returns sends a red flag to one's employer. Not to mention I didn't work for a trendy big-time employer like Neiman Marcus. One can only imagine how they really handle these situations.
And then there is the fact that Jolie is the TSTL heroine. Her constant stupidity and failing to cooperate with the police put in harm's way more than once.
This is when knight-in-shining-armor, Beck Underwood (heir to an Atlanta media tycoon), steps in to rescue Jolie over and over and over again. Beck was ... PERFECT. And I could never understand his attraction to Jolie or his patience with her. She did nothing for him except cause more problems and smear his good name.
For the mystery element, this book is a good read. There are many twists to the plot, including a big surprise I was not expecting at the end. Totally threw me!
To be honest, I read this book for the secondary character - Carlotta. She completely overshadows Jolie and is as funny and colorful as they come. I can totallly understand how she ended up with her own series (Body Movers). The person who loaned me this book encouraged me to suffer through it so I could get a glimpse of Carletta's flamboyant character and have a better understanding of Bond's new series (which is much better than her old stuff I might add!)
March 21, 2020
This was a cute little prequel to the Body Movers series. Stephanie Bond writes very humorous romantic mystery books. In this book, the main character of the Body Movers series is a member of the supporting cast. (I wonder if we see this couple ever again.)
Reading this book, I was sincerely appalled at just how much someone will pay for a pair of shoes or a robe. Seriously, frightening. I think I've had cars that cost less.
This book had a fun mystery and a satisfying one. I wish the couple had better chemistry, but it was laugh out loud funny in parts.
Reading this book, I was sincerely appalled at just how much someone will pay for a pair of shoes or a robe. Seriously, frightening. I think I've had cars that cost less.
This book had a fun mystery and a satisfying one. I wish the couple had better chemistry, but it was laugh out loud funny in parts.
May 30, 2020
Loved it!
January 27, 2013
Prequel (written as a stand alone) to the Body Movers series, this is an enjoyable chicklit mystery title with romance but no explicit scenes. The characters have some minor personality differences compared to the Body Movers series: Jolie is more serious and straight, Carlotta is less concerned about about consequences, and Hannah is more varied (hey, she wears a "feminine ... flirty ruffled skirt" to a funeral). Humor lets the reader suspend reality -- it's not so much a "who done it" as a "what crazy thing is going to happen next?" Reminds me of a less crude Evanovich or a murder ridden Carly Phillips.
April 27, 2013
I think perhaps my mistake has been to read too many Stephanie Bond books in close succession. I do enjoy her style but found myself wanting this book to end so I could read something else. No fault of the book - just too much of the same thing.
March 15, 2019
*3.5 stars*
I liked this one. It was funny, it has a good mystery/suspense. What got to me though was how super quick the romance was. Just way too quick to get to that HEA for me. It really had me going until then.
I liked this one. It was funny, it has a good mystery/suspense. What got to me though was how super quick the romance was. Just way too quick to get to that HEA for me. It really had me going until then.
February 8, 2008
*Happy Dance*
"My girl", Stephanie Bond once again combines chick lit, fun, a murder mystery, with a touch of romance and humor ... while not being too "silly".
I ADORE THIS AUTHOR!!!
I am amazed that Stephanie Bond is not much more well known, and I talk her books wherever I can on my various book sites.
Stephanie's stand alones are terrific fun, always a special treat -- for me, she's up there with Evanovich on the enjoyment scale!
Her Body Movers "sexy mystery" series is super -- Body Movers referring to her ne'er do well 19 year old brother, who gets a job with a mortuary.
www.stephaniebond.com
This book is going to SimplyCee in my continuing efforts to spread the word about STEPHANIE BOND. *grin*
No, I am not a paid representative, or a relative, LOL.
"My girl", Stephanie Bond once again combines chick lit, fun, a murder mystery, with a touch of romance and humor ... while not being too "silly".
I ADORE THIS AUTHOR!!!
I am amazed that Stephanie Bond is not much more well known, and I talk her books wherever I can on my various book sites.
Stephanie's stand alones are terrific fun, always a special treat -- for me, she's up there with Evanovich on the enjoyment scale!
Her Body Movers "sexy mystery" series is super -- Body Movers referring to her ne'er do well 19 year old brother, who gets a job with a mortuary.
www.stephaniebond.com
This book is going to SimplyCee in my continuing efforts to spread the word about STEPHANIE BOND. *grin*
No, I am not a paid representative, or a relative, LOL.
May 30, 2020
Really 3-1/2 stars. Silly fun that is a prequel to the Body Movers series. A couple of Neiman retail employees borrow clothes to crash swanky parties and mystery and murder ensue.
March 28, 2013
***1/2~3.5 Stars~~I have read the Body Movers series which is not finished. This was a set up with a different main female lead. This author creates characters that you like and care for. You also want to smack them a lot for their self destructive behavior. This book was no exception. Good mystery/plot and bad guy resolution. My problem was not believing I would get an HEA...I so loved Beck through all of this. Jolie really put him through it. Eventually they do get their HEA and I loved how it was done. If I would have been able to believe this ahead of time, I would have enjoyed the book more. Bond just didn't set this precedence in any of her other books, so the relationship drama drove me crazy and left me with little hope. Glad I finished it, though. The ending was worth it!
January 28, 2020
I was going to listen to Stephanie Bond’s first book in her Body Movers series on audio. When I looked it up on GR, this was listed as the prequel to that series.
When available, I prefer to do series in order.
This is being advertised as a Hilarious, Romance, Mystery.
Unfortunately, I didn’t find it funny. I can see where the writer tried but I didn’t think it was funny.
However, the mystery element was very good. It kept me guessing.
And the romance was spot-on. There was great chemisty b/w Jolie & Beck.
Also, I liked the Jolie character & rooted for her to succeed.
I didn’t really like the Carlotta & Hannah characters but they’re the ones who are featured in the series. I would have rather had more w/Jolie & Beck.
And it does move a little slow.
When available, I prefer to do series in order.
This is being advertised as a Hilarious, Romance, Mystery.
Unfortunately, I didn’t find it funny. I can see where the writer tried but I didn’t think it was funny.
However, the mystery element was very good. It kept me guessing.
And the romance was spot-on. There was great chemisty b/w Jolie & Beck.
Also, I liked the Jolie character & rooted for her to succeed.
I didn’t really like the Carlotta & Hannah characters but they’re the ones who are featured in the series. I would have rather had more w/Jolie & Beck.
And it does move a little slow.
February 12, 2014
This story was a bit too ridiculous for me to fall in love with. And I really wanted to love this. The romance between Jolie and Beck kept reading but even that really didnt fizzle to much of anything. They're whole relationship just seemed thrown together by the end. The story takes place within 2 weeks. So you mean to tell me this girl with a few relationship issues and just throws all that to the wind and runs off with someone she only met 2 weeks ago. Just feeling that there was no real development in their relationship to have the ending they had.
April 20, 2015
A young Atlanta woman finds her life is a hot mess. She has quit her job at a local real estate brokerage firm and her boyfriend has gone missing with her car, without her permission. At her new job in the shoe department of Neiman Marcus she meets some new friends. With these new friends she starts investigating her missing boyfriend on her own. This is a crazy story and people start "pushing up daisies" around her.
January 26, 2013
Not quite on target with the book and characheters from the Body Movers series but how it all began. Sad thing is I preferred this group of characters and wished all of them would have continued on.
April 22, 2015
This is the prequel to the body movers series. It tells the story of the night Carlotta, Jolie and Hannah got arrested crashing a party. They always reference that night in the series so it was nice to learn the details. Very funny and face paced with a little murder mystery mixed in.
March 16, 2013
An Enjoyable funny/mystery novel which is an easy read.
August 16, 2019
I wish this series would get a little better. It always has a good little twist to the story wish I really enjoy and that has definitely increased my enjoyment of this series. The brother Wesley is starting to really get on my nerves. The things he does, no way could he get away with trying assist in stealing a dead body and someone he seems to not get in trouble for it. Not to mention how he gets daily pee tests from his probation officer but he manages to put a chemical in his pee that shows it as clean? Really? He's just a child who seems to get away with everything bc his parents abandoned him. Also the love interests. She talks about both Peter and Jake having different angles with her and pressuring her in different ways. Yet she continues to push away Coop who is the only one in her own words wasn't pressuring her unlike the other 2. Then we come to Peter who paid $25,000 to Wesley's loan shark and instead of wanting payment back he asks him to keep the other 2 guys away from Carlotta. I just find that to be a little sleazy. I don't know. I had hope that Peter was going away but when Peter talks about moving stares Carlotta whores herself out asking him to stay bc her father who abandoned them asked her to keep him close. Honestly the more I think over the book the more problems I find with it. I do however like the mystery part and will try the next book. If it doesn't improve I will probably stop reading the series.
October 12, 2021
Really struggling through this one & only putting up with it because it's an audiobook in the background while I do other things & I want to get to the ending...
The reason this book sucks is 100% down to how effing annoying Jolie, the "heroine" is. OMFG she is TSTL, so naive & gullible, no real personality, nothing interesting about her, gets into stupid situations that are so obvious. She's paranoid, jumpy, annoyingly skittish, and just everything in her thoughts causes eye rolls.
Also, WHY is this rich, successful, attractive, nice guy (Beck, the H) so interested in her? It's so unrealistic and he could do better, even though we don't really learn much about him or see much character development.
I still can't get over how annoying this h is...she's taken in by this boyfriend & continues to believe him, despite knowing he scammed her & she only dated him for 4 months & wasn't even that into him? Then she picks friends who steal stuff from work and sneak into parties in some sort of super naive investigation where she has no idea what she's doing and trusts these strange friends? She lets people walk all over her, "squeaks", and just in general is the definition of a TSTL heroine. Ugh please be done already...
The reason this book sucks is 100% down to how effing annoying Jolie, the "heroine" is. OMFG she is TSTL, so naive & gullible, no real personality, nothing interesting about her, gets into stupid situations that are so obvious. She's paranoid, jumpy, annoyingly skittish, and just everything in her thoughts causes eye rolls.
Also, WHY is this rich, successful, attractive, nice guy (Beck, the H) so interested in her? It's so unrealistic and he could do better, even though we don't really learn much about him or see much character development.
I still can't get over how annoying this h is...she's taken in by this boyfriend & continues to believe him, despite knowing he scammed her & she only dated him for 4 months & wasn't even that into him? Then she picks friends who steal stuff from work and sneak into parties in some sort of super naive investigation where she has no idea what she's doing and trusts these strange friends? She lets people walk all over her, "squeaks", and just in general is the definition of a TSTL heroine. Ugh please be done already...
December 28, 2023
This book is the prequel to a series I have heard great things about so I thought I would start it. Not a good thing to do. I am starting to realize Stephanie Bond is hit or miss with her characters and mainly they are misses. The lead character in this book is just flat and uninteresting. I have no idea why the romantic lead is interested in her. She has no backbone, jumps to conclusions, and lets everyone around her lead her actions. The male lead is a true romance novel hero – rich with a good heart. I just didn’t buy him being interested in Jolie.
The other issue with this book is that it’s like the author hates her main character. The book is just one humiliating point after another for Jolie. Sometimes it was hard to listen to because it was liking watching a car wreck you can’t stop. I don’t like books where the story progresses by having the heroine be put in one stupid scenario after another and this is how this book went.
Jolie’s friends Hannah and Carlotta are not great supporting characters as there isn’t much for them to do here and the author tries to tie it all up nicely at the end, but it just doesn’t work. I don’t know if I will continue with the series or not.
The other issue with this book is that it’s like the author hates her main character. The book is just one humiliating point after another for Jolie. Sometimes it was hard to listen to because it was liking watching a car wreck you can’t stop. I don’t like books where the story progresses by having the heroine be put in one stupid scenario after another and this is how this book went.
Jolie’s friends Hannah and Carlotta are not great supporting characters as there isn’t much for them to do here and the author tries to tie it all up nicely at the end, but it just doesn’t work. I don’t know if I will continue with the series or not.
July 3, 2018
This book filled in some of the gaps from the first book in the series since I accidentally read the first book before this one. This was a pretty good book but there were definitely some short cuts that were taken that took away from the overall quality.
1st - there is no reason for Beck to be so obsessive over Jolie (trying to follow her to the cop talk) from such a short and relatively meaningless interaction. It’s not like Beck got to see her personality from their sales transaction so he comes off as a bit stalkery and obsessive
2nd - it is pretty luck that the one photo Jolie takes happens to have all of the pertinent people in it and that she happens to approach the killer first
3rd - obvious bad guy
4th - it’s quite convenient that Beck comes back to support his sister and then decides she’s fine so he can travel the world with Jolie
Some of the good things were
1st - seeing Carly from an outside point of view
2nd - getting a quick resolution with an easy happy ending
3rd - Sammy was an interesting multi- faceted character
1st - there is no reason for Beck to be so obsessive over Jolie (trying to follow her to the cop talk) from such a short and relatively meaningless interaction. It’s not like Beck got to see her personality from their sales transaction so he comes off as a bit stalkery and obsessive
2nd - it is pretty luck that the one photo Jolie takes happens to have all of the pertinent people in it and that she happens to approach the killer first
3rd - obvious bad guy
4th - it’s quite convenient that Beck comes back to support his sister and then decides she’s fine so he can travel the world with Jolie
Some of the good things were
1st - seeing Carly from an outside point of view
2nd - getting a quick resolution with an easy happy ending
3rd - Sammy was an interesting multi- faceted character
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 7, 2019
I really like this story. It was more than just a romance novel there is some mystery to it as well. Jolie wants nothing more than to sell real estate. She is trying to start her own agency after losing her current job as a real estate broker. She had to go work an Neiman Marcus selling shoes to make ends meet through the holiday. Her boyfriend she has date for four months has disappeared as well as her car. She reports her boyfriend missing and the police makes her into a suspect into his disappearance. Anyways the story unravels with a very interesting plot to why he went missing and what ended up happening to him. I was not expecting the reasons why so the story really did surprise me. I like that I was surprised by it. Jolie makes friends with other employees at Neiman Marcus and they go to some parties that they crash. I like that this story was a mixture between romance and mystery in this story it works really well. The plot and twists work well. I felt it was fast paced and packed.
June 17, 2025
I supposed this is ok.
I didn't finish reading the middle part that I skipped. the star character is a bit too stick in the mud. she is very nervous. I can't read that book where she is 2nd guessing herself every which of way. the book will never get any where.
Skipped to the back and the twist in the story surprised me but I am not that surprised that I want to go back to figure it all out.
not continue with the series. was thinking this is going to be fun book but not fun at all. total flop in that aspect.
I didn't finish reading the middle part that I skipped. the star character is a bit too stick in the mud. she is very nervous. I can't read that book where she is 2nd guessing herself every which of way. the book will never get any where.
Skipped to the back and the twist in the story surprised me but I am not that surprised that I want to go back to figure it all out.
not continue with the series. was thinking this is going to be fun book but not fun at all. total flop in that aspect.
January 6, 2024
I’ve read all of the Body Movers series and love them. when I came across party crashers, I was super excited because I have loved the other books so much. This was not Stephanie Bond’s best work, but it did set up for the series. It’s a quick read for anybody who wants to get background before moving into the series, I would have given this a higher rating, but I felt that it lacked the interesting and eclectic characters that were brought into the body mover series.
March 10, 2025
When Jolie’s boyfriend disappears, her car is stolen and police think she knows more than she does. She’s quit her job and is working as a shoe sales assistant, where she meets Carlotta -and her friend Hannah. Carlotta has a penchant for crashing high end parties and Jolie soon finds herself tagging along. But when they crash one too many - and a dead body is discovered, it spells a whole lot of trouble for Jolie.
October 27, 2019
It was hard to pick a rating for this series. If you rate it from a romance perspective, it wouldn’t rank very high. While Jolie and Beck are both interesting characters, their relationship is hardly explored and unlikely at best. However, if you rate it from the perspective of introducing the characters from the Body Movers series, it does do a very good job of that.
October 28, 2019
Loved it!
I am a fan of this author, and I love this series, I didn't realize that I missed this book in the series, but I am so glad that I found it! I did not see this ending coming, I saw some of the things leading up to some of the ending, but not the explanation of Gary's story. You will have to read the book to find out more. Another great ending to a great book.
I am a fan of this author, and I love this series, I didn't realize that I missed this book in the series, but I am so glad that I found it! I did not see this ending coming, I saw some of the things leading up to some of the ending, but not the explanation of Gary's story. You will have to read the book to find out more. Another great ending to a great book.
December 26, 2019
Not quite body movers
I guess that I was expecting a spin off from “Body Movers” but this went the other way - pre the moving business. It tended to show Carlotta in a different light - cavalier, and less concerned for others - but still a fun read - and with a surprising twist at the end.
I guess that I was expecting a spin off from “Body Movers” but this went the other way - pre the moving business. It tended to show Carlotta in a different light - cavalier, and less concerned for others - but still a fun read - and with a surprising twist at the end.
July 15, 2017
Fun book to read with lots of twists and turns. I always love a book that surprises me and this book did. Jolie Goodman's character is this book was a lot braver then I would have been. She is a very unique person and I enjoyed her escapes.
May 19, 2018
Love the characters
I enjoyed this book. I like the Body Movers series and this is just as entertaining. It was difficult to put down once I started reading and I couldn’t wait to start reading again.
I enjoyed this book. I like the Body Movers series and this is just as entertaining. It was difficult to put down once I started reading and I couldn’t wait to start reading again.
December 6, 2018
Mystery Fun
I have this book a while and decided to finally read it, it was just what I needed. Laugh so many times and at the same time almost cry. Very creative and with the same mind dialogue a lot of us have. With twist that even I didn’t see coming. Really enjoyed this one.
I have this book a while and decided to finally read it, it was just what I needed. Laugh so many times and at the same time almost cry. Very creative and with the same mind dialogue a lot of us have. With twist that even I didn’t see coming. Really enjoyed this one.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews