No Such Thing as a Good Blind Date: A Brandy Alexander Mystery

A Brandy Alexander Mystery #2

by Shelly Fredman

When childhood friend and recent parolee, Toodie Ventura, suggests he exchange his plumbing services for the spare room of twenty-eight year old Brandy Alexander's house, the out-of-work new homeowner thinks it's a pretty good idea. That is, until she discovers a dismembered body in her basement freezer and the suspect topping the list is the now missing Toodie. Brandy refuses to accept that her old friend is a cold-blooded killer and with the help of her ex-boyfriend, Detective Bobby DiCarlo and the sexy mystery man, Nicholas Santiago, she sets out to prove Toodie's innocence. Soon, Brandy finds herself up to her neck in stalkers and deranged killers, all the while juggling some of the worst blind dates ever!

Genres: Mystery, Romance, Cozy Mystery, Chick Lit, Humor, Contemporary, Romantic Suspense

282 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2006

Reviews

[Jane Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

The heroine surprises and delights me. I can’t believe how frequently I laughed and chuckled.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
This is book 2 in a series about Brandy. Books 1 to 3 are not romance novels because Brandy is not “with a guy” at the end of each book. But she gets her happy romantic ending at the end of book 4. It’s worth waiting for.

Brandy lies all of the time to most people including herself – and they usually know she’s lying. A couple examples follow. A love interest asks her if she’s been with a man before. She’s only been with two, but she lies and says “Yes. Of course. Lots.” As Brandy is eavesdropping on someone at a restaurant she tells herself “I wasn’t eavesdropping. I’m sure of it. I was just studying” (the waitress for pointers).

There are a few editing issues, but they didn’t bother me. This is a second read for me. I’m modifying my review from two years ago.

STORY BRIEF:
Brandy is currently unemployed and looking for her ideal job (investigative reporter). She does part-time waitressing in her brother’s restaurant. Toodie is a handyman who needs a place to stay. He becomes Brandy’s roommate in exchange for repairing things. Brandy desperately needs some plumbing repairs which she can’t afford. Toodie’s ex-girlfriend is killed, and Toodie is on the run. He calls Brandy asking for help. She starts investigating, and a series of strange things happen. The potential love interests for Brandy are: sexy Bobby her former boyfriend who is now unhappily married to a woman with mental problems. He is a police detective who constantly tells Brandy to stop doing what she is doing for her own safety. She ignores him. Nick a slightly dangerous Hispanic man who owns a martial arts studio and has connections with underworld types. Brandy frequently goes to Nick for help. He likes her and helps her.

DATA:
Story length: 280 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: 1. Setting: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Copyright: 2006. Genre: humorous female mystery, potential romance to be continued.

OTHER BOOKS:
Following is the Brandy Series in order. You can read any book as a stand-alone, but I think it’s best if you read them in order. The first book sets up important things to know.

4 stars. No Such Thing As A Secret
5 stars. No Such Thing As A Good Blind Date
5 stars. No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
5 stars. No Such Thing As A Free Ride

FTC DISCLOSURE:
The author sent this book to me free of charge, but I purchased the other three books in the series.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy series so far. It's an easy and quick read. it reminds me a lot of the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. With the Italian Stallion cop and the mysterious latino.

I love Brandy's wit and personality and couldn't stop reading.

The cons is that it kind of reads like a fanfiction. It doesn't look like the author did much of an editing prossess. It's frustrating that she misspells the word "Colombian" constantly. There are randomly placed quotation marks. And when she moves onto the next scene there is no break marks. It's a bit confusing at times as the scenes run together.

Overall it's a very fun read. I want to meet this Nick Santiago character. YUM!

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two-haiku review:

Brandy gets roommate
Now he's wanted for murder
And she's in trouble

Funny and sexy
Well done, complex mystery
Ebook many goofs

[Elaine Lucky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brandy has decided to stay in Philly & is purchasing her parents house & her childhood friend Toodie is moving in to help with expenses & plumbing! Having someone around the house after her previous near death experience has Brandy back on her feet again. The twins think she needs to start dating again and have some set ups for her. One disaster after another especially when she finds a dismembered body in her house and Toodie is the prime suspect. Trying to clear his name she starts her own investigation much to the dismay of Bobby her hunky ex boyfriend detective. Finding some evidence that doesn't make sense she turns to new man Nick to help her out. Her feelings are all over the board as Nick brings out feelings in her she doesn't want to deal with. Along the way Bobby's wife is stalking her, a shady lawyer may or may not be lying to her, & some nefarious characters are trying to murder her before she can find out the truth about the body in her house. Thrills, chills, romance, & a twisty mystery!

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good! The mystery in this one isn't as intense as the first one unfortunately but it's still a good read. Nick is hot, but I like Bobby a bit more. He seem like a good guy, and Nick just seems too mysterious for me.

I agree with the other reviews though. The author really needs to proofread her work. The grammar is a bit inconsistent at times. Hopefully she'll get an editor for the next book series.

[Julie Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 entertaining very similar to Janet evanovich’s Stephanie plum series except this series doesn’t have lula and grandma mazur. That’s my main complaint with the series so far. I really like the main character she’s very funny but the books are missing the background characters that make evanovichs Stephanie plum series so great.

[Kerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series!!

You fell in love with Brandi in the first book and then you fall in love with Nick in the second book!! Can’t wait for these two kids to figure it out!’ #MUSTREAD

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first read the plot to this I thought it was going to be a Stephanie Plum knock-off. I was a little worried it was just an imitation and wouldn't be worth reading. I was pleasantly surprised that Brandy could stand on her own and this was an enjoyable story.

[catherine nunes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can't put her books down

I have read 3 of Shelly Freeman's books in the last week! The characters are delightful and the stories themselves are FABULOUS! I like that the cast of characters run throughout her books, so you really get to know them. I LOVE the humor!

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Closer to 3.5 stars but still a good book.

[Edinburgh Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dodgy plumbing. Dismembered bodies and an ex boyfriend all in the mix in this fast pace book.

[ALPHAreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘No Such Things as a Good Blind Date’ is the second book in Shelly Fredman’s ‘Brandy Alexander’ mystery series. I loved the first book, ‘No Such Thing as a Secret’, and this second instalment is a wonderful follow through.

Brandy was an LA fluff reporter... but coming home and solving her best friends murder (of sorts) really makes a girl nostalgic for her roots. So Brandy packed her bags and moved home to Philadelphia... her parents moved to Florida and sold the family home to her and now she’s staying for good. Or not so good, as the case may be...

Brandy is being stalked by her ex-boyfriend’s crazy wife who thinks Brandy and Bobby are carrying out an illicit affair. In actuality Bobby is avoiding Brandy and she feels the sting of his cold shoulder. Nick Santiago (the sexy Latino martial arts trainer and shady Philadelphian underworld character) has also been avoiding Brandy since their heated flirtations and rescue missions of the previous book.
With all these men avoiding her, Brandy is lonely. And her cute kitty, Adrian, is not enough company. So when her ex-classmate, Toodie, offers to be her roomie in exchange for his plumbing services, she jumps at the offer...
But their roommate agreement didn’t include Toodie hiding a torso in Brandy’s freezer. A *dead* torso!

I am really loving this series! Shelly Fredman is a tight-rope writer, walking the thin line between comedy and tragedy, light and dark, with serious flair. Brandy is pretty hilarious at times – she’s often bumbling, scared and stubborn, but always genuine. Her funniest moments are with the men in her life, Bobby and Nick. Her attraction to Nick is particularly hilarious because Brandy is so self-aware of his prowess and lothario reputation, compared to her self-doubt and four-year-long man drought. Amidst the scenario’s in which Brandy is in over her head, her flailing love life is a point of recognition for readers who will find Brandy’s struggles totally relatable.

But Fredman is also able to contrast the light and funny side with a sharper edge. Brandy is seriously threatened in this book; she is stalked, assaulted, harassed and the recipient of death-threats. This book goes darker than the first, and is the better for it. It’s great to read Brandy’s reactions to the various dangers – her responses vary anywhere from outright fear and dry-heaving to gob-smacked inappropriate laughing. She is definitely a woman on the edge in this book, and it’s wonderful to read.

But what I love most about Brandy is her steadfastness. Yes, she is shit scared most of the time. But she will not cry, dammit! and she will not let the bad guys win. That’s what I like in my heroines – a vulnerable side to be revealed, but their courage to come up trumps;

“Why do you keep helping me?” Shit. I meant to say something urbane.
He sat down next to me on the bed and brushed the hair from my eyes. “Maybe I’m just a sucker for a girl with bangs.”
“No, really. I mean it. I've caused you nothing but inconvenience since the day we met. What do you get out of this?”
Nick leaned forward, the dim light from the desk lamp casting a shadow on his beautiful face. “If I were ever in trouble I’d want you on my side, because I know you’d never give up on me.”

The love triangle between Bobby/Brandy/Nick is a page-turner as much as the murder mystery. Theirs is a complicated triangle, for Brandy and Bobby’s rocky past and Nick’s dangerous reputation. The romantic stakes are definitely raised for Brandy in this book, and I look forward to reading how she navigates the battlefield.

I do love Fredman’s light/dark within this series, but I found this book to be far darker than the first. I also found it to be quite sad, because Brandy really explores (and admits) her loneliness in this book and sort of questions if she’s wasting her time on Bobby and Nick... neither of whom can give her the companionship and security she wants and needs. ‘No Such Things as a Good Blind Date’ is quite a revolutionary book for Brandy’s character; she confronts a lot of her unspoken concerns and fears, and starts to really evaluate her life and what she wants out of it.

I am loving this series so hard! I am impatiently waiting for Amazon to ship me the next 2 books and have my fingers crossed that Fredman is contracted for a 5th...

5/5

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

You need a shot of Brandy

Brandy Alexander's back in South Philly and the town may never be the same. In this second book of the "No Such Thing" series, we find Brandy settling back into the old neighborhood and looking for a job. Her search is going nowhere so she takes in her old classmate Toodie Ventura, in exchange for some badly needed plumbing work and butler services. True, Toodie's just back from "an all expense paid vacation, courtesy of the Pennsylvania penal system," but he's a good guy ... isn't he? Well he seems to be, until a freezer full of body parts ruins Brandy's first blind date. Believe me, for her there really IS no such thing as a good blind date.

Let me tell you about Brandy. She has the worst eating habits in the world and seems to live on chocolate and pizza. Her family and friends are the most lovably infuriating crowd in the world. She sings with a rock band in her brother's club. She has a cat named Rocky and a dog named .... oh wait, that would be a spoiler, better read it for yourself. She's ferociously protective of her friends. She spiked an attacker with the heel of her brand new Jimmy Choos. She's insanely crazy about two guys, one married and the other very dangerous (though very sexy); hence the blind dates, all of which go outrageously wrong.

Author Shelly Fredman got off to a great start with the first Brandy Alexander book, NO SUCH THING AS A SECRET: A Brandy Alexander Mystery, and she's knocked this one right out of the park. This series falls a little outside the usual women detectives genre, since Brandy's brief as a crime investigator is entirely in her own mind. The writing is crisp, literate and funny, the characters positively crackle with life, the South Philly settings are vivid, and the plotting is tight. Brandy is a vulnerable heroine and the use of her first-person voice in the narrative is highly effective.

I can't say enough good things about this book; this series in fact. I'll be reading the next one very soon, and then wheedling author Shelly Fredman to get more out there; I can't wait to see what Brandy gets up to next. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Brandy and I hope you'll join us. Five stars, for a smart, funny book that's pure entertainment.

Linda Bulger, 2008

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In book two of the Brandy Alexander mystery series, Brandy’s moved back to her hometown of Philadelphia and is now proud owner of her parents’ rowhouse. Brandy isn’t having much luck finding a job so agrees to provide room and board to Toodie Ventura, a former friend, in exchange for plumbing work on the old house. Toodie turns out to be a great roommate but has one flaw: he keeps bringing home junk and storing it in the basement. When Brandy opens a freezer Toodie told her contains steak, she finds a dismembered woman’s body instead. Enter Brandy’s ex, cop Bobby DiCarlo, and the fireworks begin. Toodie disappears and Brandy’s stuck with a constipated dog he left behind. An attorney claims the dog is his and a burglar tries to steal him, and Brandy becomes suspicious. Toodie calls Brandy, claiming innocence and asking her to find Glen, the man who gave him the freezer. No problem there: Glen’s stalking Brandy. If that isn’t bad enough, so is Bobby’s wife, both with evil intent. Brandy goes on the run, straight into the arms of sexy Nicholas Santiago.

Brandy Alexander is a fun character; a woman who isn’t afraid of a few calories and is caught up in a triangular relationship with her ex and a man most consider dangerous. Fredman draws her reader into a humorous plot surrounding zany characters and laugh-out-loud scenarios and dialogue. The South Philadelphia setting is full of life and flavor, the writing witty and charming, topped by excellent first-person narrative.

[Nancy]

Brandy Alexander takes in a former childhood friend, Toodie, as a roommate in exchange for plumbing services. A freezer is delivered to Brandy's basement and the dismembered body of a woman is found. Brandy's former boyfriend, a married policeman, tries to protect Brandy when her house is trashed. In addition, Toodie is missing and leaves a dog behind. Brandy puts up fliers about the lost dog, a man calls, she meets him, and he is beaten up. The dog poops up a flash drive. The man, Keith, doesn't care about the dog, he just wants the flash drive. He sends someone to beat up Brandy, Brandy gets a lead on the person who is after her from someone in a bar, and that woman is murdered. Nick Santiago, a mystery somewhat bad guy/good guy takes Brandy in since her house is destroyed. Bobby's wife, Marie, is stalking Brandy because she thinks Bobby and Brandy are having an affair. Brandy is eventually captured by Keith who is desperate for the flash drive since it has info on illegal ways of getting info from passports. Marie and Brandy are taken prisoners and eventually Nick rescues Brandy. Marie left Brandy to die. All ends well. Bobby is separating from Marie and Brandy is safe.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brandy just can't help herself... she must snoop. She must challenge the people around her. She must be in control and need help getting out of trouble. She is amusing as she figures out who the bad guy is before she gets killed. Okay, so she has Marie stalking her, they get into a cat fight and then end up in the warehouse together with two killers. The story surrounding a Jersey Casino getting illegal immigrants into the country with the help of a Philly lawyer. The information on a thumb drive that the dog eats and Brandy winds up with the dog. People dying, the wrong guy arrested and Bobby frustrated with Brandy and his wife. Nick gives Brandy a place to stay, Alphonso baby sitting Brandy while Nick does his thing. Nick admitting he's attracted to Brandy and of course they have sex. Of course Nick and Bobby find Brandy in the warehouse with the two bad guys dead on the floor. The cast of characters are amusing and interesting. Quick read, as long as you don't analyze Brandy or the stories.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first book, and while this one was also fun, I found that about half of a chapter two thirds of the way in seemed completely out of order. I'm not sure if it was poor editing, or a glitch in the Kindle e-book edition, but it was very confusing and quite distracting. It flips from one afternoon getting a phone call from Nick while she's at John's house to the day before in the car with Alphonso and then right back with her visiting her friend John. At one point she's supposed to have dinner with her uncle, then it's with Nick- but he's busy, oh wait- this isn't the same day is it? It didn't really spoil anything crucial in the story line, but it was definitely unsettling! I'll try the third book in the series, and hope that it's more linear!

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good light hearted reading with characters that I enjoyed. Just a couple of continuity issues with the book. The author will write about a current situation, but backtrack and talk about events earlier in the evening. This caused confusion for me. She does it a few times, but one time it really messed with the timeline and I had to flip back a couple of pages to ensure my comprehension (wha? did I miss something?). Also, for a person that doesn't have a job, Brandy always has money for some nonsense. Additionally, I think the author got tired of the cat/dog characters because they made a sudden departure from the story when, previously, they were prominent in the plot.

[Jeanie Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shelly Fredman is a fabulous author and No such things is a delightful book with a lot of laughs and well worth the read. I did not enjoy it as much as the others but that still leaves a very enjoyable book and I love it more each time I read it. This series is a must read for book lovers, romance lovers, and mystery lovers. I adore the characters and the stories are fun.


Note: I seldom give 5's on Goodreads because I am comparing these books to the best I ever read. At other sites, rate just to how much I recommend a book. This is a 5 recommendation.

[Shawn Clements · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 What a great book, and I actually liked it better than the first one! I will definitely be reading the rest of them in the series. This series reminds me of the Janet Evanovich books, but with characters that are more interesting. The only problem I found was the main character Brandy is always in danger and her Mother and Father know about it within minutes, but never come back to Philly to check on her…I find this strange.

[Sherrie perlman · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is the 2nd book in this series and i bought this book, because i went to school with shelly. she is from my neighborhood in philly. this book is easy reading about a girl who has moved back to phila from california, and all the situations she gets involved in. being from phila, we can relate with the area, and places that"brandy" visits.

[Rebecca Shields · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love this series so far. The humor is what really makes it great. The only thing that gets me is this woman needs a better editor!! Too many recurring errors, such as quote marks wrongly placed. It would have been a 5-star rating otherwise, but unfortunately I was actually bothered by the need for better editing.

[Kristin Whitehouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my new favorite series. Shelly Fredman just has to write faster. I love the characters, the fact that it's funny and that there is a mystery. I am also in love with Nick. Bobby is great too, but I love the bad boys.

[Karyogini · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 2nd book is better than the 1st. I think.

He main characters here remind me of the Stephanie Plum Series... You know Morelli and Ranger? No bounty hunters here though. Although the guys in this book has more complications. Like Bobby being married and all.

[Kimberlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had hoped the characters and story line would grow on me, but they didn't. I found myself skimming, and some things just didn't feel believable. It's a good series, but it doesn't hold my attention very well. Unfortunately, I don't think I will continue with it.

[Judith Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second in the Brandy Alexander series. Again more fun and mayhem, murder, sex, love and lust (oh... and lots of chocolate) in the city of Brotherly Love!

LOVED IT!!!!!!

[Jodi Arnold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read...could have used less swearing.

[Almiles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Shelly Fredman's 4 book series. I find her characters more appealing and believable/realistic than Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

book 2 in Brandy Alexander series! Brandy is my new fav character and who will she end up with ex boyfriend and cop Bobby or dark and mysterious Nick?