Drop Dead Gorgeous

Mystery of Love #1

by Jennifer Skully, Jasmine Haynes

Madison O’Donnell knows she’s going to die when she turns twenty-eight. She’s got two weeks to live and she’s going to make the most of it by falling in love. That’s when her boss decides that if she’s going to pack a lifetime of passion into those two weeks, he’s the man for the job…

She’s kooky, she’s drop dead gorgeous, and she’s never been in love.

More than anything in the whole wide world, Madison wants to fall in love before she dies. And she’s convinced that fateful event might just take place before her next birthday. So when she gets a wrong number from a stranger who sounds totally delicious, she knows it’s providence knocking on her door.

He’s older, he’s bald, and he’s an accountant. How’s he supposed to compete with Delicious?

She’s not just his secretary. No, to T. Laurence Hobbs, Madison is…more. And more than anything, T. Larry needs to protect Madison…from herself. So when she gets the kooky idea that the anonymous man on the other end of a wrong number could be The One, there’s only one way to save Madison. T. Larry must put all his skills to proving The One she’s desperately looking for…is him.

Oh, and he probably needs to convince her she’s not going to die before her next birthday, too.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Humor

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2006

About the author

If you like your romantic suspense fast-paced and laced with humor, try award-winning author Jennifer Skully. Jennifer adores quirky characters. The whackier the better! And you’ll find a whole cast of them in each and every Jennifer Skully book. Of course, being in the same body with alter ego Jasmine Haynes, she doesn’t let you down on the hot, sexy love scenes either.

After a long hiatus, Jennifer Skully is back!

Reviews

[Katie(babs) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has to be Jennifer Sully's best book to date. It is funny, sexy and the heroine has a thing for her boss who is balding and an accountant. But it doesn't stop there. Madison has a stalker who cleans her apartment and along with the fact that she needs to fall in love before she turns 28 because she thinks she will die because her father did at that age. She has two weeks to find the right man. And when T. Larry, her boss finds out what she has planned, her makes it his goal to watch her like a guard dog as she dates who she thinks may be her perfect man.

T. (We don't find out what the "T" stands for till the very end) calls himself Laurence, but Madison nicknames him Larry. Larry wears glasses and is a no nonsense type of guy. Madison is the complete opposite. She is a bit naïve in her thinking and a tad like "Little Mary Sunshine".

So you can just imagine what happens when Larry starts to fall for his Madison, who happens to also be is secretary.

This is one cute and zany story. Madison is an incredible woman who is genuinely kind and sweet. T. Larry is also a good guy, but just a little too stiff. Hey, he likes numbers! And when these two start to heat up the sheets- WOW very hot!

A much recommended read for anyone who likes sexy comedies with wonderful characters.

[Cyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

My wonderful blends have romance mystery and humor.

These two work so great and it was so fun to see her tease out the staid accountant's BDE.
I gave it 5 stars because I enjoyed it so much. It kind of had the feel of Bass Ackwards by Erin Adderley.
The seemingly average guy boss turning the BDE and possessive side on.
Madison has the potential to be a one dimensional, fluffy character but she's got depth and both of them grow.
They are also steamy together.
The little views and insights by other characters added to the story.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose to read this book and the 'Drop Dead, Gorgeous!' (note punctuation on other title) because they were near each other on the chick lit shelf of the library. I thought it would be amusing to read and compare the two books, and brought them both on holiday with me.

While the other book had a hint of scifi, was a screwball comedy with a lot of hot sex, this one went the more traditional romance route. In the line of boss/secretary of many years finally have an imperative to fall in love, this book actually had a lot more going on. In fact, compared to the other book, I felt like a hell of a lot more actually happened in this plot. Ironically, the characters even felt like they were in a lot more danger and had more obstacles to overcome in both their romance and their lives. After the hot sexiness of the other book, the prudish 'oh my god he kissed me' attitude of this book's heroine was funny and almost unrealistic.

The writing was well done for a book of this genre, and it had a bit more bite than a simple romance story. I will definitely look for other books by this author when I need more light holiday reading.

[Black Butterfly · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHAT A WONDERFUL STORY I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT IT CHARACTERS AND STORYLINE. A BEAUTIFUL ROM/COM WITH A MYSTERY, IT REMINDED ME A LITTLE OF THE MOVIE "SABRINA". MADISON A LITTLE LIKE THE CHARACTER IN "BORN YESTERDAY" ONLY BETTER. I HATED WHEN IT ENDED. SIGH! ;D

[Lorena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Madison O'Donnell is the bubbly secretary for T. Laurence Hobbs. She believes she will die of a stroke on her 28th birthday and so makes sure she lives life to the fullest no matter what. In this book she decided two weeks before her birthday that it is time to fall in love.
We see her looking in all the wrong, sometimes even dangerous places when the truth is staring her in the face.

Drop Dead Gorgeous was a funny romance with a twist of danger thrown in to keep readers on their toes. I love that T. Larry is not your typical leading man. The fact that he was a stuffy balding accountant made him more endearing and realistic. The whole book felt genuine and more life like then most.

After finding so much humor with this book, Jennifer Skully is now on my must read the rest of her books list.

[Debbie "Buried in Her TBR Pile" · Rating 3 out of 5]

I fell in love with stuffy, balding, tax accountant T. Larry - what a great H - turned out to be a little alpha. He grew out of his need to plan for the perfect outcome and fell in love with Madison. I liked this book - it made me laugh. The side characters made me laugh too. The suspense revolves around a stalker of the h - a little OTT - but made for some good laughs. I needed a break from my usual. I'm glad I saw this as a 4-star from a GR friend and took a chance.

[Tabatha Hawkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this, I really did, but honestly, it was REALLY rushed. The FMC was super damn annoying, and the MMC couldn't decide what he wanted to do half the time, which was also extremely annoying. There is a fine line between having a perky outlook with trusting people and just plain being an idiot, and she crossed that idiot line quite a few times. Disturbingly so. The bare bones were there, it just didn't GO anywhere. Harriet was way too much. She literally hated the FMC for existing and her behavior was absolutely ridiculous. She would have been fired in 2 minutes in the real world. I just couldn't get into this.

[Victoria Sturlini · Rating 5 out of 5]

A DELIGHTFUL BOOK!!!!

I really loved this book! It is so witty, unique and funny! As I was reading it I was so amused at how cleverly Jennifer slipped in such funny bits and pieces of dialogue. I would read a sentence and it would tickle my funny bone and I would have to go back and re-read it some more It was so cute! The love story was oh so steamy and so sweet at the same time..... I loved the characters ... They were all so interesting and complex but the story never got bogged down or too heavy.... It was just right and a completely delightful book to read!!!! 😄

[Jennifer Artiles · Rating 5 out of 5]

T. Larry and Madison

Madison is a fun-loving young woman who believes she'll die young. She sees only the good in people, which leaves her open to trouble. Her boss lives by his plans but is attracted her. The trouble that ensues makes for a fun trip, with humor and intrigue along the way. Highly recommended.

[Rose Arbor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book!

I loved this book! It was a great love story. And there was also a scary mystery to it. The characters were wonderful. TLarry and Madison, well, who wouldn't love them? All the characters were fleshed out. There wasn't a boring page in the book. Get the book. I think you'll love it, too.

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Conveluted plot

Character's self-esteems don't measure up to images presented by narrative. Heroine's belief about her life expectancy Is unusual and unfathomable. Hero is not willing to make the moves to attain his goals until he's left with no choice.
Sex scenes didn't add value to novel.

[Rosemarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

quite funny

Totally politically and culturally incorrect. Just fun to see hopes and dreams alive and new beginning become possible. Unexpected humor

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

errrrr

Well this sure was a funny romance…definitely different…..did not like the dumb secretary vibe it had but as a whole it worked.

[Linda Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Madison kept thinking she was going to die young,before her 28th birthday. Later, in the book her mother tells her she she believes in God and so should Madison. Madison should trust that God have a long life planned for her.
I often forgot that Madison had some physical limitations that bothered her from time to time. Until she mentioned that her bad hand was tighter than normal. She was a funny, quirky, smart but not often street smart and she knew how to get her way with a smile and her sweetness. Worked every time. Worked with her boss who she nicknamed, T. Larry, I loved the nicknames that she gave everyone and everything. T. Larry didn't want her answering the phones with the nickname that she gave the company but she never listened. Then T. Larry who ALWAYS had to have a plan realized suddenly that Madison didn't even see him as a man. It was all fun and games until at about 40% reading mark on my kindle, T. Larry decided she WAS going to see him as a man. A hot one !
Then, things really begin to take off, including some unforeseen dangers, romances and just plain fun. T. Larry shows himself as T. Larry THE MAN. Although that's not exactly what Madison calls him. Lol
It has a great ending !!!

[Netty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this as an eBook on my laptop and all though I wasn’t consistent with the read I still found this story a bit irritating and pointless. The name of the main character T.Larry (or nickname, should I say) was annoying. I can't imagine anyone using that as a nickname. Madison was just as bad, she was far to bubble and over positive, and sometimes she came across incredible stupid, just unrealistic for my taste. I thought the storyline was weak and very predictable.

I wouldn’t have brought this book.

[Ness · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been a while since I have read a Mills and Boon. Anyway, this was a sweet, quick read and I did enjoy it. There were some quite funny parts in the book and I always love it when you get to see both main characters thoughts about different situations.

The only thing that I was a little confused by was why the guy on the front of the book had a full head of hair whereas the character was going bald. A little bit of a #Fail right there.

[The White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to grab a towel, some suntan lotion, and head to the beach with this one. I found this contemporary romance/comedy to be great! If you are looking for a very light read, a little break from reality, this quick little book is for you. Surprisingly, the characters had a lot of depth. The storyline was engaging. The sex scenes were pretty "wow."

[Minnie Gupta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. The courtship of one dimensional characters having boring sex. And there's pubic hair. Sometimes I give chick lit a chance because of the pretty covers but often regret it. I found myself wishing Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele would enter this story and both couples would make a murder-suicide pact and go away.

[Cherise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever and witty and laugh out loud funny. This was my first book my Jennifer Skully and won't be my last. Her characters had me cracking up and the story made it very hard to set the book down. I couldn't wait to see what happened next!

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a sweet, silly, and funny book.

Such a refreshing change from all the billionaire hunk stories making the rounds these days. T Larry Hobbs is very, very hot in his own nerdy way, and Madison is just a lovely heroine.

[gert · Rating 1 out of 5]

could.not.finish.

why do i keep trying to read jennifer skully books? *shudder*

[Arch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review coming soon.

[PJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

First attempt at downloading something from overdrive and reading an e-book.

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book. I am not sure I would read more from this author but It was a funny story.

[Janet · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could (should) have skipped this one! Mindless, trite and obvious!

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay for what it was a nice beach read or Sunday read when you dont have anything else to read

[Marijayne Stegman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story, a little slow to start but worth it to hang in there. By the end, I was hanging on every word and rooting for both the hero and heroine (as it should be).

[P.A. Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It started out as a bit of a farce, and then became a great fun read with characters that I loved, or loved to hate.

[Nicki Roy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank goodness it was free on my kindle!!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this. The main character was quirky and an in the moment type of person. She loved to give people nicknames and try to see the best in every person.