High Anxiety

Crazy #3

by Charlotte Hughes

Readers will go crazy for the latest Kate Holly case...

Kate Holly needs a temporary secretary. Amanda Davis is a competent worker with a friendly personality and-after altering her hairstyle and fashion sense to identically match Kate's-more issues than a lifetime subscription to Psychology Today.

~~~

The mind is a scary place to explore…

After nursing her hunky firefighter ex-husband Jay Rush back to health, Kate Holly is ready for a little fun, only to get stuck with an anger management group that turns dangerous when a gun-toting granny loses her temper. Kate’s hopes for some frisky business are further put on hold when a monster forest fire erupts several hours south of Atlanta, drawing firefighters by the droves, including Jay. Kate’s professional life isn’t faring any better. Her patients seem to be getting kookier, her junk-dealing mother and aunt more outrageous, and her secretary is convinced her peculiar rash is something akin to leprosy! Kate is forced to hire oddball temp employee Abigail Davis who becomes fixated with her. If Kate thinks it strange when Abigail’s “makeover” leaves them looking frighteningly identical, she soon has to wonder just how far the troubled young woman will go to in order to win Kate’s affection.

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

291 pages, Paperback

First published November 9, 2009

About the author

Charlotte Hughes published her first category romance in 1987, a Bantam Books’ Loveswept, titled Too Many Husbands, which immediately shot to #1 on the Waldenbooks Bestseller list. She went on to write almost thirty books before the line closed in 1998.

Although Charlotte is widely known for her laugh-out-loud romantic comedies, she went on to pen three Maggie-Award winning thrillers for Avon Books in the late nineties, before resuming her first love, funny stories about people falling in love. She thrilled readers with her hilarious books, A New Attitude and Hot Shot, the latter of which won the Waldenbooks Greatest Sales Growth Achievement in 2003.

Her books received so many accolades that she was invited to co-author the very popular Full House series with mega-star author Janet Evanovich.

With that series behind her, Charlotte began her own, starring psychologist Kate Holly; What Looks Like Crazy, Nutcase, and High Anxiety, creating a list of somewhat kooky but always loveable and funny ensemble characters.

Charlotte is currently launching Tall, Dark and Bad, starring Summer Pettigrew and bad boy Cooper Garrett. She is writing a series set in the Lowcountry that is a WIP.




www.readcharlottehughes.com or her blog at http://blog.readcharlottehughes.com"

Reviews

[Tiffany PSquared · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kate Holly just can't catch a break! Charlotte Hughes has written a light-hearted, antic-filled story in the vein of Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series.
One minus: Why do so many authors use the same MC names (Kate, Kathryn, Katelyn, James, Jay, Jack, Jake)? It annoys me.
But other than that, it was a nice, short audiobook with easy giggles (some action was a bit too absurd to actually LOL).

[No, David! No! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Similar to the rest of the series. These are twinkie books (no redeeming value, but fun every now and then). It moves along quickly, the scenes are often funny, with that "Stephanie Plum" kind of feel to them.

[Sheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

High Anxiety-A Kate Holly Case (Charlotte Hughes)

Kate Holly Is a psychologist, with problems of her own. She has an ex boyfriend who still wants to get back with her, and ex husband whom she loves, but can not be with due to his career choice. She has her junk collecting mother and her twin (equally eccentric Aunt), trying to get her to join their business. Yet still, Kate comes to work every day (as a therapist) to help people.

When her secretary falls ill, she must find a temporary replacement. She finds Abigail who Kate thinks would work out perfect. Until she starts to notice strange things about her. She can deal with it until Abigail show up looking just like Kate. Soon things begin to take a turn. Her files turn up missing and Abigail is acting more bizarre each day. When Kate decides to let her go, employee turns stalker and Hollys' life is in danger.

I do enjoy the Kate Holly Stories. They are a fun light read.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third book in the Kate Holly Series.

In this installment Dr Kate Holly agrees to fill in for another Doctor and lead their Anger Management Class. Mona (Best Friend and receptionist extraordinaire) goes with to keep Kate from getting into any trouble - naturally this means that they BOTH get into trouble. An older woman and her daughter-in-law get into a fight which leads to a gun going off and one very shaken Kate and Mona.

The next day Mona breaks out in “Stress Hives” and cannot come in to work - so Mona calls in Kate’s mom to help out at the office. Within the first few hours of this arrangement Kate breaks down and calls a temp agency to get someone to fill in until Mona can come back (I don’t think I could work with my mom either!)

The temp Abigail seems nice - but she asks questions that seem a little too nosy and then when she shows up at the office in the exact same outfit as Kate and seems to know a little too much about what Kate is doing in her personal life - Kate finally starts to get a clue that this woman is probably not going to work out. When she finally does call the temp agency and gets Abigail removed - Abigail starts to let her anger show. One moment she threatens Kate - the next minute she is contrite and wants to apologize. When tires on Mona’s car get slashed and her office get’s ransacked and private files taken - Kate can’t take any more. The police offer what advice they can - but it hard to catch a stalker. Kate tries to ignore her and tries working with the police - but in the end Kate realizes she has to take matters into her own hands.
~~~~~

This book is a little slow in the beginning. It’s like a train that chugs slowly out of the gate and then picks up steam and BAM ends (but in a good way - not in a fire-filled accident way.) Kate’s a hot mess but very likeable and the book was a fast and fun read.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 3rd installment in the Kate Holly series.

Kate is still attracting "crazies" and her (ex)husband, Jay, is still not happy about it. Mona is a little stressed because she has a rash, so she refuses to be seen in public. Kate needs someone to man the office for her and resorts to calling a temp agency. The new temp is a little odd, but in Kate's life, who isn't? Her neighbor Bitsy Stout is out to save Kate from the depths of Hell and drives Kate even a little more crazy if that is possible.

Each book in this series has found me more and more interested. Although it seems like nothing exciting seems to happen in the book--Kate sees patients with problems, she has a mother (and family) that drive her crazy, she and Jay keep trying to work things out, etc.--I find myself pulled in and wanting to keep reading. Some things are just so outrageous that I can't help but laugh out loud.

So, Kate did have a "are you really that stupid?" moment, but it wasn't terrible. I understood the reasoning for it, but it did bug me just a little--she should be smarter than that.

I really enjoyed this one and once I started reading I couldn't put it down--it only took me a day to finish. If you like the series, you'll like this one, too.

[Marjorie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hope there will be a fourth installment in this series or I will be a little disappointed. If there is a fourth, I would like to see Charlotte Hughes rein in Kate's neighbor, Bitsy Stout. Either make her a patient of a psychologist or get rid of her, preferably the latter. The antics of religious zealot Bitsy, while entertaining in the first novel, and mildly amusing in the second novel, were just grating in this one. I know she and her friends are supposed to provide comic relief to balance some of the seriousness the psychological aspects present in the series, but the comedy(intentional or not)Kate's patients and her friends and family provide is enough,all on its own, to make you want to continue with the series. Overall, there were some great developments, which I'd like to see play out, which is why I need a fourth installment.

[Suspense Magazine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peppered with biting wit and southern charm, Charlotte Hughes returns with “High Anxiety” to transport her fans back into the laugh out loud and constantly crazy world of Dr. Kate Holly. Kate truly believes that her chaotic life might be actually calming down…or at least she seriously hopes so after she nurses her firefighting ex-husband back to health. When Mona, Kate’s longtime best friend and secretary, finds herself suffering from a bad case of hives, Kate is forced to hire a temp—lest she be required to endure her mother’s version of secretarial skills—and Kate’s life quickly shifts from bad to worse.

Seriously, normal would be unexpected and boring for Hughes longtime fans. With trouble following Kate’s every step and comedy around every corner, “High Anxiety” is a book to be shared between mothers and daughters, sisters and friends.

[Georgiann Hennelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kate Holly is a psychologist , who feels like she,s ready for a straight jacket. Her most recent patients iclude an anger management group who are directing thier rage at her. a man obsessed with overdosing on cologne after an unfortunate sewage accident. How can she help these people when she,s still in love with her ex husband a fire fighter. And when her secretary is forced to take a personal leave of absence. she has no choice but to hire a temp. Abigail Davis is a competent worker with a friendly personality - but after altering her hair style and starting to dress like Kate -Kate feels she has to let her go. - Than Abigail begins stalking her.. will Kate survive!

[Elaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing new. I haven't read her books (except with Evanovich) but this was on the boring side...the "plot" really didn't get going til 3/4 the way through. If I had read her first two, maybe I would have been more intrigued by the character development, but as it was, didn't care about the characters (other than Mona) and just wanted it to end. Still don't understand how Mona got over her "ailments"

[Katelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really entertaining. The books also never turn out like you expect them to but it isn't really a mystery, at least this one isn't.

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

These books by Charlotte Hughes are a nice diversion from some of the more intense books I'm reading. Light and fluffy, not a ton of thought required, easy to read.

[Linett · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was annoying. Yes! Let me tap someone with Dissociative Identity Disorder on the shoulder and ask to speak to the "other" people inside. Give me a break.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an alright story, things got resolved or so it seems and there doesn't appear to be a fourth book, as of right now anyways. While entertaining at times the story just wasn't believable, there's no way a shrink would react to those types of behaviors like that and ultimately shrug it off. Like the other books this was a quick and easy read with no major fluff involved so there's no agonizing who will end up with who, or rivalries that last for 200 pages that make no real difference to the story.

[Ken Finlay · Rating 3 out of 5]

"High Anxiety", third in the 'Crazy' series, sees an attempt to introduce a plot but the author, Charlotte Hughes, shies away from the dark side and the case of the escalating stalker eventually turns out to be a very damp squib.
Books don't get much lighter than this. It is nicely written and does have a couple of laughs but it's a series that really seems to be going nowhere (albeit in an enjoyable way).
I like the writing but, overall, the series is not even slightly memorable.
2.5 Stars, raised to 3 Stars because I enjoy Charlotte Hughes' writing.

[Lauren Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pretty good. The ending was predictable but there were a couple surprises and the journey was fun. It is book three in a series but I read it as a stand-alone. I am sure I missed some references but it was really no big deal and I don’t feel like I need to go back and catch up. The characters were likable and interesting. The main character, Kate, is a clinical psychologist so there was some info sprinkled in about various patients with different problems. It was just the right amount to make the novel a little different from others.

[Nicholas George · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me some patience to get into this--the primary story doesn't really kick in until more than halfway through. Much of the book concerns the various wacky patients of Kate, the psychologist protagonist. Hughes does a good job of making these cases amusing without belittling their all-too-real phobias and fears. This was a quick, fun read that, despite its dizzying number of characters, was pretty entertaining.

[Margie Raaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review of this book is the same as the first book. I like the characters and I like the plot and I like the storyline and some of the twists but I don't like the romantic relationship. Or what there is of it she whines too much. I do wish there was a fourth book that would continue this storyline but I don't believe there is which is a shame. But it's worth reading

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Psychologist Kate Holly is back in book number three of this series. I think this book is the best so far.

Mona, Kate's assistant, has to take some time off so Kate calls in a temp to take her place...Abigail Davis. Abigail seems to do a good job and is very desperate to please. However, the things she says, the way she acts, the way she handles herself...something seems odd and off to Kate. And the excitement begins!

The book is full of action and plenty of twists and turns. All of your favorite characters are back...Mona, Jay, Thad, Aunt Trixie, Kate's mom Dixie, Arnell and her sweet puppy Mike.

This series is funny, witty, and exciting. This book adds plenty of suspense.

[Ida Bruun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite an attention-grabber! This book is the last one of a series but can be easily read stand-alone. I love how the book discusses many of the complexities of psychological disorders/therapy in a non-judgmental manner.

[Tasia Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved it! I will be reading the other two books in the series! (I'm mad I found out it was a series after I was knee deep in this book) nevertheless, the writing was beautiful, the characters were believable! Loved it!

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

another great book. loved this series..

[Heather Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great set of 3 books a nice read with a fun story Kate is great!

[baby doll · Rating 3 out of 5]

redundant. but funny when you think about wtf you just read lmao.

[Kristin Cooley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wish the Kate Holly series continued!

[Books And Sunny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish she would have continued this series, I enjoyed reading it.

[Sandy Lipinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

More danger less spice. A stalker is after Holly. And it's not a patient. Same characters with a few added.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this series. Wish there were more.

[Tonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun Kate Holly story. Poor thing is being stalked. Fun read, light story.

[Patricia Pendell · Rating 4 out of 5]

better than the first two in the series. Quick, funny read

[Romelle Bohannan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book in the Kate Holly series. I hope Charlotte Hughes writes more sequels.