title: Trouble in High Heels (The Fortune Hunter Books)
author:  Christina Dodd 
description: Despite a cover featuring a modern pair of designer heels, this far-fetched romantic intrigue feels like a Regency awkwardly dressed in contemporary clothes. You have your arrogant rake, playboy Italian count and indicted jewel thief Roberto Bartolini; the woman who can tame him, his gorgeous attorney Brandi Michaels; and a gaggle of high-society supporting characters among the Chicago elite. Throw in a steamy, melodramatic early encounter between Roberto and Brandi, a world-renowned diamond called the Romanov Blaze, a Chicago crime ring and a silly court ruling that places Roberto in Brandi's custody, and you have a romance with an identity crisis. There are moments of suspense and flashes of sensuality (buried beneath groaners like "I only want to take you to the brink of pleasurable insanity"), but the story doesn't hang together. The protagonists rarely transcend their stock roles, and the chaotic plot is oddly predictable. Dodd, who cut her teeth on historicals, has penned memorable contemporaries (see <i>Close to You</i>), but this tale is much like cubic zirconiasparkle and flash but little else. <i>(Aug.)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: Praise for Trouble in High Heels
  
  "Christina Dodd is my go-to author when I want outrageously entertaining
  romantic suspense. I count on her for stories that deliver hot romance, fast
  action, and that magic ingredient—heart."
  
  —Jayne Ann Krentz
  
  "A book by Christina Dodd is like a glass of champagne ... sparkling and
  sinfully delicious. Trouble in High Heels is one exciting ride and an
  experience not to be missed. With her electric style, vibrant characters, and
  sly wit, Christina Dodd gives readers everything they want in a romantic
  suspense novel."
  
  —Lisa Kleypas
  
  "New York Times bestselling Dodd will dazzle readers with this fabulously fun
  tale of danger, desire, and diamonds, which features yet another winning
  combination of the author's trademark smart and snappy writing, delightfully
  original characters, and deliriously sensual romance."
  
  —Booklist (starred review)
  
  "Nonstop action, sparkling dialogue, and two characters who burn up the
  pages... Provides readers with a story that