Review - Following Polly

By: Karen Bergreen

Amazon.com - $16.49
Amazon Kindle - $11.99
Barnes & Noble - $16.86
B&N Nook - $11.99
(coming out in paperback on August 16, 2011)

Synopsis:
Would you call Alice Teakle a stalker? Or just someone with an, um, healthy obsession with golden girl Polly Linley Dawson? No one much notices Alice: not her boss, not the neighbors, not even her Mother.

Besides, everyone follows Polly: her business selling high-end lingerie you can imagine only her elegant self wearing, her all-over-the-social-pages marriage to movie director Humphrey Dawson, her chic looks, her wardrobe. Alice just follows her a little more….closely.

And when she loses her job and starts to follow Polly Dawson one Manhattan autumn afternoon, Alice stumbles on the object of her attention sprawled dead on the floor of a boutique. Alice is forced to become truly beneath anyone’s notice. Invisible, in fact. Because she’s accused of murder.

But can another obsession help save Alice with the fallout? Charlie is Alice’s longtime unattainable crush. He might be able to help her out of the mess she’s in…in return for a favor or two, that is. And how will Alice find out if Charlie is really the man Alice thinks he is?

---

First let me give a shoutout to LibraryThing.com - this was my very first Early Reviewers win.

The cover is...well I guess vibrant is the word that comes to mind. I really wanted to read it based on that alone. Honest, I didn't have a clue what it was about.

The story starts with Alice just after she got fired as from her job working with a Casting director Mona Hawkins - who was a horrible human being. She stops to get some comfort food and runs into a woman she knew in college - Polly Dawson. Polly is now married to the Director of the movie Alice was helping Mona cast. Polly doesn't notice Alice, as if she were invisible. Alice starts following Polly, mostly nosy and something to do.

Things take a turn when Polly turns up dead and Alice is the #1 suspect. She goes into hiding and starts stalking Charlie, another person she knew from college - this one she had a crush on. Charlie discovers her, invites her into his home and life. He will help her clear her name, and she will help clear his father.

There are a couple of mysteries in this book, and they keep you guessing right until the end. The characters are lively and realistic. I love how Karen Begreen describes Charlie's house with the clutter...and that Alice finds it endearing. I also enjoyed Alice's tv habit...finally, not pretending that we don't all watch way too much tv. lol

I couldn't put this down, so if you can get a copy to read for yourself. It's in hardcover and e-versions right now, but it will be released in paperback on August 16. Happy reading!