Pride & Prejudice meets Veronica Mars in this slick romantic spy-thriller where nothing’s as it seems.
Berry Fields is not looking for a boyfriend. She's busy trailing cheaters and liars in her job as a private investigator, collecting evidence of the affairs she's sure all men commit. And thanks to a pepper spray incident during an eighth grade game of spin the bottle, the guys at her school are not exactly lining up to date her, either.
So when arrogant—and gorgeous—Tanner Halston rolls into town and calls her "nothing amazing," it's no loss for Berry. She'll forget him in no time. She's more concerned with the questions surfacing about her mother's death.
But why does Tanner seem to pop up everywhere in her investigation, always getting in her way? Is he trying to stop her from discovering the truth, or protecting her from an unknown threat? And why can't Berry remember to hate him when he looks into her eyes?
With a playful nod to Jane Austen, Spies and Prejudice will captivate readers as love and espionage collide.
From School Library Journal
Gr 7-10-A fun, contemporary mystery thriller with some romance thrown in to spice it up. Strawberry Fields, the daughter of a private investigator, has been working with her father since her mother died years earlier. Her best friend, Mary Chris, is a whiz at technology. The story opens with the two girls on a stakeout at a restaurant where they meet Tanner and Ryan, who are new in town and are going to be attending their high school. When Berry leaves the restaurant, she spies her friend's father handing over files with her mother's name on them to a woman in the parking lot, and she is determined to solve the mystery of her mother's death. Was it suicide, like the police said? An accident? Or murder? In the end, she has to decide who to trust as no one seems to want her to find out the truth about the car accident that took her mom. The premise of this story may seem implausible: teenagers handling top-secret information, using high-tech surveillance equipment, and spying on corporations, but it works here. Vance has written a humorous, fast-paced story in which the teens seem to know more than the adults. Recommend it to those who want a quick read about smart high-school characters who spend more time solving mysteries than algebraic equations.-Elizabeth Kahn, Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Academy, Jefferson, LAα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
From Booklist
Fans of Veronica Mars will enjoy Vance’s espionage-filled romantic romp. Berry Fields spies on cheating husbands for her PI father, using sophisticated gadgets devised by her best friend, Mary Chris. Working for her father is just an excuse, though: Berry’s real case is her mother’s disappearance. Berry discovers a link between her mother and Mary Chris’ father that coincides with the appearance of two mysterious new hotties at school. To cynical Berry, both boys seem too interested in her and Mary Chris to be innocent, though she is drawn to the smoldering Tanner. While the mystery, involving corporate espionage over a deadly drink formula, is implausible, the romance is charged with the right balance of attraction and repulsion. Recommend to fans of Ally Carter’s equally frothy Gallagher Girls series. Grades 7-10. --Krista Hutley
Description:
Pride & Prejudice meets Veronica Mars in this slick romantic spy-thriller where nothing’s as it seems.
Berry Fields is not looking for a boyfriend. She's busy trailing cheaters and liars in her job as a private investigator, collecting evidence of the affairs she's sure all men commit. And thanks to a pepper spray incident during an eighth grade game of spin the bottle, the guys at her school are not exactly lining up to date her, either.
So when arrogant—and gorgeous—Tanner Halston rolls into town and calls her "nothing amazing," it's no loss for Berry. She'll forget him in no time. She's more concerned with the questions surfacing about her mother's death.
But why does Tanner seem to pop up everywhere in her investigation, always getting in her way? Is he trying to stop her from discovering the truth, or protecting her from an unknown threat? And why can't Berry remember to hate him when he looks into her eyes?
With a playful nod to Jane Austen, Spies and Prejudice will captivate readers as love and espionage collide.
From School Library Journal
Gr 7-10-A fun, contemporary mystery thriller with some romance thrown in to spice it up. Strawberry Fields, the daughter of a private investigator, has been working with her father since her mother died years earlier. Her best friend, Mary Chris, is a whiz at technology. The story opens with the two girls on a stakeout at a restaurant where they meet Tanner and Ryan, who are new in town and are going to be attending their high school. When Berry leaves the restaurant, she spies her friend's father handing over files with her mother's name on them to a woman in the parking lot, and she is determined to solve the mystery of her mother's death. Was it suicide, like the police said? An accident? Or murder? In the end, she has to decide who to trust as no one seems to want her to find out the truth about the car accident that took her mom. The premise of this story may seem implausible: teenagers handling top-secret information, using high-tech surveillance equipment, and spying on corporations, but it works here. Vance has written a humorous, fast-paced story in which the teens seem to know more than the adults. Recommend it to those who want a quick read about smart high-school characters who spend more time solving mysteries than algebraic equations.-Elizabeth Kahn, Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Academy, Jefferson, LAα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
From Booklist
Fans of Veronica Mars will enjoy Vance’s espionage-filled romantic romp. Berry Fields spies on cheating husbands for her PI father, using sophisticated gadgets devised by her best friend, Mary Chris. Working for her father is just an excuse, though: Berry’s real case is her mother’s disappearance. Berry discovers a link between her mother and Mary Chris’ father that coincides with the appearance of two mysterious new hotties at school. To cynical Berry, both boys seem too interested in her and Mary Chris to be innocent, though she is drawn to the smoldering Tanner. While the mystery, involving corporate espionage over a deadly drink formula, is implausible, the romance is charged with the right balance of attraction and repulsion. Recommend to fans of Ally Carter’s equally frothy Gallagher Girls series. Grades 7-10. --Krista Hutley