Hitting The High Notes by Nan D. Arnold

PAGAN & THE PEN BOOK REVIEWS

Title:  Hitting the High Notes
Author:  Nan D. Arnold 

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Publisher:  Champagne Books

Genre: Romance

Length:  220 pgs.
Other:  M/F

Reviewed by: Keri Stratton Alley

About The Book: What have green eyes, green socks, and a run away opera star have to do with a widow getting back her groove? Widow Maggie Duncan learns life is a song when she meets by chance an AWOL opera star and a certain color-blind cop. Who will partner Maggie in a very special duet?

The Review: Sometimes romance novel heroines can seem a bit formulaic. Sweet, innocent, but slightly sassy, 20-something in need of a rescue, right? In “Hitting the High Notes” you’d be delightfully wrong! Maggie Duncan is a menopausal widow fighting hot flashes and depression who has wisened up after ending an abusive marriage.

On impulse, she accompanies a seductive foreign man to his condo for wine and, as she puts it, “a snug blanket” only to leave suddenly through the fire escape as her host is accosted. When Stavros disappears, and the police take no notice, Maggie puts on her big girl panties and attempts to unravel the mystery on her own.

Ms. Arnold has created a hilariously memorable cast of characters. At first glance, Stavros/Lorenzo is everything you’d want a romance novel hero to be: suave, sophisticated, mysterious, tall, dark, and sexy with a voice that could melt hearts. Turns out he’s a neurotic run away opera singer who couldn’t face his bad reviews. Bruce Herring is an Irish cop whose solidity and simplicity entice Maggie. Woven through the entire tale are references to the best criminal gang ever invented: The Green Socks Gang. This is a gang of radical environmentalists whose vicious protests include throwing pies in famous people’s faces. Brilliantly hilarious!

But by far my favorite character in the entire book was Maggie’s best friend, Brenda. Brenda is the brazen, intelligent, confident leader of a Grandmother’s biker gang: the Dalai Mamas. She’s responsible for saving Maggie’s butt on several occasions by calling in her biker buddies for some cheerfully wielded, tough woman savvy. She’s just as liable to flash her gun as she is to show off pictures of her adorable grandchildren.

I was enormously pleased to note that Ms. Arnold has written a sequel to “Hitting the High Notes”. I can’t wait to read it, and I’m begging her to write a prequel, detailing what must have been a steamy, stormy, wild ride of a romance between Brenda and her Big Daddy.

Pagan Elements: None

Cover (Rated 1-10): 5

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