Reviews

What they are saying about LOVE HER TO DEATH:

TOP PICK ****  The Romantic Times Book Club

     For the dirt on daytime drama, you can't beat Palmer's behind-the-scenes dish.  Her second novel featuring soap writer Morgan Tyler is a fun, fast-paced dash through Manhattan and Hollywood.

     Intriguing, erudite Morgan is a celebrity insider who befriends doormen and treats stunt doubles like stars. She's recently been promoted to co-producer of Love of My Life when someone inexplicably mails her a live rattlesnake. Then a mysterious stranger comes to town, threatening Morgan's heart and quite possibly the life of her show's most beloved character. When a member of the cast is murdered, Morgan is determined to see justice done.

     Full of sharp details, quirky characters and juicy gossip.  Palmer's latest not only promises the goods, it delivers them in high style..... Cindy Harrison

ROMANCE MAGAZINE

     Morgan Tyler's promotion to co-executive, head writer, and head producer of "Love of My Life," a soap opera...oh, excuse me, a daytime drama sounds wonderful but
stressful. Leading lady Cybelle Carter is a trooper and well liked, but she warns
Morgan that her estranged husband could want to kill her if he finds her. Also
Cybelle's top-notch ageent and her current "squeeze" would be very unhappy. When
her understudy is killed in Cybelle's apartment, Morgan swings into high gear which
really ticks off her police detective Matt Phoenix. Suddenly, Morgan's drought
concerning her love life is over flowing. Linda Palmer is a name to remember.

     Not only does LOVE HER TO DEATH have a great cover, it's a wild ride. I was so intrigued with her characters and dialogue that the solution to this murder blind-sided me. Read and enjoy.

When Morgan Tyler became co-executive producer for the daytime soap Love of My Life, she didn't realize how seriously she should have taken the advice that the job was a catch-all for everything from assisting her partner's attempts to avoid his father, to mentally juggling a criminal psychologist and a NYPD detective, to dodging dictatorial missives from the new Daytime VP, to helping hounded wives hide in plain sight, to dealing with murders on the set, to a little amateur sleuthing on the side. Armed with vicious wit, intriguingly memorable friends and daytime drama know-how, what can go wrong?

This is a great book for fans of soap operas and good books alike. The action is tinged with humor and fast-paced, and the characters are skillfully rendered. Morgan's friend Nancy is memorable and fascinating, as are all of the twisty pokes at soap opera plots and relationships. Surrounded by all of the fluffiness that can be daytime television, Morgan Tyler balances earthy humanity and flippant humor with aplomb.

www.freshfiction.com

Morgan Tyler, the head writer for the daytime drama Love of My Life, is promoted to co-executive producer. On her very first day on the job, one of her female stars Cybelle Carter is worried that she is going to be on the cover of Time. She fears the exposure might kill her. Cybelle confesses that she is married to a mysterious rich person Philippe Abacasas who is somewhere always surrounded by bodyguards and who has in his possession multiple passports.

When Morgan gets a call that a dead body was found in Cybelle's apartment, she immediately thinks that her star is dead. She goes over to the apartment and identifies the body as that of Jeannie Ford, Cybelle's stunt double. She meets the mysterious Abacasas who warns her to beware of Cybelle and her brother. He also tells her that his wife stole two rare Greek coins from him before she disappeared. Attracted to the man Morgan doesn't know who to believe but she is determined to get some answers even though someone is going to incredible and fatal lengths to stop her.

The heroine can be summed up in one word, spunky. She deals with a stress related job with total calm. Works overtime to find a murderer going the extra kilometer to do so and juggles two sexy men after a five year drought including a one night fling with Cybelle's husband. Readers are going to like this mystery which is rich in characterizations and action and short on gore. Linda Palmer proves with this fine cozy that she has what it takes to reach the top of her profession.

Harriet Klausner

Morgan Tyler is the head writer of the long-running daytime drama, Love Of My Life. Recently, she was promoted to co-executive producer. This means that not only does she script the drama; she gets the added bonus of putting out fires and mopping up problems. She’s always loved the writing part; now she’s about to get a crash course in the mopping up area. Cybelle Carter, one of the young stars comes to Morgan with a problem that could be a plotline. She married years ago, but left her older husband when he became abusive. Now, with a cover article planned for a national magazine, she’s terrified that he’ll find her. She wants Morgan to come up with a fictitious background for her. Morgan wonders, but doesn’t ask, how appearing on national television on a daily basis constitutes hiding.

But that’s just the start of the day. A new network executive has issued a decree that Francie James, another popular actress who has been with the show for years, be fired due to a recent weight gain. Morgan is sharing her new office with Tommy Zenos, an executive producer and son of a media giant; he comes with great furniture and a lot of parental issues. After years of living alone after being widowed, there are at least two men vying for her affections. And someone just mailed her a live rattlesnake. The following morning, Morgan receives the horrifying news that Cybelle is dead. Rushing to the scene, she realizes that it’s a mistake. The dead woman isn’t Cybelle; it’s her body double. Was this a case of mistaken identity? Was the double the intended target? Or is something even more sinister going on here?

Morgan is a wonderful character. A woman who has had her share of problems in her life, she’s learned to carve out her own niche. She’s strong, intelligent, and witty. Just the kind of person you’d like to have as a coworker or friend. The rest of the cast is diverse and interesting. The setting lends itself to drama and intrigue. The author clearly knows her way around daytime TV and conveys the inner workings of a network with assurance. The mystery takes several interesting twists and will keep readers guessing. This is the second in this new series, and works fine as a standalone story. I’m already looking forward to the next installment.

Reviewed by Deborah Hern