Bulletproof Mascara by Bethany Maines

The first thing I saw when I opened this book was this..

Q:  What do you get when you cross Avon Ladies...

Let's give a shout out to our Avon ladies.  This is mine.
The book heroine's mom also pops up a lot and had me thinking we should give a shout out to our mothers.
This is my mom too.  Hi, mom! Thanks for all the Avon stuff and just for being there!



...with Charlie's Angels?

A:  This really fun book!!!

I loved this.  I can't say I learned anything groundbreaking or shed a tear but I did laugh and I was entertained.  I love the idea and I love the way it was implemented.

Nikki Lanier is an unemployed 25 year old woman still living with her mom.  So when she wins a starter kit for selling Carrie Mae cosmetics, she's not overjoyed, but basically is like, "well, what the heck... what have I got to lose?"  (That's not a quote, but my words.)

Well.. let's just say Nikki is not cut out for sales and making a woman eat her lipstick ends up leading to a promotion.  (Oh! If only we could all get promotions for making people eat.. stuff.. You can tell what I'm thinking but won't dare say!)  Nevertheless, Nikki finds herself taking driving courses, cocktails classes, and shooting at balloons.  It's like basic training, but the women in training aren't military, CIA, or FBI.. They are Carrie Mae makeup ladies! 

You see, the makeup line is the outside.  The inside is a group of highly trained female operatives with mace body sprays, exploding cell phones, and "bug" earrings that travel around the world and help women in need.

Nikki's first assignment:  track down a missing woman in Thailand.  She is assigned to a total bad a** chick as a partner, travels to Thailand, has run ins with elephants, human traffickers, angry cab drivers, and runs into a super sexy guy she met once in Canada.. Hm.. Could his appearance be connected to her current case?

I frowned when Nikki stole someone's dirt bike.. I would like to have read that she had reimbursed the owner in some way.  Those things aren't always cheap!!  Otherwise, I really loved this book. 

Laugh out loud moment:  (Those that watch Speed Tv with the hubbies will know what this means.  For those that don't, here's a quick explanation:  Sometimes in motorcycle races, the bikes will have a sidecar thing with a person leaning or hanging out of it to help the rider turn sharper without losing speed.  That's called a monkey.)  When Nikki is driving a stolen cab and her partner Val is a passenger and they are chasing someone and a sharp turn comes up, Nikki says to Val, "Be my monkey!"

Val's response:  "Be your own monkey, b*tch!"

Women with attitude and hidden weapons in their makeup.. Way cool!  When is the sequel?

I bought this book on Amazon.