Sue Ann Jaffarian - Thugs and Kisses

Just how big is Odelia Grey?

What reviewers are saying

Odelia Grey is a keeper. Library Journal

Jaffarian plays the formula with finesse, keeping love problems firmly in the background while giving her heroine room to use her ample wit and grit. Kirkus Reviews

[Odelia Grey] is an intriguing character, a true counter against stereotype, who demonstrates that life can be good, even in a world where thin is always in. Booklist

A sharp, snappy mystery novel ... This is a fast and furious read that should be fun to see as a series with Odelia as the lead character. AmaZe Magazine

What fellow authors are saying

More fun than a lunch pail full of plump paralegals, The Curse of the Holy Pail is a tale as bouncy as its bodacious protagonist. Bill Fitzhugh, author of Highway 61 Resurfaced and Pest Control

[Curse of the Holy Pail is] even better than her first ... a major hoot! Thomas B. Sawyer, author of The Sixteenth Man a nd former head writer/producer of Murder, She Wrote

Sue Ann Jaffarian does a masterful job. Once you get to know Odelia Grey, youll love her. I know I do. Naomi Hirahara, author of Summer of the Big Bachi and Gasa-Gasa Girl

A plus-sized thumbs up. Jaffarians a new sharpshooter in crime fiction. Brian M. Wiprud, author of Stuffed and Pipsqueak, winner of Lefty Award for Most Humorous Novel

Thugs and Kisses 2008 by Sue Ann Jaffarian

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

First e-book edition 2010

E-book ISBN: 978-07387-2006-7

Book design by Donna Burch

Cover design by Ellen L. Dahl

Editing and layout by Rebecca Zins

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To the 2007 winners of the American Beauties Plus Pageantmaking a difference, one woman at a time:

Natisha Webb

American Beauties Ambassador Elite

Dora-Lee Durham

American Beauties Plus Woman

Chauna Howard

Mrs. American Beauties Plus

Robin Gaines

Ms. American Beauties Plus

Joi Bannister

Miss American Beauties Plus

Acknowledgments

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to:

Whitney Lee, my incredible agent; Diana James, my high-energy, always-thinking manager; Barbara Moore, my patient and encouraging editor at Midnight Ink, and all the other wonderful folks at Llewellyn Worldwide/Midnight Ink who continue to help me make my dreams come true;

Author and friend Jane DiLucchio, for her insight into the character of Sally Kipman;

Julie Bauer and Marilyn Tarvin, for being my focus group and providing helpful comments;

Attorney Jay Hartz, for sharing his opinion and knowledge for some of the legal background needed for this novel;

My many friends and family who cheer me on and keep my feet on the ground; and

To the many readers who take time from their lives to tell me how much they enjoy my books.

Special Acknowledgment

To the members of the Los Angeles Chapter of Sisters In Crime:
it has been a privilege and an honor to have served you as president for the past four years.

Why am I not surprised?

The question, phrased more like a long-suffering supplication to a supreme being, was accompanied by a copy of this mornings Orange County Register being tossed onto my small, cluttered desk like an under-thrown Frisbee.

When it slid to a stop, just short of smacking my almost-full coffee mug, I saw that the paper was open to the front page of the local news section and folded in such a way as to show off a photo of meyes, moi , Odelia Patience Grey. The caption above the photo blazed: Food Fight Erupts at Local Market.

A resigned sigh escaped my lips. I had hoped that no one would recognize me. After all, in the caption under the grainy photo, I was merely referred to as an unidentified woman.

The question had come from Mike Steele, my boss. He stood in front of me, waiting for an answer to what I felt was not a question deserving of a response. In my opinion, it had sounded purely rhetorical in nature. I continued to stare down at the fuzzy photo in the paper, my lips tighter than a pair of size 6 shoes on size 9 feet.

Michael Steele is a partner at Wallace, Boer, Brown and Yates, the law firm in Orange County, California, at which I am employed as a paralegal. Ive been with Woobie (the nickname given the firm by its employees) for about eighteen years, and I would be looking forward to the next eighteen years, if it were not for the man standing in front of me.

I didnt need to raise my face to know that Steele would be immaculately groomed from his GQ -handsome, close-shaven face right down to his fingertips, which would be professionally buffed and shining like dew in the morning sun. And I didnt need to glance in his direction to know that he was wearing an expensive and beautifully tailored suit. It was also unnecessary to look up to know that he was peeved at me. The sarcasm in his voice hung in the air, waiting to be admired, round and bright, like ornaments on a Christmas tree.

A few years ago, when my old boss, Wendell Wallace, retired, I somehow fell within Steeles grasp. Steele had requested that I be assigned to him, and the firm agreed. They had even sweetened the pot for me with a nice raise and a private office.