August 21st, 2026
Home | Log in!
Welcome to FreshFiction

Are you a reader
or an author?

Help us personalize your experience. Choose your role below.
You can always change this later using the switcher button.

or

You can switch anytime using the floating button.

Limited Time Fresh Fiction Access

Exclusive Marketing Opportunities for Authors

Curious about how Fresh Access helps authors gain more visibility and connect with active readers?

Discover premium promotional opportunities, enhanced exposure, and author-focused services designed to help your books stand out.

Read More →
On Top Shelf
📚 New Books This Week 📰 Latest News πŸŒ… Summer Sunset Giveaways 🎪 Reader Games

Fresh Fiction for August Is Here

Cowboys, castles, and shiftersβ€”this month has it all.

Slideshow image


slideshow image
Hotter than a Tuscan summer.


slideshow image
Some promises cost you the one you love.


slideshow image
Only she can pull him back from the darkness.


slideshow image
One golden retriever knows this is love.


slideshow image
Trust is the fiercest transformation of all.


slideshow image
From Himalayan stargazing to the London Blitzβ€”one love endures.

SCANDAL SHEET

Scandal Sheet, November 2009
Hollywood Headlines #1
by Gemma Halliday

Making It
Featuring: Calvin Dean; Felix Dunn; Tina Bender
320 pages
ISBN: 0505528053
EAN: 9780505528056
Mass Market Paperback
Add to Wish List

Purchase

"The first book in the Hollywood Headlines Mystery Series!!!"

Fresh Fiction Review

SCANDAL SHEET
Gemma Halliday

Reviewed by Rachael Dimond
Posted November 21, 2009

Mystery Woman Sleuth | Romance Suspense | Contemporary Women's Fiction

Tina Bender writes lies for a living. Sometimes it's the truth, sometimes it's embellished, but always it's gossip. She writes as a gossip columnist for the LA Informer and is constantly getting tips from her insiders about the latest antics celebrities are getting into. Sure not a lot of celebrities appreciate her column and might down right hate her for ruining their reputations, but no one has ever threatened Tina's life before, until now.

When Tina receives a strange message telling her to stop writing about them in the newspaper, she is left baffled. The voice is disguised with a computer program so they could be male or female, young or old. Without knowing who is threatening her, she decides to continue writing her usual gossip to see which column ignites more threats.

Tina's boss Felix hires a body guard named Calvin Dean to protect Tina from her mystery enemy. But that doesn't work for Tina as she likes to break the rules and do whatever she pleases. It's kind of hard to go about your day with a body guard constantly on your tail. But Calvin is pretty good looking and he can be a fun sidekick while investigating. Will sparks fly between Calvin and Tina or will his constant hovering over her drive her insane?

SCANDAL SHEET is the first book in the Hollywood Headlines Series by Gemma Halliday, author of the High Heels mystery series. There are a lot of similarities between SCANDAL SHEET and the High Heel mysteries so readers who were disappointed to see the series end have a new one to jump onto now.

I loved the name dropping of celebrities scattered throughout the book and was laughing out loud many times while reading this fun mystery. The scene involving the ride It's a Small World at Disneyland was VERY reminiscent of my experience on it and I was hysterical with remembering how annoying that ride really is.

I enjoyed the mixture of mystery, romance and humor and Halliday definitely succeeds in writing an exciting page turner that makes you laugh and bite your nails at the same time. I immediately warmed up to the characters and couldn't put this book down at all. My only pet peeve is that the cover looks like a historical romance novel and totally doesn't fit what the story is about at all.

SCANDAL SHEET is a great start to a new series that I will definitely be following as Halliday writes the kind of books that just make you smile and put you in a great mood. They're just so enjoyable and I would without a doubt recommend this book to romance and mystery readers alike.

Learn more about SCANDAL SHEET

SUMMARY

The L.A. Informer is Los Angeles's premier tabloid magazine, reporting on all the latest celebrity gossip, scandals and dirt. They're not above a little sensational exaggeration and have even been known, on occasion, to bend the law in pursuit of a hot story. Their ace reporter, Felix Dunn, has just been promoted to managing editor. Now, he's got his work cut out for him keeping the magazine running smoothly while keeping his staff in line… Tina Bender is the Informer's gossip columnist extraordinaire. She knows everything about everyone who's anyone. And she's not afraid to print it. That is, until she receives a threatening note, promising, "If you don't stop writing about me, you're dead." Teaming with a built bodyguard, a bubbly blonde, and an alcoholic obituary writer, Tina sets out to uncover just which juicy piece of Hollywood gossip is worth killing over.

EXCERPT

TEEN SENSATION ON MORAL VACATION: LAST NIGHT THE INFORMER CAUGHT EVERYONE’S FAVORITE TEEN ACTRESS, JENNIFER WOOD, AT THE HOLLYWOOD MARTINI ROOM WITH A MEMBER OF A BOY BAND IN ONE HAND AND MARY JANE IN THE OTHER - β€œSh*t!” β€œTina!” I swiveled in my chair to face my boss, Felix Dunn, standing in the doorway to his office, hands on hips. β€œWhat?” β€œSwear Pig.” I pursed my lips together. β€œThat doesn’t count.” β€œI just heard you say β€˜sh*t.’” β€œIt was computer related. Everyone knows computer related swearing doesn’t count.” He narrowed his eyes. Clearly my argument wasn’t cutting it. β€œIt’s your own fault, you know,” I protested, changing tactics. I looked down at my computer. I’d been working on a juicy tidbit about the It teen actress who’d been caught with a joint in her hand at last night’s afterparty when my backspace button stuck, taking out one very cleverly worded line, even if I did say so myself. β€œI mean, how many centuries old are these things anyway?” I went on. β€œWould it kill you to buy some new hardware once in a awhile?” He shook his head. β€œSwear Pig, Bender,” he repeated. Then disappeared back into his office. β€œSh*t.” β€œI heard that!” I stuck my tongue out at his door and dropped two quarters into the purple piggy bank on my desk. Somehow our newly appointed editor in chief was under the impression that yours truly swore too much. I have no f*cking idea where he got that impression. But, he’d set up the Swear Pig as a way to break my bad habit. Personally, I was fine with my bad habit. It’s not like I was shooting heroin or anything, ya know? Which brought me back to my story. I swiveled around, pushing my glasses back up onto my nose and put my fingers to keyboard, recreating my perfect line. IT MAY BE ONE JOINT TODAY FOR OUR FAVORITE FAIR-HAIRED TEENY-BOPPER, BUT WITH THE WAY HER LIFE IS SPIRALING OUT OF CONTROL, CAN COCAINE, METH, OR EVEN HEROIN BE FAR BEHIND? HOW MANY BLONDES DOES IT TAKE TO SPELL β€œREHAB?” I sat back in my chair, surveying my work. Okay, so it was a little mean. But, seriously, she played a perky cheerleader in a tween cable show. This was tabloid gold. I hit β€œsend” letting my daily gossip column zip through the L.A. Infomer’s network to Felix’s inbox, then gave my knuckles a satisfying crack. I glanced at the clock. Quitting time. And somewhere there was a big beefy burrito dinner with my name on it. I grabbed my Strawberry Shortcake lunchbox that doubled as my purse and made for the exit. Unfortunately, not before Eagle Eyes Dunn could catch me. β€œBender?" I thought a dirty word and turned around. β€œDid you want something, chief?” β€œYou finished up that Wood piece yet?” he asked, leaning against the doorframe of his office. β€œJust emailed it to you.” I loved it when I was one step ahead of the boss. β€œWhat about Pines?” β€œPines?” Edward Pines was the director who’d recently been arrested when, after a routine traffic stop, a stack of pornography had been found under the seat of his car. Not that naked bodies were a novelty in Hollywood, but these particular magazines had included photos of thirteen year old boys in the buff. I don’t care how much his last action pic grossed, that guy was total Hollywood road kill now. β€œWhat about him?” I asked. β€œBeing arraigned today. It’s your story, right?” Damned straight. My headline the morning after Pine’s arrest had read: PINES PINES AFTER PINT-SIZED PRE-TEENS. What can I say? I had a thing for alliterations. But as much as I was relishing the story, I wasn’t thrilled with the timing. β€œHe’s being arraigned now?” I asked, my stomach growling. β€œIt’s dinner time.” β€œThe news waits for no one, love. Cam’s meeting you at the courthouse,” he said, ducking back into his office. So much for my burrito. β€œSh*t.” β€œBender…” β€œI know, I know. ” I reached into Strawberry Shortcake and pulled out another quarter, dropping it in the ceramic pig on my way out. At this rate, I’d be broke by Christmas.

BOOK SERIES


 

 

 

© 2003-2026 off-the-edge.net  all rights reserved Privacy Policy