Following her divorce, a final straw drops on the camel's back and Alissa Lindley loses it. Stomping on an irritating fax machine, she loses her job. After she finishes the court-ordered anger management classes, she moves back home, hoping to set up her own law practice. Her first client, Sheila, is a stripper (with a heart of gold, of course) and part of the Butterfly Brigade, a team of women who are mad as hell and aren't gonna take it anymore. They're making people, mostly men, pay for all the little insults that happen every day; the driver who recklessly cuts through traffic with nary a signal, the deadbeat dad who's hiding his assets to keep from paying child support, or the healthy driver who takes the handicapped spot. And they do it in their underwear. Soon, the phenomenon takes the country by storm with soccer moms turning into hammer- wielding Valkyries. Detective E.J. Rodriguez thinks all these vigilante vixens are a very bad idea. And that it's all Alissa's fault.

BALANCING ON HIGH HEELS is Ms. Rendahl's second novel, and it's a good one. The characters, with their quirkiness, humor and realism, hit right at home; we all know people like this, or we should. Funny and heartwarming, this story shows us an inside view of family, skinned knees and all, touched with grace and a bit of tongue in cheek. A good read.