Book review: Killer Heels by Rebecca Chance

My edition: Paperback, published in 2012 by Simon & Schuster, 470 pages.

Description: From the suburbs of Luton to the avenues of Manhattan, starry-eyed fashionista Coco Raeburn has worked her way up the ladder. She will do anything to get her own editorship at a top fashion magazine - even if it means starving herself half to death.

Her idol is ruthless boss Victoria Glossop, editor at top fashion magazine Style. She has her own ambitions and nothing will come between her and her goal - at least not until an enigmatic stranger comes into her life and thaws the ice queen in the most wicked way psosible.

Svengali Jacob Dupleix, media magnate and owner of Style, is one of the most powerful men in New York and London. But is the glittering empire he has built about to collapse due to a dangerous liasion...?

Rating:

 
The term "bonkbuster" has in the last six months become almost synonym to a certain over-hyped Twilight fanfiction (in which the main characters' names are substituted for something a little more glamorous by the text editor's handy find-and-replace option), which is a real shame as the genre was well-established before this trilogy was published and consists of much more talented writers, such as the marvellous Rebecca Chance.

Before picking up Killer Heels I had only read one other novel by the author under this pseudonym, titled Bad Sisters, which I was well impressed with. Filled with saucy scenes, outrageous characters and a generous dose of mystery, I was quickly craving my next Chance fix. Unfortunately a steady stream of review books and overflowing book shelves prevented me from picking up more of her books until I finally got my eager hands on a copy of her latest work, Killer Heels.

Jodie Raeburn is perfectly happy being an average size 12, five foot six, girl from Luton. That is, until she lands the highly coveted role of assistant to her idol Victoria Glossop, editor at Style magazine. Catapulted into the glamorous world of fashion, where people are defined by their appearance, Jodie changes everything about herself, from her first name to her dress size. And despite the unreasonable working hours and demands from her rather devilish boss, Jodie puts her former life, including her friends and family, on the back seat as she rapidly becomes all-consumed by her new job.

Sounds quite The Devil Wears Prada so far, doesn't it? Except where Lauren Weisberger's novel is PG-friendly, Chance's is anything but. Filled with kinky sex scenes and ambitious characters going just that little bit too far when it comes to undermining their rivals or pleasing their boss to work their way up the proverbial career ladder, the novel is certainly worthy of the term "bonkbuster".

Despite the genre it's defined by, Killer Heels is not solely made up of glittering descriptions of steamy sexual encounters, dazzling high-fashion parties and elaborate back-stabbing schemes. It is in fact all held tightly together by a solid story. Flicking between past and present, Chance manages to not only capture her audience with her engaging writing skills, but also by revealing the story at just the right pace, with various unexpected twists along the way, which will keep the reader hooked from start to finish.