Scandal Sheet by Gemma Halliday is the first book in the new “Hollywood Headlines” mystery romance series. Publisher: Dorchester Publishing, October 2009

Tina Bender—the L.A. Informer’s gossip columnist extraordinaire—knows everything about everyone who’s anyone. And she’s not afraid to print it. Until someone threatens to kill her.

Calvin Dean’s got a charming smile and an alpha-dog attitude. But that doesn’t mean Tina’s happy editor Felix Dunn has saddled her with the built bodyguard. How’s she supposed to get the scoop on Hollywood A-listers with him hulking nearby?

When the threats escalate to actual violence—and murder!—she and Dean are thrust together in a way that brings a whole new meaning to working undercover. Suddenly it’s not just the imminent danger making Tina’s pulse jump. With the help of a bubbly blonde, an alcoholic obituary writer, and a pair of overzealous octogenarians, they’ll have to sort through the scandals to find which juicy piece of gossip is worth killing over…or risk becoming tomorrow’s headline.

Tina writes a gossip column and someone doesn’t like what she is writing. Enters Cal as her bodyguard and soon it’s more than her body he’s guarding while trying to keep her alive. This was an entertaining, funny and romantic mystery story and a perfect book to read on a cold’s winter night. My rating: 3.5 stars