Rating: 
Summary: A fun and illuminating read
Review: What happens when two people with the same name live in the same building? You get the other person's mail and deliveries. But what if the person lives a life that only exists in your wildest dreams? That's what happens to Nancy Stern, a preschool teacher and divorcee from Manhattan. Her life couldn't be any duller, but then she starts receiving invitations to glamorous dinner parties and private film screenings with -- oh, no one special -- Harrison Ford. To her surprise, another woman named Nancy Stern -- a famous celebrity journalist -- has moved into the building. Also, Nancy receives notes from a mysterious admirer. Will Nancy become a usurper? There are some exciting twists and turns in the story.This is a very fun book that should be read on a hot and sunny day at the beach. The situation is funny and entertaining; it will keep you turning the pages. Happy reading!
Rating: 
Summary: What's in a Name...
Review: Meet Nancy Stern, nursery school teacher with the girl next door looks and a nice studio apartment on the upper east side of New York City. Life is easy, steady and rather unexciting until one day roses arrive for her from someone she doesn't know; then fancy party invitations and interesting phone calls. As Nancy investigates these odd occurrences, she finds that another Nancy Stern has moved into the penthouse of her building. She's blond, rich, gorgeous and writes celebrity profiles for popular magazines. She's got the kind of life that nursery school Nancy wishes for. So when a nice sounding man calls nursery school Nancy for a blind date, thinking she's the other Nancy Stern, our girl goes for it pretending to be celebrity Nancy. So far, so good, until celebrity Nancy is found murdered in her apartment. Confusing? Not really. Jane Heller gives you a light, witty, well written mystery full of funny scenes and irreverent dialogue. The writing is wonderful, the characters, interesting and the story line, just lots of fun. Did the killer get the wrong Nancy? Hang in there to the very satisfying ending and find out. This is a great book to take along to the beach. Read and enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Very cute!
Review: Heroine: average What if two women with the same name lived in the same apartment building? Invariably they would accidentally swap mail and phone messages, but men . . . and murders? When Bill Harris, with his extremely "nice" voice, calls Nancy Stern the disillusioned preschool teacher for a blind date she knows with that certain sinking feeling that this call is really meant for the glamorous freelance journalist in the penthouse, just like all the others. All right, so she didn't want to keep the other Nancy's mile long credit card bills, and she absolutely couldn't keep the fabulous fur coat that had been mistakenly delivered to her apartment. But jet set Nancy had so many men wooing her, would she really miss just one tall, handsome, sexy jeweler?? Unfortunately preschool Nancy gets more than she bargains for in this particular swap. When the other Nancy turns up dead preschool Nancy thanks her lucky stars just this once for being the "wrong Nancy". But when her purse is snatched, her apartment is ransacked, and her new boyfriend's mysterious past begins to reveal itself, she begins to wonder if she was so lucky after all.
What worked for me:
I love Heller's writing style. She's got a great knack for coming up with pithy phrases, such as labeling preschool Nancy as "The Brunette Who Keeps Her Head".
This novel particularly resonated with me because I've worked with children on and off for years, so the preschool scenes were a bit of a flashback for me. Size-wise Nancy was a comfortable sounding average, who was fine with her figure until she met the other Nancy Stern, with her impossibly long legs and huge...[chest].
What didn't work for me:
I was sick to my stomach the entire time plain Nancy was trying to pass herself off as "fancy Nancy". I would hate trying to do something like that myself. (Odd, but I don't recall feeling that way when I read Goldsmith's "Switcheroo", and in that case the identity swap took place over a much longer period in the novel. Go figure!) I kinda felt bad for glitzy Nancy, snarky woman that she was. Her life obviously didn't make her happy, her death was untimely, and she faded away from the novel once her purpose had been served, as did her mysterious daughter. Poor things.
Overall:
Fast-paced "Name Dropping" was a joy to read, but didn't quite live up to my expectations, which were set very high after reading Heller's "Princess Charming". Warning: This book has some steamy moments and coarse words within its pages. If you liked "Name Dropping" you might also enjoy "Crazy For You", "Switcheroo", "Princess Charming", "Infernal Affairs", "Plum Girl", The Stephanie Plum mystery series, "Welcome to Temptation", "Faking It", "Heaven in Your Eyes", "Getting Lucky", "Fast Women", or "Lola Carlyle Reveals All".
Rating:
Summary: Fun Book - Not too Complex
Review: Jane Heller's books are all enjoyable, entertaining tales about a woman in love with possibly the wrong man and a mystery thrown in as a twist. In other words, they're fun, quick, easy reads. Name Dropping was great for me as I love to read while riding the bike at the gym and this was the perfect book to take my mind off the challenge of the work out and instead, focus on a fun story. In the book, the average Nancy Stern begins receiving letters and phone calls to her more sophistacted neightbor, Nancy Stern. Imagine living in the same building as Julia Roberts, sharing her name, and vicariously living her life - it's kind of like that. To complicate the situation, the other Nancy Stern is murdered and our the first Nancy, begins to wonder if her life is in danger. Name dropping is fun, easy-going and entertaining - a great beach (or bike) read!
Rating:
Summary: An entertaining light read
Review: Name Dropping begins with two women, both named Nancy Stern, living in the same building. One of the women interviews celebrities for a living and the other (our heroine) works at a preschool. When the preschool-teaching Nancy starts receiving invitations to parties with celebrities and phone calls from strange men wanting to sleep with her, she knows there's been a mix-up between the two Nancys. Annoyed, our Nancy accepts a blind date with a man who unintentionally called her while trying to reach the other Nancy. There's a murder and some missing jewels, and our Nancy has to try to sort everything out. I really liked the characters in the book. Preschool-teacher Nancy was fun and believable, as was Bill (the blind date she fell for). Celebrity Nancy was easy to dislike. The kids at the preschool were entertaining as were the other teachers. I read the book quickly because I wanted to find out what happened to everyone. While this was by no means a literary masterpiece, the writing style was enjoyable and easy to read. I felt like I could relate to the people and the surroundings even though I had never been in that particular situation. The plots and subplots kept the book moving and there wasn't much lag time between events. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy first-person, self-depracating novels about women who aren't gorgeous or important. I would also recommend it to people who like light mysteries without much horror or blood.
Rating:
Summary: pretending something you're not..............
Review: NAME DROPPING by Jane Heller Jane Heller's NAME DROPPING is the tale of one average school teacher who discovers that there is yet another woman living in the same building with the exact same name, and finds that this other woman's life is a lot more fun and exciting and glamorous. What would it be like to live that sort of life? When Nancy Stern starts getting invitations to famous celebrity's homes, she knows something is not right. One invitation could have been a mistake, but getting mail on a regular basis that was definitely not HER mail was odd. An American Express bill finally confirmed that there was another Nancy Stern in the building. And this one was way out of her league. The "famous" Nancy Stern was friend to the Stars. She interviewed them, and in turn was invited to gala events and had boyfriends with foreign sounding names such as "Jacques". She was tall and glamorous and supposedly rich. The "average" Nancy Stern was a preschool teacher who definitely did not go out on the town as regularly as the other Nancy Stern. She spent many nights at home eating leftover pizza and watching television. But when one of "glamorous" Nancy's many admirers calls and leaves a message, Nancy decides to follow up and goes on a blind date with him. Bill has never met the Glamorous Nancy, but has a mutual friend, and being new to the city he seeks out Nancy on this blind date. What he does not know is that he ends up dating the "average" Nancy, and things start to get complicated as their relationship starts to blossom. As Nancy gets involved with Bill, other things begin to happen. Her life is turned upside-down with a couple of attempted burglaries, a purse snatching and a murder! She finds herself living a not-so-boring life and finds her own life in jeopardy. NAME DROPPING was my second book by Jane Heller. Not as good as FEMALE INTELLIGENCE, it still was a fun read and kept me hooked till the end. As with all chick lit, it was a book with a lot of action with some hard-to-believe scenes. It's not real life, but a great escape. This reader recommends NAME DROPPING. A great beach read!
Rating:
Summary: Like a fun Roller Coaster Ride!
Review: I actually enjoyed this book a lot more then I thought I would! "Name Dropping" is about Nancy Stern, a Pre-school teacher who spends her days with 4-year olds and her Saturday nights at home. Along comes a new tenant in her building that is blond, leggy, silicon filled AND interviews celebrities for a magazine. Oh, and her name? Nancy Stern! Pre-school Nancy is suddenly deluged with phone calls, flowers and mail for Glamorous Nancy. Just when she thinks it's all too much to bear along comes Bill Harris, an eligible bachelor who was calling for the other Nancy but Pre-school Nancy decides to go on the date instead and so begins the roller coaster ride of this book. Lots of twists and turns. Perfect book to take to the beach. A light, fun read!
Rating:
Summary: The Name Game
Review: Only this time it was not a game. Preschool teacher Nancy Stern is given letters and dry cleaning items that are not hers. They are addressed to her, but she did not own any of these items or know the men who wrote the love letters. She soon realized that there was another woman living in her apartment building with the exact same name. Now Nancy was not the biggest fan of this woman as the celebrties she interviewed for a living were, but she had never imagined in the woman's murder.
I really enjoyed this book and often I could not put it down because i had to know what happened next. I found the characters easy to relate to and very likeable. The only thing that I found unsatisfactory about this book was that in the beginning the plot seemed to drag and I almost put it down, but I kept reading it and it turned out that I really enjoyed this book. I would like to read more Jane Heller novels in the future.
Rating:
Summary: What a fun read!
Review: As a busy mom of newborn twins, this book offers comic relief in a hectic life! I am now a huge Jane Heller fan ~~ it seems most of her books are fun and saucy reads! I never used to like fluff ~~ but Heller's books are more than just fluff ~~ it's full of mystery and fun! Pre-school teacher Nancy Stern keeps getting mail, drycleaning items (like a fur coat!), phone calls, roses meant for her neighbor Nancy Stern! On a blind date that she accepted even though it was really for her neighbor, Nancy finds her Mr. Right and was led on a merry chase. Stolen jewelry, a neglected child, a best friend with zany advices and romance make up for a wonderful and quick read! I wouldn't hesitate picking this book up at all ~~ Heller does it again! 10-28-02
Rating:
Summary: Cute story! Kept me on my toes!
Review: When a new Nancy Stern moves into an apartment building, the old Nancy Stern starts receiving her mail. Nancy and Nancy meet and realize that they are as different as can be. The old Nancy Stern is a preschool teacher who is looking for love. Eventually she finds it, but only accidentally. And only due to being the wrong Nancy! From there the story takes many twists and turns and just when you think you've got it figured out -- you don't! I really enjoyed the fun story line and thought the characters were unique. This was the first time I'd read anything by Heller and I'm sure I'm come back for more of her soon!
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