Laura Levine

When Jaine lands a job writing Web copy and brochures for matchmaker Joy Amoroso, shes excited for a chance to help the lovelorn just in time for Valentine's Day--until she realizes what Dates of Joy is really all about. Joy is a ruthless taskmaster who screams at her employees for the smallest infractions, pads her Web site with pictures of professional models posing as clients, and offers up convincing-but-empty promises of love in exchange for...

"Jaine Austen's amused take on life, love, sex and LA will delight readers." —Carolyn Hart
A gal with a serious Ben & Jerry's habit can't afford to be too picky about employment opportunities. So when Beverly Hills socialite SueEllen Kingsley offers freelance writer Jaine Austen megabucks to ghostwrite a book of hostess tips, it's time to sharpen the #2s.
But everything short circuits when Jaine finds SueEllen floating face down in her...

Agreeing to write jokes for Dorcas, a struggling stand-up comic, Jaine Austen discovers that murder is the punchline when Dorcas's rival, a heckler named Vic, is strangled with one of her props--a pair of pantyhose.

"Freelance writer Jaine Austen is all too familiar with the short-lived sitcom I Married a Zombie—she once solved the murder of its star, Cryptessa Muldoon. But in true zombie fashion, Cryptessa is back from the grave—sort of—courtesy of a new theatrical production, and murder is on the bill once more… The Bewitched knockoff I Married a Zombie may have flopped in its day, but it’s got a devoted cult following. Jaine is delighted when one...

In the first novel of her wickedly witty new mystery series, Levine introduces Jaine Austen, a hip, jack-of-all-trades writer who finds herself investigating the Valentine's Day death of a girl bludgeoned with a Thigh Master.

Jaine Austen is looking forward to an indulgent spa getaway until she learns it is more about deprivation than relaxation. Between miniscule meals and a deadly brush with fame, surviving this vacation will be no piece of cake. When Jaine's friend Lance surprises her with a trip to The Haven, an uber-luxe health spa on the California coast, she and her feline pal Prozac are eager to hit the road and bask in a week of pampering and pedicures. But upon...

"Uber-stylist Bebe Braddock plans to juice up her Instagram feed, and thinks Jaine would make a perfect "Before & After" model. At Lance's insistence Jaine is ushered into Bebe's sprawling Brentwood spread to await her transformation. Yet, while the surroundings are glamorous, the atmosphere is toxic as Bebe bullies her team of assistants, and even her husband, into obeying her every whim. Having earned the wrath of everyone in her orbit, few are...

While writing for the sitcom "Muffy 'n Me," occasional sleuth Jaine Austen is immersed in a mystery when the show's leading man, womanizer Quinn Kirkland, is murdered and she is faced with a wealth of suspects.

"Sometime-sleuth Jaine Austen struggles to make ends--and zippers--meet while living on a freelance writer's salary in Los Angeles. When she's not hunting down the latest flavor of her favorite ice cream, she's tracking down criminals on her own Walk of Infamy..."--JACKET.

Freelance writer Jaine gets a gig conducting a writing course on a seven-day cruise from L.A. to Mexico. The trouble begins when Jaine realizes her sneaky cat, Prozac, has stowed away in her luggage. Jaine bargains with Samoa, her eccentric steward, to keep Prozac's presence a secret by promising to read and edit Do Not Distub (sic), his 900-page thriller about a swashbuckling steward. Levine's lively wit keeps the familiar Love Boatésque shenanigans...