ARC Review: Until She Dies by Kendra Elliot

Until She Dies
Author: Kendra Elliot
Series: Noelle Marshall (Book 3)
Publication: Montlake (September 8, 2026)

Description: Detective Noelle Marshall and FBI Agent Max Rhodes unearth bodies and secrets as they become targets of a serial killer in a chilling novel of suspense by a Wall Street Journal bestselling author.

When a search dog locates a mass burial ground in the Oregon forest, Detective Noelle Marshall is plunged into a hunt for a killer who’s hiding in plain sight. The key to her case lies in a decades-old secret: a lone survivor who escaped and is still out there, living in fear. The murderer is a phantom who left behind a collection of victims with nothing in common but their final resting place.

As pressure mounts to identify the bodies and find the killer, the investigation draws in FBI Agent Max Rhodes—Noelle’s partner in work and in life. They’ve hunted monsters before, but this one has spent years preparing for this moment, and he craves revenge. As the search narrows and the clock tightens, Noelle and Max must confront a predator who knows the terrain—and their weaknesses—better than they do.

My Thoughts: The third Noelle Marshall thriller begins with a hike in the woods and a search dog who discovers a mass burial site. Identifying the victims is the first step to finding out who murdered them all. When the first woman is identified, it is discovered that she has a four-year-old daughter who is also missing. Finding the child becomes the first priority and leads Noelle to work with her partner Max Rhodes who is with the FBI.

Things get even more complicated when a connection is made to Noelle's foster daughter Emma. One of the bodies may be that of her missing mother. At least a gun traced to her missing mother is found in one of the graves. 

This hunt brings in a lot of characters from the author's previous book series though most have only a walk-on role. The story centers on Emma's need for information about her parents and Noelle and Max's search for the missing child and the hidden murderer. 

The story was fast-paced and twisty. It was filled with suspense and tension. Secrets long buried are revealed as the story unfolds. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Jules Cassidy, PI by Suzanne Brockmann

Jules Cassidy, PI
Author: Suzanne Brockmann
Series: Troubleshooters (Book 20)
Publication: Suzanne Brockmann Books (January 29, 2026)

Description: Troubleshooters series fan-favorite Jules Cassidy is back!

Starting over is never easy, but when Jules is forced out of the FBI, he has the help of his good friend, former Navy SEAL Sam Starrett, as he takes on his first case as head of the Troubleshooters personal security firm’s brand new Los Angeles office.

Jules’s assignment: Locate a woman named Emily Johnson, the unexpected heir to a Hollywood producer’s massive fortune. The weird twist? The producer’s estranged son is the client who’s hired Jules and Sam to find this mysterious stranger who’ll inherit what should have been his—millions he claims he does not need or want.

Still, the investigation should be simple despite the lack of information about this woman with a very common name. But Jules knows that with Sam’s help, he’ll find her, even if they have to knock on the door of every Emily Johnson in the greater Los Angeles area.

Best of all? This easy case is danger-free.

But as the WTFs surrounding the investigation start piling up rapidly and haphazardly, it soon becomes clear to both Jules and Sam that someone’s gunning for their mysterious and hard-to-find Emily—and for them, as well.

In a novel that’s part mystery, part drama, part comedy and all heart, Brockmann’s long-awaited return to the Troubleshooters world also delivers the story of Jules Cassidy’s first-ever investigation as a seventeen-year-old high school student.

Shortly after his father’s untimely death, Jules and his mother move back to her rural Connecticut hometown, where Jules begins his senior year as the “new kid.” It’s not long before he is immersed in solving a crime—someone is attacking girls at weekend parties. With the help of a new group of friends, Jules is determined to catch and bring the violent perpetrator to justice.

But life doesn’t always go according to plan…

My Thoughts: This new entry into the Troubleshooters series stars former FBI Agent Jules Cassidy. Because of changes in Presidential administrations, Jules has resigned from the FBI and joined Troubleshooters. He is tasked with setting up a Los Angeles office which works out well because his husband Robin has the offer to star in a new television series. 

Jules and Robin are dealing with heartbreak because the surrogate who was supposed to have their baby had a late-term miscarriage in Texas and almost died before she could be transported to a more woman friendly state. However, although she lives, she can no longer have children. Jules and Robin are both grieving the loss of their child and their friend's loss too. Add that to Jules grieving the loss of a career he loved and you have an emotional episode.

Jules and Sam Starrett are setting up the office and hoping to ease into the investigation business. They accept what should be an easy case. Locate a lost heir for the estate of an old man who was a Hollywood producer. They are hired by the deceased's lawyer and estranged son to locate Emily Johnson. Unfortunately, both claim not to know who Emily is and Emily Johnson is a far too common name. 

As they begin to investigate with Jules missing the FBI's ability to generate background information, they soon discover that there are more difficulties than finding a woman with a common name. Someone doesn't want them to succeed and is willing to use assault weapons.

This story is told from Jules' point of view, but it is also told from the point of view of the deceased's son who is keeping secrets of his own and who knows very well who Emily is and why he wants her to inherit the estate instead of himself. 

The story also includes flashbacks to a younger Jules who has moved to a new town after his father's death and is trying to make a place for himself which isn't easy for an openly gay teen. He finds a friend group and also works with his friends to track down a rapist targeting young women. 

This was an engaging story. I'm glad that it is the beginning of a new story arc since Jules, Robin and Sam are great characters. 

I bought this one February 2, 2026. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: All Night Long by Jayne Ann Krentz

All Night Long
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz
Narrator: Amanda Cobb
Publication: Recorded Books (March 15, 2015)
Length: 10 hours and 6 minutes

Description: Shy, studious Irene Stenson and wild, privileged Pamela Webb had been the best of friends for one short high school summer. Their friendship ended the night Pamela dropped Irene off at home - and Irene walked in to discover her parents' bodies on the kitchen floor. It was ruled a murder-suicide, and Irene fled Dunsley, determined to wipe out every memory attached to her Northern California hometown. But now she has been summoned back.

Pamela's email had been short and cryptic. More alarming, it included the code word they had used as teenagers, suggesting an urgency and secrecy that puzzled Irene. What could be important enough to make her former friend get in touch after all these years? She won't find out - at least not from Pamela, who lies dead in the luxurious home of her father, a US senator, pill and liquor bottles beside her. The shock has barely subsided before the rumors begin to swirl.

Irene had planned to get out of this place as quickly as possible. But her reporter's instinct - and her own hunger to know the truth - compel her to extend her stay at the local lodge. Even more compelling is the man who runs the place - a hazel-eyed ex-marine who's as used to giving orders as Irene is to ignoring them.

Luke Danner can see the terrified young girl hidden beneath Irene Stenson's black-clad, confident exterior - and he is intent on protecting her. But he is also driven by passions of his own, and together they will risk far more than local gossip to sort out what happened to Pamela Webb and what really happened on that long-ago summer night.

My Thoughts: Irene Stenson left her Northern California home after her parents died in what looked like a murder-suicide. She has never gotten over their deaths. She refuses to believe that her father killed her mother and then himself. 

Many years later, Irene hears from her former best friend Pamela who says she has some news about the events of that night to share. Irene heads back home, rents a cabin at a run-down resort run by Luke Danner, and goes to see her former friend. Luke follows her when she leaves the resort late at night to rendezvous with Pamela who has stopped answering her phone or texts. That means that both of them are there when Irene discovers Pamela's body. It's an apparent suicide since Pamela is surrounded by pill and an empty pitcher of martinis. 

Irene isn't buying it. She can't believe that Pamela would kill herself when she had called Irene to her to give her some sort of message. Irene remembers an old hiding place of Pamela's and discovers a key. It is an ordinary key, and she doesn't know what it will open. Then the house is set on fire while she and Luke are searching it for any clues of what really happened. 

Meanwhile, Luke and Irene are falling in love. Luke has family issues. His family is sure that he is suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome since he isn't behaving the way they expect. That isn't Luke's problem. But Irene does suffer from post-traumatic stress and can recognize it in others. 

Luke is a man who wants to go his own way rather than be sucked into the family wine business. He has a doctorate in philosophy and served in the Marines. He's currently writing a book which he hasn't mentioned to his family. 

This romantic suspense title comes from early in the author's career. It has a lot of the things that author has become known for: quirky characters, snappy dialog, and romance. It was an excellent romantic suspense title. 

I bought this one for Kindle and audiobook August 21, 2025. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: All Night Long by Jayne Ann Krentz

 Happy Friday!

Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires. 

Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not. 

Beginning:

Seventeen years earlier...

The house at the end of the lane was filled with darkness and night.

Friday 56:

Irene winced. "I shouldn't have implied that. But there's no getting around the fact that Webb is a powerful man."

This week I am spotlighting All Night Long by Jayne Ann Krentz. I read this one back in 2006 or 2007. I recently got the Kindle and Audiobook for a reread. Here's the description from Amazon:

From New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz comes an electrifying novel of passion, murder, and small-town scandal.
 
Investigative reporter Irene Stenson hasn’t been to her hometown of Dunsely, California, since the gruesome night she found both her parents dead on the kitchen floor. Now, seventeen years later, Irene has received a shocking new lead about their deaths—and is determined to discover the truth of what happened on that long-ago night.
 
Staying at a local lodge, she finds herself confiding in handsome Luke Danner—an ex-marine who’s as used to barking orders as Irene is to ignoring them. But Luke sees the terror beneath her confident exterior—and can’t help but want to protect her. He is also driven by passions of his own, and as they’re drawn together into the heart of danger, they will risk far more than either of them expected.

ARC Review: A Tour to Die For by Michelle Chouinard

A Tour to Die For
Author: Michelle Chouinard
Series: The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco Mysteries (Book 2)
Publication: Minotaur Books (September 23, 2025)

Description: In Michelle Chouinard’s A Tour to Die For, Capri Sanzio is back, giving a true crime tour her guests won’t soon forget. After all, a tour guide who specializes in serial killers knows better than most that San Francisco is a city with killer charm.

Capri Sanzio knows that when you give serial killer walking tours for a living, unexpected situations are more common than San Francisco's famous fog. So, when one of her guests claims to see a woman being attacked during a tour, Capri remains unphased. The police search the apartment in question and find no evidence of anything amiss, so they chalk it up to a false report from a true crime fanatic looking to be a part of a case. And Capri thinks they might be right, since lately her tours have been attracting even more obsessives than usual--as it turns out, finding the actual serial killer who committed the "Overkill Bill" murders didn't stop the constant questions about her grandfather's supposed crimes, it only intensified them.

But Capri would never forgive herself if someone is in trouble and she walks away. Plus, something about the whole situation has every one of Capri's investigative journalist instincts going haywire--why would someone lie about seeing an attack? So Capri starts to dig, and when her questions lead to a body, she finds herself at the center of another murder investigation.

My Thoughts: Capri Sanzio is an expert on murders in San Francisco. She even has a tour company that follows the paths of historical murderers. One evening, she's running her Barbary Coast tour when one of her tourists spots a woman being strangled in a lighted window. Capri calls 911 but the responding officers only find an empty, but lighted apartment. 

Lorraine, who is fifth grade teacher from a couple of hours away, is sure that she saw someone being strangled and encourages Capri to look into it. She even sends a scoop to the newspaper to try force Capri's hand. 

Capri is curious enough to explore more. She talks to the building's landlady who tells her that Leeya is a local artist who works with found materials. She also tells Capri that Leeya has a boyfriend along with a mother and a sister. Capri contacts, or tries to contact, all of them but none have seen Leeya. 

Then Leeya's body is found in a dumpster outside her rented studio and the disappearance soon becomes a murder. Capri's new boyfriend Homicide Inspector Dan Petito encourages her to keep her distance, but Capri is longing to resurrect a career as an investigative journalist that she set aside to marry and become a mother. 

This is Capri's second book. She's still dealing with the popularity she gained by solving the Overkill Bill murders. This led to a rift with her father, a successful podcast, and a book contract to write about Overkill Bill. 

She's investigating Leeya's murder while running a business, planning a new podcast, writing a book, and building a romance with a new guy. She's also dealing with her deadbeat ex who is trying to so some business with her daughter without telling her daughter that her ex is a deadbeat. 

This was an engaging story filled with all sorts of fascinating things about San Franciso. It was also a fast-paced mystery filled with suspicious characters and dangerous situations. I recommend it. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Flash Point by Tracey Devlyn

Flash Point
Author: Tracey Devlyn
Series: Steel Ridge: The Blackwells (Book 1)
Publication: Steel Ridge Publishing (May 23, 2022)

Description: In this first book of Steele Ridge's exciting new series, The Blackwells, USA Today bestselling author Tracey Devlyn plunges readers into the dangerous world of asset recovery with this one-night stand, frenemies to lovers story between a burned out recovery agent and a single mom who leads the FBI's art crime cases.

A treasure hunter thought he had everything in his life firmly in hand until a chance encounter with a mysterious redhead tests the limits of his self-control.

When FBI Special Agent Olivia Westcott’s boss hands over her next assignment, she has an opportunity to retrieve a priceless artifact and shut down a high-profile drug scheme in one fell swoop. All Liv has to do is work with the lead recovery agent of Blackwell Asset Recovery Services—with whom she’d had a passionate one-night stand two weeks prior—and not let her feelings compromise the case.

Zeke Blackwell still struggles with running the family business after his older brother unexpectedly left him in charge. Now he has the added responsibility of keeping drugs off the streets of small towns across Western North Carolina and keeping his hands off the too-enticing special agent while they’re planning the joint operation. As if that’s not enough to keep him up at night, he’s also searching for a centuries-old treasure that could change the course of his and his family’s lives.

But what starts as a high-value asset recovery spirals out of control when their enemies force Liv and Zeke to stay one step ahead of danger. Is their attraction worth the risk? Or will they find themselves playing a game too dangerous to survive?

My Thoughts: This romantic suspense novel begins a new series within the Steel Ridge greater series. Zeke Blackwell leads his company which consists mainly of his brothers in asset recovery which essentially means that they steal stolen items to return to their original owners. 

Olivia Westcott is an FBI Special Agent who is in charge of art crimes. She's a widow with a nine-year-old son and a trust fund. In her spare time she is involved in rescuing abused women. 

Olivia and Zeke meet when they have a spicy one-night-stand while she is attending a conference and he is there to try to reconcile with his older brother who left the business for the FBI. Neither expects to meet again especially by being involved in the same case in which the FBI needs BARS to recover an asset that is needed to buy information about a major drug deal. 

Zeke is also on the hunt for a family heirloom that went missing many years earlier. He feels that the return of the sword will make things go well at BARS. He is lacking in confidence about his ability to run the business and sees it breaking up and breaking the relationship between him and his brothers. 

Meanwhile, Olivia is also dealing with a stalker who has attacked her and threatened her son. 

This was an engaging story and a nice romance. 

I bought this one July 24. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Cheater by Karen Rose

Cheater
Author: Karen Rose
Series: The San Diego Case Files (Book 2)
Publication: Berkley (March 26, 2024)

Description: A shocking murder leaves an affluent retirement community reeling in this riveting, high-stakes second installment of the San Diego Case Files, from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose.

Death is not an unfamiliar visitor to Shady Oaks Retirement Village, which provides San Diego with premier elderly support from independent retiree housing to full-time hospice care. But when a resident’s body is found brutally stabbed and his apartment ransacked, it’s clear there’s someone deadly in their community. Detective Katherine “Kit” McKittrick quickly discovers that Shady Oaks is full of skeleton-riddled closets, and most tenants prefer to keep their doors firmly closed to the SDPD.

A longtime volunteer at the retirement facility, Dr. Sam Reeves honors his late grandfather’s memory by playing the piano for the residents regularly. So it shouldn’t be such a surprise when Kit crosses paths with him during her investigation, after she’d avoided the criminal psychologist—and the emotions he evokes—for the last six months.

Sam’s rapport within the retirement village proves vital to the case, and the pair find themselves working together once again—much to Kit’s dismay. But she is determined to apprehend the shadow of death lurking around Shady Oaks...and equally determined to ignore the feelings she’s developing for a certain psychologist.

My Thoughts: The second book in the San Diego Case Files series reunites Detective Kit McKittrick and Dr. Sam Reeves. Kit is called to the Shady Oaks Retirement village when a resident is found dead with a butcher knife in his chest. Sam is already there since he has volunteered there for a number of years. Kit has managed to avoid Sam for some months because he frightens her by the depth of her feelings for him. Now they have to work together. 

The first victim is Frankie Flynn who was a good friend of Sam's since he reminds him of the grandfather he lost. It is discovered that Frankie was a former homicide lieutenant in San Diego who left at age 55 to marry his long-time male lover Ryan. The two build a life and career in the antiques business in San Francisco but returned to move to the retirement community when Ryan's sister and brother-in-law Benny moved in and remained there when both Ryan and his sister died. 

Kit and Sam need to find out who wanted Frankie dead and, along the way, discover that there are lots shady going on in the retirement community. The director of security is found dead in a cheap hotel in a supposed suicide, the IT guy disappears, and Benny dies of a supposed heart attack after his $4 million is found missing. 

And while being deep in their investigation, Kit needs to come to terms with her feeling for Sam before it is too late for both of them.

This was an excellent thriller. I enjoyed the twisty plot and the wonderful characters. 

I bought this one January 2, 2025. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Dead Man's List by Karen Rose

Dead Man's List
Author: Karen Rose
Series: The San Diego Case Files (Book 3)
Publication: Berkley (March 4, 2025)

Description: Homicide Detective Kit McKittrick's latest case exposes the dark side of San Diego’s high society in this nerve-shattering tale of romantic suspense from New York Times bestselling author Karen Rose.

On a long-anticipated second date with police psychologist Dr. Sam Reeves—right as things are getting steamy—Kit stumbles across the mutilated body of a local San Diego politician. The man was loved by many of his constituents but is hated and reviled by many more. That the suspect list is long surprises no one, but exactly who ends up on it stuns Kit and her team.

As the SDPD reveal the victim’s sinister dealings, Kit and Sam are forced to navigate the closely guarded world of the city’s richest and most powerful citizens to find answers. But time is rapidly running out, with their sources of information dropping like flies as the killer methodically eliminates loose ends—and anyone else who stands in the way.

My Thoughts: The third book in the San Diego Case Files series by Karen Rose begins with Homicide Detective Kit McKittrick and police psychologist Dr. Sam Reeves and their long delayed second date. Sam has decided to take Kit hiking in the desert to share with her one of his favorite things to do. Neither is expecting their dogs to lead them to the partially buried body of San Diego politician Brooks Munro.

Munro has been a polarizing figure with many devoted fans and many devoted enemies. He has certainly rubbed the San Diego police the wrong way. Kit and her partner Connor Robinson are assigned the case and soon find themselves looking deeply into the political and the wealthy of San Diego. 

Even Sam has had a run-in with Munro when he was looking for votes to help fund the shelter he works with. Munro tried to solicit a bribe from Sam as a quid pro quo. Sam's experience leads Kit to wonder and investigate whether or not Munro has made bribery and blackmail a regular part of his business practices. 

Meanwhile, the trial date Christopher Drummond is coming up. He is accused of murdering Kit's foster sister Rita's mother and sexually assaulting Rita too. He claims to have information that could lead to the murderer of Munro but wants favors for giving it. Kit isn't willing to give anything to Drummond that might influence the verdict since he is still threatening Rita and Kit will do anything to protect her family.

The story was filled with intrigue as Sam, Kit, and Connor try to figure out which of many possibilities wanted Munro dead and who is murdering others who might have information that would let Kit find him. 

I enjoyed the suspense in this story. I also enjoyed watching Kit open up to some romantic possibilities of her own despite her fears. Sam is a great romantic partner being both patient and open with his own feelings. 

This was an engaging story which is the third book in a series. I recommend reading all of them. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: One in Vermillion by Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer

One in Vermillion
Author: Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer
Narrator: Cris Dukehart & Eric G. Dove
Series: Liz Danger (Book 3)
Publication: Brilliance Audio (February 6, 2024)
Length: 9 hours and 49 minutes

Description: One in Vermillion: That red in the ledger isn’t just the ink.

Liz Danger is stuck in her hometown of Burney, Ohio, because her insane employer has rented a house there for the summer, which means she has three more months of trying to get a copy edit done, babysitting a seven-year-old, and figuring out what to do with three hundred and ninety-two teddy bears. And then there’s her mother. Even the good news that she’s living with a hot cop is tempered by the knowledge that sooner or later, she’s going to have to figure out her future, and she's still not sure what she wants that to be.

Vince Cooper is stuck in a town that keeps asking him when he’s going to make an honest woman of Liz Danger and in a job that’s just sunk into anarchy because of local and state politics that are kneecapping the police department, not to mention a biker gang and Liz’s ex-boyfriend who still hasn’t figured out that the ex part is permanent. Good thing he has Liz to come home to . . . until he doesn’t.

As Liz and Vince try to navigate their increasingly complicated relationship, they’re finding out startling new things about themselves and the town they’re trying to protect, and that means dealing with greedy politicians, arson, broken hearts (not theirs), vandalism, questionable real estate, murder, and a lot of soggy bears.

My Thoughts: This is the finale of the Liz Danger trilogy. It has romance, politics, family secrets and family interference. It also has a really cute seven-year-old and lots and lots of stuffed bears. 

The arsonist trying to burn down Burney is in prison, but the criminals aren't all caught. The motorcycle gang is still causing problems and Liz's ex is right in the middle of it all. Cash can't accept that Liz has moved on. He's sure that his charm will win her back no matter what he does to alienate her. 

With the senator's interference, George is no longer chief of police and the incompetent toady put in the department by the spouse-abusing mayor is the new chief. Vince is almost to the point of resigning and would if he didn't care so much for Burney. 

His relationship with Liz is also a point of contention between them. They are in love but are both used to being independent. When Liz buys an old house in the country, she is making a decision. She loves Vince but doesn't want to marry him or live with him. 

There are still secrets to be revealed about Liz's family that will make changes in her life. And Anemone looks like she's in Burney to stay which should make making the final copy edits on her biography possible. She also wants Liz to ghostwrite more books which will be handy now that they are both planning to stay in Burney.

This was an excellent story which comes to a very satisfying conclusion after a lot of perilous bumps in the road. I enjoyed what each narrator brought to the story. 

I bought this one October, 26, 2024. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Rest in Pink by Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer

Rest in Pink
Author: Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer
Narrator: Cris Dukeheart & Eric G. Dove
Series: Liz Danger (Book 2)
Publication: Brilliance Audio (February 6, 2024)
Length: 9 hours and 40 minutes

Description: From the NY Times Bestselling duo that wrote Agnes and the Hitman, the second book in the Liz Danger series.

Liz Danger is a ghostwriter, trapped in her old hometown for the summer. Good thing she has Vince Cooper, her recurring one-night stand living down by the river in his old diner car, making her feel happy and safe and normal until September when she’ll be leaving again, although she’s starting to wonder if she really wants to.

Vince Cooper is a cop in a town with a shady new housing development that’s bringing a lot of armed strangers, a corrupt mayor, a police chief boss under fire, and an idiot blogger stirring up trouble. Good thing his recurring one-night stand is sticking around for the summer. The only drawback? He’s not looking forward to the empty space Liz Danger will leave behind her when she goes in September.

Treacherous small-town politics, a rust belt biker gang, a widowed ex who doesn’t understand the word “no,” a seven-year-old in need of a temporary mom, a flamboyant blonde boss who needs watched at all times, exploding family secrets, arson, murder, and three hundred and ninety-two soaking wet teddy bears later, Liz and Vince will come face to face with the madman burning down their town, and even worse, with their imploding relationship.

My Thoughts: The second book in the Liz Danger series is filled with small town politics and romance. Liz is a ghostwriter who fled her hometown at eighteen but who has reluctantly come back home. Luckily, Vince Cooper is there to keep her occupied while she deals with family drama.

Vince is a New York City transplant to Burnie, Ohio, who has found a home there. He lives in a restored diner on the banks of the Ohio. His one-night-stands with Liz which are happening almost every night has him rethinking his plan of staying a loner. 

Meanwhile, there is a shady housing development going in, Liz's ex not knowing when to let go, arson, and a needy seven-year-old woven into the plot. Then there's Liz's flamboyant client who has decided to follow Liz so that they can finish her book. 

This was an engaging story told in alternate chapters by Liz and by Vince. The dual narrators did a good job with a complicated story and with the very complicated feelings between Liz and Vince. 

I bought this one October 24, 2024. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Lavender's Blue by Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer

Lavender's Blue
Author: Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer
Narrator: Cris Dukehart & Eric G. Dove
Series: The Liz Danger Series (Book 1)
Publication: Brilliance Audio (February 6, 2024)
Length: 11 hours and 54 minutes

Description: From the NY Times Bestselling duo that wrote Agnes and the Hitman, the first book in the Liz Danger series.

LAVENDER’S BLUE: Would it kill you to go home and see your mother?

Liz Danger has returned home after fifteen years to deliver a giant teddy bear for her mother’s birthday (color: Guilt Red) when a cop with a great ass picks her up for speeding, fixes the missing lug nuts on her back wheel, pulls her out of a ditch, doesn’t give her a ticket, and helps her avoid her family. This is a man with real potential. The rest of the day goes downhill, starting with her finding out that the only man she’s ever loved is getting married to Lavender Blue, the most beautiful woman in southern Ohio. Really, the best thing in her day is that cop with the lug nuts.

Vince Cooper still isn't sure about being a cop in Burney, Ohio, a place he just moved to six months ago, since Burney is full of some fairly odd people spaced between long stretches of boredom. Still, considering the dangerous, difficult life he had before Burney as an Army Ranger and New York City cop, boredom is good. Then he picks up Liz Danger for speeding and life gets a lot more interesting. And when he picks her up again in the local bar the next night, he starts to realize that “interesting” doesn’t begin to describe what’s going to happen to him if he pulls Liz into his arms and his life

As Liz navigates her dysfunctional family, her flamboyant boss phoning in from Chicago, her still-interested ex, her bridesmaid dress from hell, a dachshund with issues, a disaster of a wedding, assault, murder, and three hundred and ninety-three teddy bears, Vince shows up to get her through, even though he knows that the real peril for him in Burney is the one who came with her own warning label, Liz Danger.

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this first book in the Liz Danger series. I liked the combination of humor and mystery. I also liked that alternate chapters were from each of the main characters' points of view.

Liz Danger left Burney, Ohio, fifteen years earlier and has a job as a ghost writer which means lots of traveling. She mostly lives and writes in her car. She's home now because she got a call from her aunt ML telling her that her mother needs her. She arrives along with a six-foot-tall stuffed bear in Guilt Red for her mother's birthday gift. She finds that her bear will be joining 393 other stuffed bears at her mother's. 

Liz also learns that the boy she loved in high school is getting married to the lovely Lavender Blue. Through a variety of weird circumstances, she finds herself drafted as maid of honor complete with an unfortunate dress choice. Then Lavender dies a very short time after her wedding and Liz finds herself a suspect. 

All Liz wants is to leave town, connect with the eccentric woman she's ghostwriting for, finish the book, and collect her bonus. 

The first person Liz meets when she comes to town is Vince Cooper who pulls her over when she hits the town limits. His excuse is that she has a tire ready to fall off. Luckily, he just happens to have the necessary lug nuts. Neither is looking for a relationship, but one quickly forms between the two of them. 

Vince chose Burney, after being an Army Ranger and New York City cop, because there hadn't been a murder on record there. He wanted a less stressful life. But he's suspicious about a recent car accident and then the accidents start happening to Liz and his quiet job becomes a lot less quiet.

I loved the quirky characters in this story including the neurotic blond dachshund. There were also a lot of real issues too. Liz's relationship with her mother needs readjustment. As the daughter of an alcoholic, Liz has a strong need to fix things for the people around her that gets her into trouble. 

I bought this one January 19, 2024. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Lavender's Blue by Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer

 Happy Friday!

Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires. 

Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not. 

The Friday 56 was hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice. This meme is currently on hiatus but many of us are still including a sentence from page 56 or from 56% of the ebook. Anne @ Head Full of Books is picking up the slack until Freda is ready to return. I think this link will get you to the correct place. 

Beginning:

On a cold April day, thanks to an awful card my awful Aunt ML had set me, I was driving down Route 52 along the Ohio River toward my hometown for the first time in fifteen years. 

Friday 56:

JB's Bar is a very old bar -- since 1912 it says on the old mirror above the row of bottles on the old mirror above the row of bottles on the back shelf -- located on the main street of Burney next to the Red Box on the corner. The two places were the center of the town. Drink and food, what more do you need?

This week I am spotlighting Lavender's Blue by Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer. I bought this one when it was a BookBub daily deal last January. I added on the audiobook for $1.99. Here is the description from Amazon:

From the NY Times Bestselling duo that wrote Agnes and the Hitman, the first book in the Liz Danger series.

Liz Danger has returned home after fifteen years to deliver a giant teddy bear for her mother’s birthday (color: Guilt Red) when a cop with a great ass picks her up for speeding, fixes the missing lug nuts on her back wheel, pulls her out of a ditch, doesn’t give her a ticket, and helps her avoid her family. This is a man with real potential. The rest of the day goes downhill, starting with her finding out that the only man she’s ever loved is getting married to Lavender Blue, the most beautiful woman in southern Ohio. Really, the best thing in her day is that cop with the lug nuts.

Vince Cooper still isn't sure about being a cop in Burney, Ohio, a place he just moved to six months ago, since Burney is full of some fairly odd people spaced between long stretches of boredom. Still, considering the dangerous, difficult life he had before Burney as an Army Ranger and New York City cop, boredom is good. Then he picks up Liz Danger for speeding and life gets a lot more interesting. And when he picks her up again in the local bar the next night, he starts to realize that “interesting” doesn’t begin to describe what’s going to happen to him if he pulls Liz into his arms and his life.

As Liz navigates her dysfunctional family, her flamboyant boss phoning in from Chicago, her still-interested ex, her bridesmaid dress from hell, a dachshund with issues, a disaster of a wedding, assault, murder, and three hundred and ninety-three teddy bears, Vince shows up to get her through, even though he knows that the real peril for him in Burney is the one who came with her own warning label, Liz Danger.

LAVENDER’S BLUE: Would it kill you to go home and see your mother?

Book Review: May Day by Jess Lourey

May Day
Author: Jess Lourey
Series: Murder by Month Mysteries (Book 1)
Publication: Thomas & Mercer (April 30, 2024)

Description: A waitress turned librarian just wants a new life. What she ends up with is a killer change of pace in a funny, snappy, and suspenseful mystery by Edgar Award–nominated author Jess Lourey.

With a cheating boyfriend, a thankless career in waitressing, and her BA in English going to waste, Mira James jumps at the chance for a fresh start in rural Battle Lake, Minnesota.

Right away she lands a job as a librarian, snags another as an on-call reporter for the weekly newspaper, and is swept off her feet by Jeff Wilson, a handsome archaeologist unearthing the town’s storied history. Moving here might be the best decision Mira’s ever made. Until she finds Jeff’s body between the library’s reference stacks. It seems Mira didn’t really know her drop-dead gorgeous new lover at all. But someone in Otter Tail County surely did.

Behind this quirky town’s polite exterior are decades-old grudges still unsettled, and murderous secrets best kept hidden. Whatever dangers are buried in Battle Lake’s past, now it’s Mira’s turn to start digging.

My Thoughts: Twenty-something Mira James jumps at a chance to leave the Twin Cities in hopes of a new start. She's in a dead-end job, has a cheating boyfriend, and doesn't know what she wants for her future. 

Moving to Battle Lake, Minnesota, may not be the exact new start she was looking for though. Yeah, she quickly finds a couple of new jobs. She's a new librarian at the Battle Lake Public Library and she's in charge since the other librarian is off on a vacation. She also gets a job writing for the local newspaper which lets her use her otherwise useless English degree. 

She's swept off her feet by an archaeologist who's in town looking for the best property for a new tourist attraction. However, things take a downturn when she finds her new love dead on the floor of her library when she opens one morning. 

As she looks into his murder, she uncovers more than the usual secrets in a town filled with quirky characters. 

I enjoyed the small-town setting and all the quirky characters. I liked Mira's desire for a new start. The writing, told from Mira's point of view, was descriptive and amusing. 

Favorite Quote:

By the time I reached the high school, it was almost five. I studied the building. The original architect must have had a bomb shelter in mind when they designed it. The whole structure cried out, "I'm sturdy, not pretty!"

I bought this one. I got the paperback March 27, 2010, and the revised Kindle copy May 2 along with the Whispersync audiobook. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: May Day by Jess Lourey

 Happy Friday!

Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires. 

Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not. 

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice. This meme is currently on hiatus but many of us are still including a sentence from page 56 or from 56% of the ebook. Anne @ Head Full of Books is picking up the slack until Freda is ready to return. I think this link will get you to the correct place. 

Beginning:

Today marked my tenth day alone at the library, and the heady thrill of being my own boss wasn't cutting it anymore.

Friday 56:

I stepped out and stretched in the temperate night air. No way could I go to sleep with all this tension in my shoulders. Some gardening would clear my mood. 

This week I am spotlighting May Day by Jess Lourey. I have had this first book in the Murder by Month series on my TBR pile since March 27, 2010. Early in May the revised Kindle edition and the audiobook were both on sale with the Kindle copy being $2.49 and the audiobook $1.99. Since I had been meaning to read this book sometime, the sale prices meant that the time had come. I was originally drawn to the book because the book is set in Minnesota. I once had a roommate who called Battle Lake her hometown. 

Here's the description from Amazon:

A waitress turned librarian just wants a new life. What she ends up with is a killer change of pace in a funny, snappy, and suspenseful mystery by Edgar Award–nominated author Jess Lourey.

With a cheating boyfriend, a thankless career in waitressing, and her BA in English going to waste, Mira James jumps at the chance for a fresh start in rural Battle Lake, Minnesota.

Right away she lands a job as a librarian, snags another as an on-call reporter for the weekly newspaper, and is swept off her feet by Jeff Wilson, a handsome archaeologist unearthing the town’s storied history. Moving here might be the best decision Mira’s ever made. Until she finds Jeff’s body between the library’s reference stacks. It seems Mira didn’t really know her drop-dead gorgeous new lover at all. But someone in Otter Tail County surely did.

Behind this quirky town’s polite exterior are decades-old grudges still unsettled, and murderous secrets best kept hidden. Whatever dangers are buried in Battle Lake’s past, now it’s Mira’s turn to start digging.

Book Review: Remember When by Nora Roberts/J. R. Robb

Remember When
Author: Nora Roberts/J. D. Robb
Series: In Death (Book 17.5)
Publication: Berkley (September 15, 2003)

Description: Featuring Lieutenant Eve Dallas, Remember When blends present-day romance and futuristic suspense in a thrilling two-part novel that combines the incomparable talents of two #1 New York Times bestselling authors: Nora Roberts and her alter ego J. D. Robb.

Antiques dealer Laine Tavish is an ordinary woman living an ordinary life. At least, that's what everyone in the small town of Angel's Gap, Maryland, thinks. They have no idea that she used to be Elaine O'Hara, the daughter of a notorious con man...

Laine's past catches up with her when one of Big Jack's associates turns up in her shop with a cryptic warning and is then run down in the street. Now the next target of a ruthless killer, Laine teams up with sexy PI Max Gannon to find out who's chasing her, and why. The answer lies in a hidden fortune that will change not only Laine's life, but also the lives of future generations—including New York City detective Lieutenant Eve Dallas.

In a future where crime meets cutting-edge technology, Eve is used to traveling in the shadowy corners outside the law. She will attempt to track down the treasure Laine and Max sought once and for all—and stop the danger and death that has surrounded it for decades...

My Thoughts: This two-part novel begins with a romantic suspense title and ends with a futuristic mystery. 

Laine Tavish is the owner of an antiques shop in rural Maine. She has a hidden life. Once she was the daughter of conman Jack O'Hara and taught by him how to do a wide variety of scams. However, after one too many broken promises, her mother divorced Big Jack and the two learned to live straight. But when an old colleague of her father's comes to see her and dies in a hit-and-run, Laine is pulled back into her father's world.

Max Gannon is a private investigator working for an insurance company and trying to track down a missing lot of diamonds worth several million dollars. Leads take him to Laine whom he suspects of working with her father and his colleagues to hide the diamonds. 

However, Laine is innocent but has now become the target of one of the conspirators who believes that all of the diamonds should be his and that it is a good plan to kill his "partners" in order to accomplish his goal. He believes that Laine knows where the diamonds are and is willing, even eager, to kill her to find them. 

Laine and Max fall in love while he's protecting her from the killer. The pair does manage to locate half the diamonds and, after capturing the villain, manage to find still another quarter of the haul. Leaving one-quarter in the wind.

Fast forward 50-some years to New York City in 2060 where granddaughter Samantha Gannon has written a best-selling novel about her grandparents and the diamond theft. When she returns home after a whirlwind author tour, she discovers the body of her friend and housesitter Andrea gruesomely murdered. Enter Homicide Detective Lieutenant Eve Dallas...

Apparently, someone has read the book and wants to find the lost quarter of the missing diamonds and thinks that Samantha either has them or knows where they are. Eve and her team including civilian consultant and husband Roarke are on the case and unravelling both the past and the present to bring the murderer to justice and maybe just find those last missing diamonds.

Both parts of the story were excellent. Roberts cut her teeth on writing romances and romantic suspense and all the parts work well. Laine and Max are great characters who just mesh. Neither was looking for love and both were hit upside the head with it. And the In Death portion of the story was also excellent. Eve and Roarke also have a timeless sort of love. And the mystery woven through both parts of the story was compelling too. 

For me the strength of the writing is in the relationships between the characters which is full of respect and love. Strong people finding each other is at the heart of the romances. Add in brains and the story is complete.

Favorite Quote:

Blood didn't tell. DNA didn't make us. We made ourselves, if we had any guts we made ourselves.

I bought this one recently as I was gathering all of the In Death novellas. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Beneath Dark Waters by Karen Rose

Beneath Dark Waters
Author: Karen Rose
Series: A New Orleans Novel (Book 2)
Publication: Berkley (August 15, 2023)

Description Deadly secrets lie beneath the murky waters of the Louisiana bayou in this pulse-pounding new romantic suspense novel from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen Rose.

There’s no safe place for a child to hide when danger comes from every direction.

Public prosecutor J.P. “Kaj” Cardozo has only lived in New Orleans for six months, and he’s already working on a high-profile celebrity sexual assault case that’s made headlines all over the country. But when his son becomes the target of a kidnapping attempt as a threat to Kaj, he is desperate to keep him safe and turns to a private investigative firm famous for their protection services.

A veteran Marine, Val Sorensen is glad to have found a new career with Broussard Investigations. Her latest assignment as the bodyguard to ten-year-old Elijah Cardozo reminds her why—Val is a kick ass guardian with a tender heart.  Through her duties, Val grows fond of the boy—and his handsome father.

But when the high-stakes investigation reveals an explosive network of crime through a revived drug gang, lingering deep-seated corruption in the NOPD, and a group of murderers-for-hire targeting Kaj, Elijah, and his star client, they’re all left scrambling for safety…

My Thoughts: This entertaining romantic suspense title is the second in the New Orleans series and introduces us to more people in Broussard Investigations. 

When Prosecutor Kaj Cardozo needs a bodyguard for his nearly kidnapped ten-year-old son Elijah, he goes to Broussard because he doesn't trust the New Orleans Police Department. Broussard assigns former Marine Val Sorenson to the case because she's good with kids and has a connection to the drug gang that was implicated in the attempted kidnapping.

Cardozo is working on two high profile cases. A man has beaten a doctor who specialized in childhood cancer to death because he blamed him for the death of his young son. The second case is that of a famous actress who has accused a film director of rape. It turns out that the cases have some connections that aren't obvious at first. 

This was a twisty tale told in part by one of the major villains of the story who is a real evil character. I enjoyed the relationships in the story. Val and Kaj are two damaged people who are healing and find each other along the way. He is dealing with the loss of his wife to cancer and raising a very bright and diabetic son. She is overcoming the trauma of being raped by three of her fellow Marines and then not letting the Marine Corps cover it up. 

Val is also dealing with the death of twin. Throughout this story, she learns more about her brother and learns that he wasn't the hero she thought he was which brings its own trauma to the situation. 

So much happens in the 592 pages of the story that it is impossible to even hit the high points. But the story has people displaying courage in horrible situations and it is the story of a found family that is growing up around Broussard Investigations. I enjoyed it.

Favorite Quote:

He shot her an incredulous look. "Mean to me? I'm six-four and two-thirty. It would be damn hard to be mean to me."

But abuse wasn't always delivered with fists. Sometimes it was a parent withdrawing so deeply after the death of a child that they forgot about their surviving children. Sometimes it was a sibling's betrayal.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.