The romance, the music, the fighting, and the hot, dirty sex continue! Dirty Pleasures by Meghan March

After the great ride that was Dirty Billionaire, I was a little concerned that March's sophomore entry into this series might come up lacking.  Silly me; part two moves our story along nicely.

Our heroine, Holly, has left her new husband, afraid that he doesn't realize how important her career is to her.  Creighton isn't happy about this turn of events and sets about retrieving his runaway bride.  In the course of reuniting - or not - we learn more about both partners, we see some bad things happen that turn out to be not so bad, and we realize that both of the main characters are experiencing some similar feelings about their situation. The writing is smooth and emotional, the sex is insanely hot, and both characters are well-drawn.

There's a but at the end of that last sentence.

I try very hard not to give away plot points, not to spoil stories, and not to ruin the book for anyone.  However, I feel the need to explain why I gave Dirty Pleasures four stars, when I wanted to give it five. So, without giving away too much, here you go:

There are tried and true tropes and tricks in every genre of writing, including romance. Some are great and really make the story better.  Things like  having your hero lose something that matters to them and have to fight to get it back. Sometimes a pregnancy scare can fit the bill, or an ex-lover showing up. There are, unfortunately, some little things that I dislike very much in writing. This book contains three of them.

     1.  I am not big on cliff-hanger endings. I knew going in that this book would have one, though, so that's not my biggest issue here. I also know that March will give me a fantastic climax to the story (much as Creighton does for Holly so often) and a satisfying, happy resolution to things. So I can live with the cliffie.

     2.  Miscommunication can work well in a story.  However, when the lack of understanding occurs because one character won't shut up and let the other offer an explanation, or when one assumes that what they think is what actually happened and won't listen to anything else... it makes me nuts. I realize I'm not explaining this well, but I think most of you know what I mean. Maybe you were late for dinner because you decided to have a go at the blonde in  your office, which is what your business rival told me, or maybe you just held up in traffic due to a 2 car accident; assuming my version is correct, and refusing to let you tell me what happened, and then blaming you when the relationship isn't working?  No. March employs this particular  ploy and in my opinion it detracted from the book.

     3.  Why is it that no character is ever honest about their feelings until it's too late, or almost too late?  I don't get it.  This is not March's fault as it's part of the plot, but it makes me want to tear my hair out!  I hate this particular trope and I wish she'd found a way to write this story without using it. That said, it's effective as heck.

None of which is a criticism of Meghan, because the woman is a fabulous writer.  I love her work. I'm just being honest here.

Read Dirty Pleasures.  It's a good story.  Don't let my own personal preferences deter you.  Holly is still head-strong (even pig-headed at times), as is Creighton. The pairing is fun, the naughty bits are very, very naughty, and the writing is excellent. Besides, you want to be ready when the conclusion to this series, Dirty Together, comes out!

Click to buy on Amazon:

A country singer walks into a bar ... Dirty Billionare, by Meghan March

Disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Here it is.

Do you like:

A rich, handsome, powerful man with a body to die for?

A smart, talented, strong woman who knows what's important to her?

Hot, sweaty, steamy, panty-melting sex scenes?

A little kink, a little alpha male?

A continuing story with lots of fun, romance, angst, and glitz?

Then get this book! Get it. I loved it.

Holly wants to be a country singer and she's entered into a deal that's supposed to help her get there. But the deal isn't working and she's coming out looking humiliated and sad, which isn't helping her career.

Creighton is a hot, sexy, uber-rich man who knows exactly what he wants. And right now, he wants Holly.

A Christmas Eve one night stand turns into a viral social media event and then into... who knows.

Creighton can't get enough of Holly, and Holly wants more and more of Creighton. The question, how much of each other can they take and still take care of their respective business? Can Creighton have Holly and remain emotionally unattached? Can Holly have Creighton and still climb to country stardom?

The plot is well developed, the characters are growing, and the sex is incendiary. What more do you need in the opening salvo of a romantic trilogy?

Bookish Bitch gives this book a 4 1/2-glasses-of-wine salute and recommends it highly! But then, we already know I love Meghan March, don't we!

The half a glass I didn't give? I have thing about cliffies. I knew it was a trilogy going in, and I knew there would be a cliff hanger, but it still leaves me a little . . . on edge. Still worth it, though. Click below to buy on Amazon.

Kendall Grey, and her art, ROCK!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:

KENDALL GREY IS THE BEST WRITER THAT YOU’RE NOT READING!

Let me put this in other words. Words that Kendall herself would probably choose:

Kendall Grey can write the fuck out of a book, and you need to be reading her goddamned art! THIS SHIT IS AMAZING!

Yes, I said ART.  Because Kendall’s motto is MAKE ART, NOT HOUSE PAYMENTS

And she does.

Yes, I am an unabashed and devoted Kendall Grey fan. I was from the moment I finished the first of her books that I ever read. It has nothing to do with her sense of humor, her determination and loyalty to her friends and fans, or even with the fact that one of her swag items at signing is personal lubricant; it’s all about the stories. And the fluid, emotional, scarring, affecting, deeply personal and truthful words she uses to tell them.

Kendall doesn’t just tell you a funny, raunchy, exciting story, she doesn’t just salt those stories with liberal doses of profanity, relationships, and sex; she tells you the motherfucking truth. You just have to be willing to see it.

I’m so serious. Kendall’s characters are over the top.  They’re free-thinkers, free lovers, and free-range crazies who are out to live their lives as they want, and in so doing, these folks are also out to teach you something.  Just because they might be wild, drunk, high, scared, murderous, and horny doesn’t mean they aren’t telling the truth.  These people gain insight, grow, and learn from their mistakes. Would that we all could do.

The stories that Kendall Grey creates are amazing. Rockers reaching for fame and fortune while remaining true to their art. Whale warriors and earth forces fighting planetary destruction (this is not as sci-fi as it sounds, actually). Family fighting for family, no matter what that means for them. And now, Ghosts.

Ghosts is a web serial.  It’s outfuckingstanding and I’ve never read anything like it. Every day, I RUSH to my computer to read the day’s installment. I die a little bit with Sarah, the main character, and I feel her pain, her fear, her determination. Post-apocalyptic, dystopian, post-modern, science fiction… nothing does it justice. This is a story of abuse. Of hunger and pain.  It’s a story of fear, stark-raving mad terror, and quiet, sobbing dread and apprehension. It’s about survival, and death, and murder. It’s about living every single, endless, pain-filled day of your life walking on the razor’s edge between life and death and not even knowing for sure if you’d notice the difference.

I really, truly wish everyone would read this serial.  Ghosts is kind of life-changing in a way. If a mom from Georgia can write something this freaking incredible, then there’s hope for all of us. If a normal (and having met Kendall, I use that term loosely) human who sews and cooks and packs lunches and takes walks with children and cleans house and a million other every day things, if that person can put this story down on paper, then maybe there’s a goddamned genius living inside all of us. Kendall grey gives me hope that someday I’ll write something even half as amazing as Ghosts or Rock or Nocturnes or any of her other books. She gives us all hope for a world where art matters more than money or social acceptance or accolades. She’s living that.

Ghosts is not an easy read. It’s dark, it’s full of bad things, and it can be a little gory at times (although not excessively so, imho).  It’s also built on string theory – the time frame moves around and it takes a few installments to get it all down and chronologically organized in your head, but it’s totally worth the minimal confusion in order to take this story in, feel it, and then think about it as you wait for the next episode.  I’m really being sincere here. I cannot believe how incredible this story is. Some days it makes me smile for hours, and some days it’s like a punch to the gut; not many authors can affect my emotions like Grey does. Just because it is sometimes scary, sometimes painful, sometimes bloody, doesn’t mean it isn’t great; it hurts good.

So, the giveaway.  You read the first ten installments of Ghosts.  You can find it on Kendall's website.  Go to our Facebook page tell me you’ve done so (the thread with this same post), and tag one or more friends who might be interested in reading something different and new. Share this post. Everyone who does this will be entered into a drawing for a $5 Amazon gift card, to be given away on Thanksgiving day. 

RULE:  There must be at least five entrants for the drawing to be held. The point of this is, after all, to get the word out to people about a fantastic writer, and five entrants means at least five people tagged, which helps my cause, so there you go.

Please be advised that Facebook, BlogSpot, God, Hera, Odin and Freya, Krishna, Buddha, nor any other social media site or cultural deities are responsible for this giveaway.  It’s entirely my doing. Although I may consult Beelzebub, my neighbor’s Yorkie, for advice at some point; he’s never steered me wrong.

Go read Ghosts.  Discover Kendall Grey’s writing. Check out her book on Amazon.com and other sites. I can’t imagine that anyone wouldn’t become as devoted and fawning and adoring (and obnoxious) as I am. 

This woman, and her art, ROCKS!

 CLICK ON THE PIC TO GO TO KENDALL'S WEBSITE

Thirty-five and a Half Conspiracies, by Denise Grover Swank

Denise Grover Swank has done it again! Created a romantic, thrilling, scary, exciting, funny, twisty-turny mystery featuring Rose Gardner, Arkansas' answer to Miss Marple.

To avoid spoilers, even the smallest one, I'll just say that this book is everything you've come to expect from a Rose Gardner mystery, and from Swank, and more. Swank's writing gets better every outing and this is a case in point.

This series is fresh, different, and loads of fun. There's love, hate, fear, passion, joy, happiness, sorrow, and even a little envy in here. There's a little dog, a sad friend, a loyal protector, a mysterious sister, and evil b*tch, and a lawyer who knows exactly which side of the law his clients walk upon.

The upshot of this series, I think, is that we all have to grow and change to live and love successfully. Sometimes, we find lifelong friends and partners along the way, people who make us more than we are alone, and sometimes we find people who are only moments in our lives and not meant to be there forever. Facing adversity makes you stronger and really can't be avoided anyway, so you have to take the bull by the horns. Sometimes, we find that those we love have committed sins and that, no matter how much we love them, we can't get past those. This series of books is a woman's journey and in addition to being fun, exciting, and a little (occasionally a lot) sad, it's also got some deeper truths to be mined and paid attention to. We are all works in progress.

Thirty-Five seems to be approaching some sort of climax and a culmination of the things that have come before. Not that I expect Swank will end the series any time soon, but just that many questions our protagonists have had will soon be answered and there will be some sort of wrap up of a major story line. I say this with great hope of finding out just what the heck is going on, as well as for seeing where the author takes our heroine next. I cannot wait for the next installment to come in May.

I want to point out that I read this book is about five hours all told, and that the denouement, several pages long, had my heart pounding and my palms sweating. I am not lying.

If you have not read Twenty-eight and a Half Wishes, or the other six books in this series, you'll want to do that first, but I promise you it's worth it. Denise Grover Swank never fails to satisfy her readers. Click on the pic to get it.

A Match Made in Paranormal Heaven! (Recombinant by Denise Grover Swank and Shannon Mayer)

The minute I heard that Shannon Mayer (one of my favorite urban fantasy writers of all time) and Denise Grover Swank (a favorite of mine, as well) were teaming up to write a book, I got all excited and giddy.  It had to be good, right?  I mean, these two on their own are amazing writers and successful authors, so I figured the Blood Borne Series was certain to be worthwhile.

Turns out I was right.

Rachel is a reporter who stumbles across a huge story that involves murder, vampires, military experiments, corrupt government, danger, and Lea.

Lea is a vampire and a cazador.  A  hunter. She hunts her own kind, determined to eradicate the vampire virus from the earth.

Together, Lea and Rachel take on a vast conspiracy and some very nasty people and creatures in order to get to the bottom of things. There's action, adventure, violence, a little blood, love and pain, and everything else that makes for a great story.

All books have things in them that someone here or there won't enjoy, and this book had one of those for me. I'm not going to say what, because you might like it and I don't want to influence your opinion of this book. Suffice it to say that the story was compelling enough, and the writing engaging enough, that my dislike of one aspect didn't convince me to put the book down. I read this book in a total of about four hours and loved it overall.

The most notable thing about this book is that the shift between writers and characters is flawless. You absolutely cannot tell which woman is penning a particular segment.  So often, when a book has more than one writer, the shifts between authors can be distracting, or even detrimental to the story. Not so here. It's almost as if Mayer and Swank are the same person, but  . . . wait!  I have never seen them in a room together!  Could it be? No, of course not.  But really, the writing here is smooth, intense, appealing, and utterly seamless.  Swank and Mayer pull this off like they've been writing together for decades.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable story, featuring a couple of tough, strong, intelligent, resourceful, heroic women. They don't need rescuing, they do the rescuing. Gotta love the girl power!

The Bookish Bitch gives this book 5 bottles of Happy Bitch wine:

And one bottle of Jealous Bitch.  Because I wish I'd written this.  It's that good.

Click on the picture of the book to order this on Amazon, starting Tuesday, October 27.

Beneath These Chains, by Meghan March

Meghan March is a talent to be reckoned with. And watched. Because this woman is going to on the NYT and USA Today lists very soon. Trust me on this. (You can click on this very hot teaser to buy Beneath These Chains right now!)

I don't do plot recaps and I don't do spoilers, but I do gushing, fawning, love. Which is what I have for Lord and Elle. Each has their own issues, and each is looking for something special. They come together and it's inevitable.

Well, it's inevitable except for Elle's fear of being controlled, which leads her to limit her encounters to one night stands. Also inevitable except for Lord's past as a one night stand guy, himself. Inevitable but for Lord's belief that by having anything but a relationship with Elle, he might cause trouble for his brother and Vanessa, who happens to be Elle's BFF. And it's all inevitable if not for Elle's horrible family. And the murders.

What I really, truly, deeply love about Meghan March is that when she tells a story, it's not the tried-and-true boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back, girl loses boy, they reconcile, fight the evil, and live happily ever after. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I have enough stress in my life without worrying about fictional characters! March, on the other hand, takes two unlikely people, puts them together, and then pits them against the conflict *together*. There's no yo-yo relationship. They use their new found relationship to learn to be together, and whatever problems come against them are not from each other, but from outside forces. By pushing her characters to fight for one another, together, she creates believable, understable romances. She also creates really steamy, sexy, well-written love scenes.

CAUTION: March's stories are addictive and you may find yourself thinking about Con, or Lord, or one of her other heroes while, you're supposed to be working or cleaning house or whatever. You might realize that you've read one of the Beneath stories 20 times and you're considering going back for number twenty one. You might even decide you can live without that morning latte, and spend the money on Meghan March books to hand out to your friends! You've been warned.

Overall, a good read, a good story, a satisfying romance, hot smut, multiple orgasms, one sexy, tatted, pierced badass of a hero, a girl who has the same fears and insecurities as the rest of us, and true love. Relatable, enjoyable, and totally drool-worthy. All of them are, really.  Click on the pics to buy on Amazon.

           

Skip to the Good Part, Volume 4 - Various Authors

On March 16, 2015, we get Skip to the Good Part, Volume 4. Twenty smokin' hot excerpts from 20 romance novels written by authors you know and authors you'll be glad you found here.

These scenes are melt-your-panties, set the fire alarms off hot and they come from the likes of Emma Hart, Chelle Bliss, Melissa Foster, Lili St. Germain, and more. NYT best sellers, USA Today best sellers, and up and coming writers whose names you'll want to remember.

Get it quick, because it's only out for a limited time, too. And if you haven't read the first three?  Well, they're still available, too.

Amazon: http://smarturl.it/sttgp4am?IQid=.GW
iBooks: http://smarturl.it/sttgp4ap?IQid=.GW
Kobo: http://smarturl.it/sttgp4ko?IQid=.GW

The Phoenix Candidate by Heidi Joy Tretheway

If you're looking for something new and different in the adult romance genre, this book is it. Full of strong women, powerful men, politics, subterfuge, deception, current issues, sexism, flowers, kayaking, hot sex, and a burgeoning love story; Grace Colton's story has a lot for you to enjoy. 

Having suffered the loss of her husband and her only child five years ago in a moment of horrific violence, Grace enters the world of politics to make change in the world. She's not a big name, and her state isn't one with a lot of clout or controversy, but Grace is determined to make America safer, better place.

A casual night out results in a one-night stand for Grace and a sexy stranger. What transpires from that point on is a wild political ride that will leave you wanting the rest of the story. I try not to give away plot in my reviews, but suffice it to say that Grace and Jared both need to learn that the past doesn't have to keep you from having a future, and that love may not always come along at the best time, but it always comes along at the right time. They also need to learn not to make out under street lamps!

The writing here is top-notch. Heidi Joy Tretheway is also the author of the Tattoo Thief romance series, which I've also reviewed, and every book she publishes is better than the last. All of her stories are well-plotted, believable, romantic, and realistic, and she's always written well, but she gets sharper and better with every outing. Her humor and her ability to amp up the intrigue are huge in making this story not just good, but interesting and absorbing. You really won't regret reading this.

Grace Colton is Tretheway's newest, best, strongest heroine. Jared Rankin is one of the sexiest, most complex men she's created. The political story is well thought out and researched, and Grace's backstory is true-to-life. Oh, and so is the smoking hot sex!

This is a serialized story right now, so there's more to come beyond this first installment. It's something to look forward to, because I think this is the beginning of a really great political story as well as a terrific love story. Which means you need to get this installment, and then you need to be ready to get all the rest of this story as it's released.

Click on the picture, above, to buy part 1.

Love Notes by Kendall Grey: The Hard Rock Harlots Ride Again

I love the Hard Rock Harlots series. I love the attitude, I love the foul mouths and hot sex, I love the characters, and I love the stories. This novella did not disappoint.

Kendall Grey has created an over-the-top, insane group of young, hot, horny rockers who, in the end, are just like everyone else; they're just a little more honest about who they are than the guy you meet in line at the grocery store.

This little peek into one of my favorite series features Jinx and Toombs, alternately known as Gianna and Jeff (when they're alone) who love one another intensely, but who are learning that love isn't all that matters and, while sex and love are not the same things, sex is important, too. A holiday getaway begins their journey toward resolving some issues standing in the way of making this relationship - important to both of them - work. We also get a teaser that this is not the last we've heard on the subject.

I'm not going to get into detail here. If you've read the other three books in this series, you know what to expect. If you haven't, you should. Before you read this, actually, because there's reference to older stuff in here.

Kendall Grey gets it. She is not of the generation that refused to accept change. She understands what it is about rock and roll that frees us, she understands what it is to write a song or give a performance that lays your heart and soul out on the stage for the world to see. She recognizes that sex for the sake of sex is as valid a concept as love and marriage and that these are not diametrically opposed positions. She can take filthy language, kinky sex, deep love, and familial angst and put it all together in a way that makes you feel, makes you laugh and then cry and then breathe. Heavily. Kendall Grey writes the truth and throws in the love, the sex, the conflict, and the music to provide the context for what she's trying to tell you. You ought to give a try at listening to her.

This novella is definitely worth the 99 cents. It's also worth the price of the first three books, Strings, Beats, and Nocturnes, to get into this world and fall in love with Grey's wild rock stars and their romantic escapades.

WARNING: Reasons to NOT read this story:

1. You are opposed to hot, nasty, kinky sex between unmarried people just for the sake of having a good time.
2. You are currently living in a morally repressive and misogynist theocracy where owning such literature would be punishable by death, dismemberment, or stoning.
3. You tend to faint at the liberal dropping of the F-bomb.
4. You don't believe that the female orgasm, the G-spot, or subspace are real.
5. You are a pearl-clutching, poodle-permed, blue-rinsed, granny-panty wearing biddy who will have conniptions over this stuff.
6. You're a judgmental, chauvinistic, moralistic, self-impressed moron who fails to understand the very truth of what Grey is trying to tell us: That we all need to be loved, and we want to be loved just as we are.

If you don't fall into one of those categories, get this book.

I realize this is a lot of rhapsodizing over a pretty short story, but that ought to tell you something. So jam your inhibitions, your purity ring, and your moral compass down the garbage disposal and let 'em grind while you read the best rocker romance series ever.

Amazon US: http://bit.ly/JinxNToombs
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00QU30I7Q
Amazon Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00QU30I7Q
Amazon Australia: http://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B00QU30I7Q
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/love-notes/id949960896…
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/love-notes-17

Thirty-Three and a Half Shenanigans, by Denise Grover Swank

The latest entry in Swank's Rose Gardner Mysteries is a winner! A great, fun read with lots of mystery and heart, and plenty of action and intrigue, this story is a great continuation or a great series. While nothing is perfect, this book is more than worth the price and the time, especially if you're as hooked on this series as I am.

Let's start by saying that if you've never read any of the Rose Gardner mysteries, you should definitely take advantage of the current sales of the previous books in this series and start from the beginning, Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes. Because there's a lot of background that will delight and entertain you as you work your way through to this story. Now....

Rose Gardner is the sweetest, strongest, most entertaining southern girl you'd ever want to meet. The people who matter to her are a wonderful collection of funny, sad, warm, helpless, strong, intelligent friends and enemies; together, they fill this story with terrific interaction with our heroine, great lines of dialogue, and an exciting trip from start to finish.

The main story here is that Rose and her BFF, Neely Kate, are looking for Neely Kate's missing cousin. Joe Simmons and Mason Devereaux are working on a secret project that involves both their jobs in law enforcement. The two investigations dovetail and wind up in a conflagration at a strip club in one of Swank's typically tense, chaotic climaxes. Skeeter Malcolm, Fenton County's newest King of the Underworld, is here, too, and he's right in the thick of everything, making threats, providing information, and protecting Rose from all kinds of mayhem while at the same time creating plenty of mayhem of his own.

Hilary, Joe's ex-girlfriend who claims to be carrying his baby (I have my doubts about that) is here to create just a tiny bit of hate and discontent for Rose. She's moved to Henryetta and is still plotting to get Joe on a permanent basis, which is what she pretty much always does. Hils, girl! He's just not that into you!

Violet, Rose's sister, is paying the consequences for her betrayal of Rose and, while they're working on their relationship, things are not what they should be. It's still not clear to me that Violet truly, deeply understands the horrible things she's done to her sister in the past couple of books. Rose is right to take things slowly and carefully.

Neely Kate, pregnant and learning to cook, has a much bigger part in this story than she has in past outings, and she's a delight. She knows everything about every person they come across, it seems, and her juicy little tidbits of information are loads of fun, not to mention helpful to Rose in figuring things out.

Mason's mother, Maeve, has moved to town and set up housekeeping. She's there for Rose a lot, as she does some of the heavy lifting in her son's relationship by providing Rose companionship and insight while he's off doing his "very important job" as assistant DA of Fenton County.

Rose has divided her nursery business and brought in Joe and Bruce Wayne - former pot head slacker turned landscape gardener - as partners and is getting ready to re-open after a disastrous Thanksgiving vandalism.

And we meet Abbie Lee, a deputy sheriff who's burning a torch for Mason. One she'd seemingly like to use to light rose up and cook her to a crisp so as to have a path straight to Mason's heart. Given Rose's consecutive relationships with Joe - a former State Police detective and now Fenton County's Chief Deputy - and Mason, the county's ADA, Abbie has decided that our girl is a "badge bunny," a police groupie, and therefore unworthy of Mr. Devereaux.

The action is engaging and the story is well plotted. The writing, as always, is very good. Swank gets better with every outing and her writing gets tighter and more involving every time she publishes. As prolific as she is, it's amazing that she has time to also improve her work, but she does. I'm never disappointed in a book by Denise Grover Swank, and, as in this case, I'm often surprised at how incredibly good she is. I love this series, and pretty much everything else this talented woman writes.

As I said, nothing is perfect. I have some small complaints. For instance, Rose never mentions her dog, Muffy, without using the phrase "my little dog." After about the 15th time, I kind of wanted to scream that I KNOW THE DOG IS SMALL! Overused words and phrases tend to stand out and get on my nerves. A quibble, I know. Not really worth the mention, but I did it anyway.

Another complaint is that Rose is very big on being independent, taking care of things herself, and being her own person. Laudable, to be sure. But the minute she lands herself in hot water with the law, the first thing she does is calls Joe or Mason to fix things. You can't have it both ways, girl, but again, a small issue.

My biggest complaint about this book is that nothing happens. Not a thing in the overall, start to finish story that this series is telling is addressed. We don't move forward with Hilary's campaign to get Joe and demolish Rose. Nothing happens with Joe and Maeve, Mason's mother; in the novella that precedes this book, they began a friendship that just lays there doing nothing in this book. There's nothing that happens with Violet and Mike, who are divorced but might be working on that. There is no movement with Bruce Wayne, really. We don't even hear from Miss Mildred, Heidi Joy, or Jonah. How do you go to Henryetta and not even peek in at Miss Mildred?

Mason and Rose keep yammering on about how much they love one another, but that relationship really doesn't evolve in this story. There's lots of lip service to it, and there are some life-threatening events that occur and cause much love-pledging and such, but nothing really happens to convince me that these two belong together. (Yes, I'm a fan of Joe/Rose and hope against all hope that they are end game, but that's not my point at all.) Every time Rose tells someone, or the reader, how much she loves Mason, or any time she points out to Joe (for the thousandth time) that she's with Mason now, it sounds to me like she's trying to convince someone of that. Whether it's the audience or herself is what I'm not sure of. Had Joe's father not intervened, Joe and Rose might, and probably would, still be together and at no point has Rose or Mason or Joe or anyone else brought that up. Which reminds me of another thing that doesn't happen.

There is some suspicion on Rose's part that certain events in this book are the doings of Joe's father, a rich, controlling, manipulative megalomaniac who's out to put his son into the White House at all costs. But only Rose seems to see his hand in some of the events in this book. The men in her life - both law-school graduates and experienced investigators who are bright enough to go head to head with her - are oblivious? Really?

Ultimately, while this is a fun outing, an entertaining story, and a pretty good demonstration of Swank's writing chops, and while it's a peek into the always delightful world of Henryetta, Arkansas, there's one main thing it's not. It's absolutely not forward movement. It definitely IS a clear set up for the next installment of the series, and it's certainly a good read, and that's really all it needs to be. Thirty-Three and a Half Shenanigans was just vaguely unsatisfying for a fan of the series, which I am, but that's not to say I didn't like it. Because I really did. I just wish there had been more momentum on the whole.