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.

The Curse Defiers: Book 3 in the Curse Breakers Series, by Denise Grover Swank

Let me start by saying that this is my favorite book in the series.  As the clues come together and the curses, prophecies, and secrets all point in the same direction, I finally understand what the heck is going on here!

First of all, Denise Grover Swank gets better with every book she writes (which, when you consider how many books she publishes each year is pretty impressive!) and this entry is proof of that. While I liked the first book, The Curse Keepers, and I liked the second book, The Curse Breakers, I really enjoyed the heck out of this book.

Our heroine, Ellie, is finally - FINALLY! - learning not to go off half-cocked. Well, okay, there are a couple of exceptions here, but at last Ellie is making sensible choices. One of my complaints about the first part of this series that Elinor Dare Lancaster wasn't the intelligent, sensible woman she should be in this mess. She always wanted us to think she was, and finally we can start to count on her acting like it.  Yay! I just really enjoyed that she started listening to people rather than to her own doubts, fears, and insecurities.

David, Ellie's lover and historical expert, is along for the ride and their relationship matures here.  David is pivotal to Ellie's understanding of the situations she finds herself in, and he's immensely helpful in unraveling some of the mysteries that present themselves.

Collin shows up and grows up.  I don't want to give too much away here, but Collin and Ellie's best friend Claire take on expanded, vital, more supportive roles than they have in the past.  It's refreshing.

If I had to find a quibble with this series, I'd say that it's often difficult for me to keep the supernatural players (gods, demons, various spirits and evil-doers) straight.  There are a lot of them.  I also find it distracting when presented with names that are difficult to pronounce and no pronunciation is given.  At some point, it would have been nice if someone had mispronounced Mishiginebig and been corrected so I wouldn't have stopped every time s/he is mentioned to try to decide how to say it. But, that may just be me. Please note, though, that these are very small bits of a big and very enjoyable saga, though, and not worth worrying about.

The writing here is, as usual, very good. Swank can string a sentence or two together with the best of them. She can also create a real mystery that is creepy, compelling, and truly intriguing.  Add to that a good romance, some romantic angst and regret, and answers to most of the questions you've had reading this series, and what you've got is a satisfying read that, if you're anything like me, you'll finish off in short order.

Basically, we're here to finally resolve the titular curse, and to answer the questions of what Ellie's and Collin's powers and heritage mean.  And we do.  Mostly. Swank has clearly kept the door open for epilogues of some sort, and I'm looking forward to whatever happens next.

The Curse Defiers 

comes out on September 30, 2014

Pre-Order now!

Revenge Bound - Heidi Joy Tretheway

Third in a four book series centered on the band Tattoo Thief.  Book one centers on Gavin and Beryl.  Book two, Tyler and Stella, deals with, well, you know.  This book can stand alone, but reading the series in order is a good idea anyway; you have more "insider knowledge" that way.

I love Heidi Joy Tretheway, I love the Tattoo Thief series, and I love Jayce McKittrick. I don't care if he's fictional, I want a Jayce of my own.

As I've said of Tretheway before (when reviewing Stella and Tyler's story), her writing gets better and better and better. Every outing is better than the last. This book is so well-written, and so well put together, and clearly so well researched (about revenge porn, among other things) that you just can't find anything to quibble with.

Jayce is a hot rock star with a sense of humor and need for control. He's also quite the stereotypical man whore, dragging a trail of groupies and easy one-night stands wherever he goes. He's happy with his no-strings attached, let's all have fun and then move on policy, until he meets Violet. She's different and she's special, and he knows it from the word go.

Violet is a teacher, an artist, and a photographer. She's been hurt, she doesn't trust easily, and she's trying to make a life for herself after a really bad relationship ends. To add to her problems, she starts getting very dirty, very scary texts which lead her to discover that there are naked pictures of her posted on the internet. Photos that were never supposed to see the light of day.

Revenge porn is a real thing, people.  This book, in addition to being fun, and full of love, romance, and some sizzling sex to boot, is a cautionary tale: what you put on the internet stays on the internet.  Forever.  For. Ev.  Er.

I'm not telling you anything more about the plot, other than to say that it's worth the trip. Read this book! Violet and Jayce are real people and they have a story to tell. It's a cautionary one about how bad things happen to good people. It's a hopeful one, about how making changes can and does happen. And it's a love story. Of course it is. Tretheway writes some of the best love stories you're ever going to run across.

I enjoyed this book immensely. The dialogue is real, and relateable, and a lot of it stuff I've heard come out of my own mouth. Jayce is a lot more than just a rock star, just a hottie, just a womanizer. He's a real guy with big decisions to make, big concerns to address, and a big case of lust for the beautiful red-haired woman whom chance tosses into his life.

Please do yourself a favor and read Revenge Bound. Because it's worth it to see two scared, reticent people make their way to one another, and because the things that are there to be overcome only make the story more compelling. But mostly, read this book because Heidi Joy Tretheway is a really terrific writer, with a real voice, who deserves your attention. Romance is not as easy to write as so many seem to think; Tretheway, however, certainly makes it seem like it is!

As always, click on the pic to buy the book.  You won't regret it!

Have you read any of these?

I've been a little busy and have gotten a bit behind on my summer reading.  I have many books to review, but no time right now.  Not to give the kind of attention I want to. So, I'm posting this list.  You should check out the books on it and let me know what you thought of them.  Maybe write a review in the comments.  These are books I've finished, or am starting on, and that I feel good recommending to you.  Enjoy them, and let me know your opinion on them.

1. Hot Blooded, by Kendall Grey  Grey is always outrageous yet relateable, and she always takes you on a ride you won't soon forget.  Book one in the Ohana series (ohana means family in Hawaiian) will take you an a typically Grey-esque adventure. If you've ever read Grey's Hard Rock Harlots series, you know how wild this is going to be!

2. The Call series by Emma Hart   On sale, 99 cents for two books and a novella, the complete set.

3. Hudson, by Laurelin Paige     Free with Kindle Unlimited, but worth the price anyway.  Epilogue/supplement to the Fixed Trilogy, which was totally enjoyable.  TOTALLY, people!

4. Slade: Walk of Shame #1  By Victoria Ashley     Hot, sweaty, steamy, dirty, sexy fun!  I loved the whole thing, just because it was so ... whoa!  99 cents, folks!  Trust me, just the physical description of Slade will have you drooling.

5.Beauty and the Badge, by Inez Kelly.  Fun, cute, romantic, sexy... and he comes with his own handcuffs!  Oh, and only 99 cents!  What's not to love?

6. The Bastard, also by Inez Kelly.  This woman had a really unique idea, created a great mythology, and then scored with a fabulous, hot and sweet romance.  This is book one in the series The Baddest Boys in History, and I am anxiously awaiting the next installment.

7. Cover Me, by Carrie Elliott.  Very sweet.  Very involving, really. I enjoyed this story quite a bit.  The lead characters are just so darned adorable together!   Free with Kindle Unlimited, and not real hard on the wallet without it.

8. Frigid, by Jennifer Armentrout (writing as J. Lynn)  Best friends since childhood, snowed in at a ski resort, discovering their love for one another?  AWESOME!

9. Playing for Keeps, by R. L. Mathewson  Fun little series of sweet romances.  I enjoyed the silliness in here, for instance, a food obsession that just makes me laugh.  The stories are nice and the writing is good.  Can't ask for much more in a summer read, and there are FOUR of them to keep you happily reading for a while.

10.  The King, by J.R. Ward.  Continuing the Black Dagger Brotherhood along in the style and excitement we've come to love. The King also kind of brings us full circle in the story of Wrath and Beth. I mean, we've all got our favorite Brother, right?

Quick read:  Alex, by Shannon Mayer.  A brief novella, and free with Kindle Unlimited or 99 cents without, that gives you a new insight into the werewolf in the Rylee Adamson series.  Also, a small hint of things to come?

So, what are you reading this summer that I haven't?  Let me know and I'll check it out.

OUT TODAY: Hudson, book 4 in the Fixed series, by Laurelin Paige

It came out today.  I'm reading it now.  It's awesome.  

Currently on sale at Amazon for $3.99, and worth every penny.  If you haven't read Fixed on You, Found in You, and Forever With You, read them first.  You will not regret it, trust me.  And as soon as I've finished Hudson's story, I'll post a review.  If you finish before I do, I'll post yours, too.

Click on the picture above to buy the Kindle book.

UnDeniable, by Madeline Sheehan

!!!HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT!!!

The premise: Eva falls in love with a much older, relatively inappropriate man, Deuce, when she's very young. Can they make it work when they both get older?

The execution: DAMNED NEAR FLAWLESS!!!!! This woman can write like nobody's business. And she's got an ear for dialogue, an eye for detail, and an unflinching grasp of reality.

These are not sanitized, good-guy bikers who only commit "victimless" crimes, like we so often find. These guys are down and dirty, hard criminals. There's murder, drugs, weapons, womanizing, infidelity, abuse, all kinds of nasty stuff. There's also a lot of heart and love in these men and their women.

The largely accurate depiction of the lifestyle here? Works for the story. Women are accessories, and wives need to say out of the way. They are honored publicly, humiliated and ignored in private. All women are objects for sexual gratification and servitude and that's it. If you're a modern woman, you're gonna get pissed reading this book. But that's cool. It's worth it not to be deluded by a bunch of romantic nonsense when reading something this gritty and heartfelt.

We also get a really good idea of what the biker life is all about. It's not just the open road and bugs in your teeth, it's cops and drugs and weapons and running and hiding and fighting and killing and dying.  And loving, and marrying, and having sex, and making love, and raising kids.  It's real, it's dirty, it's hard, and it's not some cleaned-up, romanticized trope.

Deuce is a bad guy. Frankie is a bad guy. Preacher is a bad guy. They're ALL bad guys, and they all love Eva in different ways. She's the biker princess and she's tough and strong, but wants to love. And be loved. By Deuce. Even if he is 18 years older than her. And married. And a bad guy.

I am not going any further with the storyline; I want you to stumble along and be as shocked and horrified, and pleased and surprised and happy and sad and bereft and tearful as I was. It's the fun of reading a book this good. This great, really.

Sheehan is an excellent writer and she pulls at your emotions like a pro. Go with it. The payoff is immense.

WARNING: There is bad stuff here. Drug use, shootings, murders, adultery, gore, torture, all kinds of things. I love it. I want real people, not some Polly Perfect and William her yuppie boyfriend; yes, I read the modern-day romance fairy tale now and again, but this is better. If you're looking for rose-colored glasses and rainbows and unicorns, go read something else. If you want a really good story, a very realistic story, about love and acceptance and fighting for what you neeeeeeeed in your life, this is the one. If you want the HEA? Well, it's there. Just remember that you and Eva may have different ideas of what that means.

I am now, officially, a Madeline Sheehan fan and I will be reading this entire series plus everything else I can get my hands on. I really think that, if you're a grown up who likes grown-up love stories, you should too.

Click on the pic to buy the book.

Thirty-two and a Half Complications, by Denise Grover Swank

Really, that about covers it.  

But, since we've waited a while for this installment in the Rose Gardner Mysteries, it probably deserves more hyperbole than that.  Although it's hard to go overboard when a book is this good.

I loved this book.  Until I hated it. Then I loved it again.  Really, though:

YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK NOW!!!!!!!

The book starts about a week or two after Thirty-one and a Half Regrets leaves off.  Mason and Rose are living together in the farmhouse Rose's birth mother left her, Joe is ... around, and Rose's sister Violet is busy, um, being Violet. Which does not turn out well.  Everyone else is here, too; Jonah the preacher, Rose's landscaping employee Bruce Wayne, Neely Kate, Miss Mildred, and, of course, Rose's dog, Muffy.  Mason's mother even makes an appearance!  

Poor Rose. She just falls into trouble like a Slinky tumbling down a staircase.  She doesn't do anything to make it happen, she's just always in the wrong place at the wrong time. This time, it's a bank robbery.  She's been paid in cash for a large job, and Violet has forgotten to make the bank deposit, so Rose does it. Except before she can hand her money over to the teller, the bank gets taken off, Rose annoys one of the robbers, and the local constabulary just makes it all worse by being... themselves. It's all downhill from there, as Rose then discovers a dead body, makes a deal with the devil, narrowly evades arrest, and tries to host her first Thanksgiving in her new home.  All while seeing visions and throwing up.  

The thing is, these people are people you know. Rose is your friend, the girl you went to school with and chat with in line at the bank, and you know you'd sit down and drink sweet tea with the girl.  Ms. Swank's characters are three-dimensional and conflicted and human and real and when you read a Rose Gardner book, you feel like you've been taken to visit Henryetta, Georgia.  The conversations, the idioms, the characterizations, even the weather, are purely perfect.  Denise has these people and places down pat, but she's not letting them stagnate.  No sir-ree bob cat tail! (Trust me, they say stuff like that.)  It's nice to stop in and visit, though, and see what's going on.

Well, Joe's still around.  He's living in Henryetta, determined to win Rose back from Mason, although the tack he takes seems a little counterproductive.  Can't blame the guy, though; he's still got his father and Hilary to contend with, and now it seems as if Violet wants into the mix.

You know I don't do spoilers, but suffice it to say that financial necessity takes our Rose down a lot of paths she might never have trod otherwise.  She becomes involved with a guy named Skeeter who is... fun.  A criminal, and a little scary, but fun.  He and Rose are a delight to watch in this book.

Ultimately, Rose solves the crime (was there every any doubt?) and things settle down.  A bit.  For a few minutes.  We are left with some cliffhangers, which makes sense since there are least three more novels, and a novella, planned for this series.  Possibly more.  It also makes sense because, just like in my life or yours, Rose's life doesn't ever settle down all the way, with every t crossed and i dotted.  Just as in reality, Rose's life is messy and complicated and never easy. Isn't that why we love her?

There are issues, of course.  At least, for me.  I love Joe Simmons. I can relate to Joe Simmons.  I am #TeamJoe all the way.  And he really gets the dirty end of the stick in this book.  I have no idea where Swank is going with the triangle she's crafted in this series, but if you want to keep both men as viable options, you don't accuse one of pretty much everything bad including tearing the wings off flies and kicking puppies.  And that one kiss?  (You'll know the one I mean when you read.)  Joe is a lot of things, but he's not that.  And Mason?  You'd think the guy could walk on water while simultaneously feeding the hungry and saving the whales.  Most of the time Swank's characterizations are excellent, but the gap between our two male protagonists is widening and that's not conducive to romantic tension.  Or to my happiness, really, although I'm fairly certain that doesn't factor into Swank's writing.

On the up side... she didn't go there. Again, no spoilers, but there is a trite, common, teeth-grindingly cheeesy plot trick that a lot of lesser authors use to create resolution or tension or whatever. Swank uses that little trope carefully, sparingly, and in the end, well, it's all sleight of hand.  Yay for that, Denise.  I knew you wouldn't take the easy way out.

This is a great book, worthy of the series, and worth every second you spend with it.  I spent 14,400 of them with this one. That's 4 hours, for those of you who can't find your calculators.  And that should tell you something right there; I read this book in FOUR HOURS!!!!  

I cannot recommend this book, or the Rose Gardner Mystery series highly enough. I have convinced many people to start reading these and now they are as hooked as I am.  If you are already a fan of Denise and/or Rose Gardner, this book is going to make you happy, sad, furious, afraid, tense, and ultimately gratified for the glimpse into your favorite fictional southern town.  If you're not already strung out on Swank and her fabulous series, get the whole lot of them, take a week off work, and read them. You won't be sorry.  Heck, the first one's free!  You like free books, right? Of course right. 

Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes

Twenty-Nine and a Half Reasons

Thirty and a Half Excuses

Thirty-One and a Half Regrets

And, the newest entry on the life and times  of Rose Gardner and her little dog Muffy, too:

Over all, a very rewarding read.