Review: "Chasing Trouble" by Anne Stuart

Chasing Trouble by Anne Stuart

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I can always count on Anne Stuart for a good read, and I'm glad to say that this book was another winner. It was written as a clear hommage to noir movies, from the heroine Sally's fascination with Bogart, Bacall, Sam Spade and Raymond Chandler to the cynical lines uttered by the jaded hero P.I. Diamond. Gotta love that! :)

Diamond smoked too much, drank too much and lived a life-style that was as foreign as it was romantic, but he was so charming doing it that I couldn't help falling for him. Obviously, it was only a matter of time before he changed his ways due to Sally's "nagging", and it was fun to watch him trying to fight that lost battle.

Sally was kind of ditzy, prone to lying and, let's say it, acted TSTL at times, but I ended up loving her anyway. Probably because she drove Diamond nuts, making room for a lot of funny banter between them. Bottom line, Diamond and Sally's interaction was what made this story work for me.

The plot was a bit convoluted, with a few twists thrown here and there, but it was in sync with the film noir setting so I'm guessing that was planned and not a result of "bad writing". As for the ending, the final showdown with the bad guys wasn't as thrilling as I had expected it to be, but Ms. Stuart made up for it later with Diamond's delightful proposal:

"James," she said in a broken little voice. "You really do love me, don't you?"
He'd almost reached her. "I thought you'd already figured that out. Who else could make me give up cigarettes and hooch?"
"You said you wouldn't love me till 1999."
...
"I'm a quick learner. So what's it gonna be, doll? Marriage to a shamus like me, or a life full of empty pleasures? Name your poison."
"Diamond," she said happily, "I'm yours."

And so am I, honey!



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Review: "Catch Me If You Can" by Nina Bruhns

Catch Me If You Can by Nina Bruhns

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This was Nina Bruhns's first release and, wow, what a way to start her career! This was actually my second read by her - my first was Top-Secret Bride, which I really liked and prompted me to track her backlist - and it may be too soon to say it, but I think I've become a fan.

Katherine "Kit" Colfax is an insurance investigator whose job is on the line because her company is in the process of downsizing its personnel and only the most "lucrative" employees will be kept in the end. Kit has an almost perfect performance history when it comes to solving her cases, but she has some expensive ways of doing it and her boss is being pressured to let her go because of that. So he gives her one last case to redeem herself: either she brings down Remi Beaulieux, a jewel thief who's been giving hell to the insurance company by heisting its clients' jewels, or she's out of the job she loves by the end of the month. Kit's plan to catch Remi is simple: join a very private and friendly poker game with him in Las Vegas, lose her sapphire necklace to him in order to lure him to steal more where that came from, then — bam! — catch him in the act. Naturally, not everything goes according to her plans...

Simon "Beau" Beaulieux, who's Remi's cousin and shares a fair resemblance to him - not good enough to fool anyone who's close to them, but enough to fool passing acquaintances -, is also trying to track down his black sheep cousin in order to "persuade" him to return the family jewels - no pun intended - he's stolen from their grandmère. Beau's the Chief of Police in his hometown of Verdigris, LA, but he's also the head of the Beaulieux family and will do anything to protect his family - which, at the moment, means hiding the theft from his family and trying to get them back unnoticed. So he sets his own plan to catch Remi: set up a backroom game using his cousin's name in his usual Vegas haunt, and rattle him out of hiding. But as we all know, even the best plans go awry sometimes...

As the story opens, Kit and Beau are facing each other over the poker table - Kit mistakenly thinking that Beau is Remi - and they're down to the final bet. Short of chips, Kit ends up betting her sapphire necklace - which is okay, since that's actually part of her plan - and the expensive Karl Lagerfeld dress she's wearing - uh-oh, that's not part of the plan! Obviously, she loses and, in a scene that had me gigling, leaves the game backroom and crosses the hotel lobby wearing nothing but her high heels and her underwear. Only in Vegas! (To be fair, Beau isn't a sleazy bastard and offers to give the dress back to Kit, but she refuses. After all, a bet is a bet and she lost it.)

Immediately after leaving Beau, Kit discovers his true identity and now she's in a bind: she lost the necklace - and the dress - to the wrong man, and she needs them back in order to salvage any chance of keeping her job at the end of the month. And what's up with Beau pretending to be Remi? Is he a dirty cop in cahoots with his cousin? On his side, Beau's also intrigued by Kit: he knows she's after Remi, but he doesn't know why. Is she a con artist set on forming an alliance with his disreputable cousin?

As the story progresses, Kit follows Beau around - first to San Diego, then to his home in Verdigris -, both of them looking for Remi. Kit wants to bring Remi down, but Beau isn't sure his cousin's really guilty of all the thefts she claims he's done. Beau's pretty sure Remi's guilty of stealing their grandmère's jewels, but this is one theft no one but him is aware of and he's going to keep it this way. Things get more complicated as the attraction between Kit and Beau grows stronger and they start falling in love with each other. He soon realizes that he wants more than a temporary affair with her, but she's afraid of getting seriously involved with him due to a bad experience in her past. But how can she resist him? Well, she can't. ;)

I really loved this book. It was one of the sexiest books I've ever read, the love scenes were sigh-worthy and hot, and the sparks between Kit and Beau could put any Fourth of July fireworks to shame. Oh, and the plot was good too! I didn't know if Remi was innocent or guilty till the end. I had my hopes, but I didn't know how Ms. Bruhns would make it "right" for everyone. If Remi was innocent, Kit would have wasted time and money on a fruitless chase and would lose her job; if he was guilty, she would keep her job but Beau would never forgive her for being the one who got his cousin arrested. What a dilemma!

As for the H/h, Beau and Kit were very well-developed, and I fell instantly in love with them. Beau was charming, funny, sexy, and protective but not overbearing. He turned me into a puddle of goo several times while I was reading this book. *sighs* The scene where he bet Kit that he could kiss her without touching her... Wow, the man definitely knew his moves! Kit started out very well too, but then she went into her I'm-afraid-Beau-will-try-to-manipulate-and-hurt-me-so-I'm-going-to-stay-away-from-him mindframe and I got a little annoyed with her. I mean, he did manipulate her a bit but it was for her own protection and he would never, ever do anything to hurt her. Anyway, she did come to her senses in the end, so this minor "annoyance" wasn't enough to ruin the book for me.

Overall, this was one of the best SIM novels I've read, and I'm definitely going to keep tracking Ms. Bruhns's backlist.



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Review: "Slightly Wicked" by Mary Balogh

Slightly Wicked by Mary Balogh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'm going to sound like a broken record here, but here it is: another Balogh, another winner! She hasn't disappointed me yet, and I just love her writing.

Slightly Wicked is the second book in Balogh's series about the Bedwyn siblings, and tells the story of third son Rannulf (aka Ralf).

As the story opens, Ralf is on his way to Grandmaison, his grandmother's estate, well aware that, once again, she's going to try and persuade him to finally take a wife. He's used to her "gentle persuasion" and understands her concern, since she's named him heir to her property and fortune and has every right to be worried about her heritage, but this doesn't mean he's ready to settle down with the newest young lady she's chosen for him and start procreating. Ralf doesn't really know what he wants to do with his life - ah, what a joyful and idle life these rich aristocrats live! - but he knows that marriage isn't in his immediate plans. However, fate intervenes - of course, LOL - and, in the middle of his journey to Grandmaison, he comes upon an overturned stagecoach and one particularly lovely passenger who introduces herself to him as Claire Campbell.

Claire Campbell is actually Judith Law, an impoverished clergyman's daughter who's on her way to her wealthy aunt's estate to live the life of a "poor relation", i.e., to "work" as a companion to her grandmother and be subjected to all kinds of humiliation by her rich relatives - excluding her grandmother, who turns out to be the only person in the family who likes Judith. Think Cinderella and you'll know how Judith's life is in the hands of her vicious aunt. But before she reaches her destination, the stagecoach she's traveling in has an accident and all the passengers end up stranded in the middle of the road. That's when help comes in the form of a young gentleman on horseback, who introduces himself as Ralf Bedard and offers to take Claire/Judith with him to the next inn and send people to help the remaining passengers as soon as possible. Needless to say, Ralf Bedard is no other than our dear Rannulf Bedwyn, and the stage is set for a little deception by both Judith and Ralf.

Thinking of the imminent dreadful life that's waiting for her at her aunt's house, Judith throws caution to the wind and decides to experience one "grand adventure" before resigning herself to what's going to be close to Hell on Earth. So she pretends to be an actress - and we all know what kind of reputation actresses have! - and gives free reign to her attraction to Ralf, surrendering her virginity to him and enjoying two nights of passionate lovemaking in the nearest inn. Ralf is willing to spend more than these two nights with Judith - not that he's alreay in love with her, but he's definitely smitten - but she knows she can't keep the farce much longer, so she tricks him and leaves without notice, taking the next stagecoach and resuming her journey to her aunt's house. Ralf gets more than unhappy when he finds out she's left him, but he isn't about to go after an actress just to get some satisfaction.

Naturally, fate intervenes once more to get Ralf and Judith together again... As it turns out, Ralf's grandmother's estate and Judith's aunt's estate are in the same neighborhood, Ralf's grandmother and Judith's grandmother are close friends and, worse, the latest young lady Ralf's grandmother has selected to be his wife is Judith's brainless cousin. It's a small, small world, indeed! But now that the early deception is over and Ralf and Judith know who the other really is, how do they feel about it? They're not in love with each other, but there's definitely something between them. However, he's a Bedwyn, a wealthy aristocrat, son and brother of a Duke, and she's only a poor daughter of a clergyman, so a match between them would be extremely inadvisable. He's also a gentleman and she's a gentlewoman - impoverished but deserving of his respect - so he's obliged to ask her to marry him after having "compromised" her, isn't he? ;) Well, what follows was just delicious to read...

This story wasn't particularly original - there were some echoes of the fairy tale 'Cinderella', which I've already mentioned above, and also Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice - but Ms. Balogh's writing was so good that I never felt shortchanged. As a bonus, this book was a bit spicier than I came to expect from Ms. Balogh and I really enjoyed reading Ralf and Judith's lovemaking scenes. Ralf was definitely sexier than his brother Aidan was in Slightly Married. :)

Plotwise, there was a "mystery" involving the theft of Judith's grandmother's jewels in the second half of the story, but the resolution was quite obvious so it was only a matter of finding out how the culprit would be caught and not who he was. The whole incident was kind of predictable, but it added some light action to the story and was the perfect opportunity to introduce Judith to Ralf's siblings. And what a scary lot they are, the Bedwyns... I thought Judith would be eaten alive by them, considering how insecure she was.

I have to say, Judith grated on my nerves a couple of times with her insecurities and the way she let her aunt stomp all over her. The only reason I didn't think she was a complete doormat was because she had no problem standing up to Ralf. On the other hand, Ralf was just perfect. Okay, he was basically an aimless playboy in the beginning of the story, but he started to change his ways when he fell for Judith. There was more in him than I'd expected, and now I must eat crow: I really disliked Ralf in A Summer to Remember but now I'm in love with him. Kudos to Ms. Balogh for redeeming him!

Overall, I had a great time reading this book and I can't wait to get the next one. As far as I can tell, Ms. Balogh can do no wrong.

Note: The next book in the series is Slightly Scandalous, and I admit I considered skipping it because I still don't like Freyja and can't make myself root for her HEA. But I'm going to take a deep breath and read it, even if it's only to see what kind of "loser" will be leg-shackled to her. It should be an interesting experience, cheering against the heroine, LOL.



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Review: "Pleasuring the Pirate" by Emily Bryan

Pleasuring the Pirate by Emily Bryan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I admit I'm not a fan of pirate stories but, despite the title and the cover, this book isn't really a pirate story - the hero is a former pirate who's returning home to claim his noble life back. As this book has received some interesting reviews and I was in the mood to try a new author, I decided to give it a try.

Gabriel Drake is the "pirate" in question. The second son of the Lord of Dragon Caern, he had his ship attacked by pirates a few years ago and was believed to have died then. But the truth is, faced with the option of being left to drown and die with his ship and the much better option of joining the pirates and keep breathing, Gabriel chose the latter. Somehow along the way, he ends up rescuing King George's royal cousin and, as a reward, he's given the King's pardon - as long as he remains within the limits of his family's lands and never sets his feet in London. So he leaves his seafaring days behind and returns home, only to learn that his father and his older brother have died and he's the new Lord of Dragon Caern now.

Jacquelyn Wren has been managing Dragon Caern since the old Lord's death and, having been warned against the new Lord's arrival, she attacks Gabriel without knowing who he is. When she realizes he's the estate's true heir, she quickly sets up the plan to have him married to a rich heiress so he can have the money to support his property, his newfound family - his deceased brother has left 5 daughters - and his tenants. But Gabriel is - or better, was - a pirate and, thus, needs to be "educated" in gentleman behavior and social etiquette if he hopes to convince a proper lady to marry him, so Jacquelyn starts tutoring him in the matter.

Gabriel and Jacquelyn are attracted to each other from the start and, as they spend more and more time together, the attraction grows and they fall in love. But she's the illegitimate daughter of a courtesan and, even though she's received the education reserved to the most noble ladies, she's not the mistress Dragon Caern needs. So Grabriel must find and marry a lady, and forget Jacquelyn.

In short, that was the basic conflict that kept Gabriel and Jacquelyn from being together, and it didn't work too well for me. I just couldn't buy the reason behind it, because I never felt that Dragon Caern was that important to either Gabriel and Jacquelyn. Okay, they weren't heartless and they did care about the welfare of his 5 nieces and the estate's tenants, but there were at least 2 good solutions to the problem that would allow them to be together without "hurting" anyone. Both of these solutions were presented - and dismissed without much sense - during the course of the story, BTW.

I liked both Gabriel and Jacquelyn, though. They were nice, likable characters, and they had chemistry, which is always good. She wasn't one of those extremely naive heroines - her mother was a courtesan, after all - and that was refreshing. As for Gabriel, he was the average hero, a bit wicked but always caring. I thought he went along with Jacquelyn's plan to have him marry a rich heiress a bit too long, considering he knew he loved her. I mean, what of the old saying, "What a pirate wants, a pirate takes"? Didn't he want Jacquelyn enough to take her and damn the consequences?

At the end of the day, this was "just" an average read. The pace was a bit slow - especially in the first half of the book - and I struggled to get into it sometimes. The writing wasn't bad, but I kept finding myself distracted by other things. And as much as I liked Gabriel and Jacquelyn, I have to say that their love scenes weren't to my liking: there was nothing kinky or offensive about them, I just felt the wording used by Ms. Bryan gave the scenes a clinical feel and that left me cold. The ending was fast paced but uneven, with a few twists that were a little OTT. A more "sedate" ending would have been better, IMHO. Anyway, Gabriel and Jacquelyn got their HEA, so I was happy too.



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Review: "The Billionaire Next Door" by Jessica Bird

The Billionaire Next Door (The O'Banyon Brothers) by Jessica Bird

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This was my first book by Jessica Bird, who is better known as J.R. Ward, the author of the bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series. J.R. Ward's writing style is very characteristic and I was curious to see if her writing as Jessica Bird would be as "unique", so I decided to give this book a try.

So, what's my "verdict" after reading it? Well, there was definitely some similarities in the writing style of these "two" authors, especially when it comes to showing the hero's POV. That wasn't a bad thing, since I happen to like the way this author tells a story. And the best thing about this book when compared to the BDB books was the fact that there was no switching POV with the villains. Argh, how I hate those scenes with the BDB's lessers! Anyway, I'm getting a bit sidetracked here. Let's get back to the main program...

Sean O'Banyon is a Wall Street genius who doesn't do relationships, either with women or friends. He's barely survived an alcoholic and abusive father while growing up, and he has the emotional scars and constant nightmares to prove it. When he's informed of his father's death, he flies back to his hometown Boston to do his "duty": claim his father's body, arrange his cremation, pack his affairs, sell his old house, and forget the whole thing as quickly as possible.

Lizzie Bond was Sean's father's tennant and friend. With an absent father, a mentally challenged mother and on the verge of losing her job, her life is anything but easy. But she's one of those strong and no-nonsense heroines who never falter, and she's just what Sean needs to start overcoming his tortured past. Their relationship is a bit tentative at first, mainly due to his emotional hang-ups, but it isn't long before they realize there's more than a simple attraction between them. Unfortunately, trust isn't something that comes easily to Sean, so they have to face a major bump before they get a more than deserving HEA.

I loved this book! I don't remember the last time a "category" book got me so emotionally involved with the story and the characters. I could see Sean and Lizzie falling in love with each other, and I could feel their connection. Every time Sean had one of his nightmares, I wanted to jump inside the pages of the book and comfort him. Yeah, I'm crazy like that! *sighs*

As for the the plot, it wasn't unique but Ms. Bird has managed to craft an excellent story out of it, with a well-rounded hero (who I just wanted to hug and never let go) and a likable heroine (who sometimes seemed too good to be true but, hey, it fit the story). I wasn't even bothered with the fact that Sean only said his ILY on the epilogue, because that was just the right time to do it. He was so emotionally damaged that he really had a long way to go before he could open himself to say those three little words. And the waiting was more than worth it... :)

All in all, this was a more than satisfying read, and I'm going to try and find more of Ms. Bird's backlist.

Fun fact: Butch O'Neal, from the BDB series, was briefly mentioned in this book as being one of Sean's childhood buddies. While it was funny to see that loose connection, I couldn't help but wonder if Ms. Bird (or Ms. Ward, I don't know how to call her anymore) wasn't getting a bit too far with her "obsesssion" with the BDB.



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Review: "Slightly Married" by Mary Balogh

Slightly Married by Mary Balogh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I've yet to find a book by Ms. Balogh that I didn't love. Her writing always sucks me into the story right from the start, with slightly (no pun intended) imperfect characters that I can't help but feel strongly about. Taking this book as an example, my eyes were already misty when I finished reading the 1st Chapter, and I had just met the heroine Eve...

Slightly Married is a beautifully slow paced story, completely focused on Aidan's and Eve's emotions and the loving relationship that grows between them despite their "best intentions". Aidan starts off being rather cold, reserved and grim, but as he slowly falls in love with Eve, his demeanor starts to change and he opens himself up to the possibility of a life of happiness with her - something that he's never dreamed of when he proposed a marriage of convenience to her. Eve's a rich coal miner's daughter, sweet but strong, and the least likely candidate for marrying one of the aristocratic Bedwyn brothers, but Aidan's remarkable sense of honor and duty is stronger than this "mere" social inconvenience. He's promised her dying brother to protect her, no matter what!, and if marrying her is the only protection Aidan can offer Eve, so be it. It's not supposed to be a real marriage at all, but life has a way of getting in the way of best laid plans...

Aidan was a difficult hero to love at first, due to his stiffness - please, keep your minds out of the gutter, LOL - and coldness, but once his facade started cracking up, I fell for him as strongly as Eve did. And when he finally smiled at her for the 1st time... When he kept finding excuses to delay his departure... When he took her swimming in the river... *sighs*

On the other hand, Eve was extremely easy to love from the start. For a moment, I was afraid she was going to cave under the pressure of Aidan's older brother, the mighty Duke of Bewcastle, but she stood her ground not only once but twice. She was willing to submit to Bewcastle's demands to a point in order to help Aidan, but she was no pushover.

If I had one "problem" with this book was, there was something "off" with the love scenes. I don't know if I've been reading too much erotica/romantica lately, but I didn't feel much passion in Aidan and Eve's lovemaking. There was hardly any foreplay - the 1st time, they didn't even bother to undress - and Aidan came across as the ultimate wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am guy. The fact that Eve always reached the Big-O was only because they were in Romancelandia. Anyway, that didn't really bother me because Ms. Balogh had me around her little finger all through the story and, quite frankly, I wouldn't have minded if there were no love scenes at all. Yes, that's how much I love her writing!

Note: I feel like the Bedwyns deserve a "special" comment from me. I didn't like any of the Bedwyn siblings when I met them in A Summer to Remember, and I admit that I only read Slightly Married because Aidan wasn't in that book and therefore was "saved" from my wrath, LOL. Now that I've read this book, I don't dislike them anymore - except Freyja, who I still want to kill slowly and painfully - and I'm interested in reading the next books in this series.



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Review: "His for the Holidays" by L.B. Gregg, Harper Fox, Josh Lanyon, Z.A. Maxfield

His For The Holidays by Josh Lanyon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This anthology contains four stories that take place during the holidays, but the only one that fully integrates the season into the plot is the third.

I had a problem deciding how to rate the book as a whole, because I loved one of the stories and disliked another. As usual, I did the math (added all the individual ratings and calculated the average rating) but that resulted in 3 1/2 stars. Should I round it up or down? Well, I decided to round it up because there was only one story I didn't like.

Mistletoe at Midnight by L.B. Gregg (4 stars)

This was my first read by Ms. Gregg and I'm glad to say that I enjoyed it very much. The story is narrated by Owen and I'm not too keen on first-person narratives, but I liked Owen's "voice". He was an overall nice guy with a few shortcomings - like his unwillingness to let himself open up - and I felt myself drawn to him. I didn't connect with Caleb on the same level, though. I liked him - or what I got to see of him, I should say. The "problem" is, Owen's family was as interesting as Caleb and I'd dare to say they had as much screen page time as him. Owen's mother made me laugh and want to bang my head on the table at the same time, his father tugged at my heart and his brother was just crazy enough to be the best brother ever. I even liked Owen's ex-boyfriend Keith, which was refreshing considering how Romancelandia is full of despicable and hateful ex-lovers, LOL.

Besides the first-person narrative, I had a bit of a struggle with the way flashbacks were inserted into the story. I liked seeing how Owen and Caleb met and fell in love when they were in their late teens and coming to terms with their sexuality, but some of the flashbacks came out of nowhere and hit me right in the middle of a scene. All things considered, that was just a minor issue I had because I did like Ms. Gregg's writing and had a fun time reading this story. Oh, and I loved the Christmas gifts Owen and Caleb exchanged. Sweet!

Nine Lights Over Edinburg by Harper Fox (2 stars)

Phew, this was not a light read! The story had a dark tone and none of the characters was particularly nice. I didn't like McBride, I didn't get to know Toby well enough to either like or dislike him, and as a result, I didn't care about their relationship. I liked the action scenes, but I don't read romances for them.

The plot was too complex to fit the constraints of a novella, and that affected the development of McBride and Toby's romance. In fact, I felt that the focus of the story was McBride's downfall and recovery, and his relationship with Toby was just an afterthought. If I had to classify this story following the rules I know, I'd have to create a new genre: women's fiction with a male character as protagonist. As I'm not a fan of women's fiction and having a man as protagonist makes no difference to me, this story failed to grab me.

I Heard Him Exclaim by Z.A. Maxfield (3 stars)

First, let me say that I didn't get the title of this story. What did you hear him exclaim? Who are you? And who is him? Does that have anything to do with the story? (My confusion didn't affect my rating, of course. I'm just curious.)

I thought this was a very sweet Christmasy story, but it was also very unrealistic and I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy it without frowning over Chandler's and Steve's foolishly trusting behavior. Chandler was neurotic about Poppy's safety, which was okay considering he was as insecure as only new parents can be, so how come he didn't think twice before accepting Steve's ride offer? Steve was a complete strange and you just don't climb into a strange's car like that, especially when there's a safe alternative available. Steve's safety wasn't in any danger when he offered Chandler and Poppy a ride, but I thought he pushed his luck when he invited them to stay at his house. On his defense, he knew Chandler better by then, but still.

All in all, this was an okay read, with some quirky but likable characters and a good amount of holiday cheer. There wasn't much conflict in the story, but that was fine because I wasn't expecting it. The HEA felt a bit forced at first, but a nice epilogue cemented it and made it okay. After all, all's well that ends well.

Icecapade by Josh Lanyon (5 stars)

I wish all short stories were like this. I adored Noel and Robert, the sexual tension between them was masterfully built and their HEA made me sigh like a ninny. This story was written in third person POV, but we only "see" what's in Noel's mind (and heart) and we never get Robert's POV. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well that worked, considering I'm not a fan of first-person narratives exactly because I feel there's something missing when I can't "read" all the characters' mind. In this story, not being privy to Robert's thoughts and feelings was essential - and that's all I can say without giving too much plot away.

This was my first read by Mr. Lanyon, but it won't be my last! I really enjoyed his writing style and I think he's made a great job depicting Noel and Robert. The only "complaint" I have is the absence of an epilogue. I had no doubts about Noel and Robert's HEA and liked the ending, but it left one loose end that could have been settled in a nice epilogue. All in all, that was only a minor issue and it was nowhere close to ruining this excellent read.

Note: I received this eARC from Carina Press via NetGalley. That had no influence on my review/rating.



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