This was a fun little short read, it was a little slow paced in some parts and that really made the book drag for me. But overall It was not a bad book. Thank you Netgalley and publisher

I really enjoyed the humour in this book, making what could have been a very serious and dramatic plot into a lighter and more fun read. Don’t get me wrong the plot was also great, but the little snarky comments ere great, and the nots at the end of each chapter were both insightful and funny too. Makes me want to read more from the author and also the story!

I received an ARC of this novel from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I should start by saying that I really wanted to love this. A badass female pilot and a quietly ripped ME on the spectrum has the makings of a perfect romance. And, I think this book is very close to being there? I know ARCs aren't necessarily finished copies, but this felt like an early draft of a really fun novel rather than a close to publication copy.

Through a series of unfortunate events Ava Capp ends up trapped in her hometown just in time to attend the memorial service for her best friend who was murdered ten years prior. Then the killer comes back. It's an okay plot on paper, but the mystery isn't really executed well. There is next to no foreshadowing when it comes to the ending and the pacing is all over the place.

I really liked the characters and the banter, but the plot cut into my enjoyment of that.

Life lesson learned - this just isn't my style of book. I went into it excited by the premise, but the writing style just doesn't work for me. I know that this will work for lots of readers. I just wasn't one of them.

Ava Capp may or may not be a little messed up. Ten years ago, her best friend Danielle was brutally murdered. Traumatized, Ava took to the skies...literally. Now a pilot, Captain Capp avoids anything resembling emotion beyond some lighthearted flirting and easy friendships. Caught by an old crush, she has no excuse to avoid attending Danielle’s ten year memorial. Something happened and the next day—nine hours before she needs to report to pre-flight—Ava is stuck getting interrogated and has to relive the exact event that she’s been trying to forget all these years.

On the other side of the interrogation is Dr. Tom Baker who, coincidentally, also happened to make out with Ava last night. He’s straightforward and honest (almost to a fault). He’s set his mind on solving the murder and bringing the perpetrator to justice. He’s hoping to do this with the help of a particular pilot who he finds attractive (even if she could be a suspect).

This wasn’t my favorite book. There was nothing necessarily “wrong” with it, but the storyline—although a murder mystery with romance—did not really capture my attention. A third of the way through I decided to continue because I had already gotten that far. I don’t think I would recommend this book, but if you need another checklist to read, this will do the trick.

Thank you so much to netgalley for sending me a copy of this book. I was really looking toward to it but I ended up not enjoying it. You might like it.

I probably should preface this review with the fact that I usually hate mysteries. It is one of my absolute least favorite genres right of there with men’s fiction. Instead of being turned off by this book, which is defiantly more mystery than traditional romance, I was thoroughly delighted.

The writing was a hoot and a half. Seriously, it’s funny (half the notes I saved are just “lol”. The constant third person writing style did take a bit to get used to but once I caught the rhythm I didn’t mind it. I loved the foot notes at the end of each chapter though I did find that I missed a lot of the ones featuring the * and would have to go back and find them. The chapters were short which made me feel like I was making progress and fit into my read for 5-10 minutes before falling asleep lifestyle.

Since the book isn’t coming out for 6 more months I don’t want to give too much away but I will give some of my favorite quotes with no context (quotes subject to change between the version I read and publication):

“Blake was awake and was doing that thing where he ran a finger up and down her spine like an erotic chiropractor.”

“That’s the building where the accountant was strangled with his ex-wife’s bra.”

“You napped in one of the (morgue) draws again, didn’t you, Doc?”

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had a lot of fun reading this! I don’t think i ever read a book with characters that are so funny! It was part romance, part murder mystery book! Such a fun book

Unfortunately, this book was just not for me! On paper it should have been - it was snarky and sarcastic, played with tropes and had a strong and smart female lead.⁠

A sassy pilot who can't deal with her emotions and keeps a man in several ports, returns home, and ends up going to the celebration of life for her best friend who died 10 years before. She ends up getting involved with the medical examiner who is investigation the unsolved murder.⁠

I had a hard time following the story and it jumped all over the place. Although I appreciated the diversity of having the male lead being on the spectrum, the book was just awkward with half of the things they did simply not making sense and I couldn't get into it.⁠
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I'm sure there are others who will enjoy this book, but the writing simply wasn't for me.⁠

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the advanced copy that I received in exchange for an honest review.⁠

Great flip on the story, having the main character be someone Tarbell adjacent. Loved Ava and Tom,this will be a great " brain break" romcom mystery. I hadn't planned on the mystery part, it was a nice surprise. I'll be able to hand sell to both romance and mystery readers and I'm looking forward to it.

What a great blend of mystery (cozy mystery, actually) and romance! I enjoyed this book with its very strong female lead and brisk plotting. Looking forward to recommending this to readers who enjoy a little bit of mystery with their romance, along with some humor.

This book is meant to be the 3rd in the Danger, Sweetheart trilogy featuring the Tarbells but to my great disappointment, Blake Tarbell only makes a couple of cameo appearances in the book - where he totally dominates the page.

Our story opens with Ava Capp and Blake Tarbell saying goodbye - and that is possibly the only semi-normal interaction in this trope filled (not a bad thing since that was absolutely intended) wild ride.

Without being spoilerific, - I can tell you that this thoroughly enjoyable book employs every possible trope to find in such a fun and not obvious way. There are easter egg tropes all over the place that you have to search for. The heroine is classic MJD, snarky, funny, slightly hysterical - but not at all as dumb as she appears. We even have a child genius in there for comic relief.

Though I wish this book had more Tarbell in it, I loved it. I highly recommend this read - it is a fun fun way to take a break from the hectic world.

Part cozy mystery, part romance novel, this story embraces the tropes of both genres. The writing is witty and engaging, producing a 'can't put this down' effect for the reader.

This book was so good! Its fun, has some mystery and made me laugh. Can't ask for much better. I would definitely recommend.

I received this ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review

I’m a big fan of the author’s and this book is as fun and snarky as her others. Although not paranormal, which I love, the same style of humor and romance are present. The characters are quirky and gloriously flawed, which draws me to them.

Murder mystery meets romcom and lots of witty, sarcastic banters, hilarious inner monologues and plus we have a pilot badass heroine Ava accompanied with charming, smart medical examiner Tom and their love-hate relationship (Sorry doc but treating her like a murder suspect lowered your brownie points!)

Here we go: we’re introduced with Ava Capp, a kind of hero because when she was brave and determined enough to land a plane with no proper landing gears and of course she was all by herself because the pilot had a heart attack. Now she is happily flying the commercial flights, enjoying her job, swinging on the stars till she returns to Minneapolis for tenth year reunion: It’s unfortunately not a high school union you may reject to attend. This is Ava’s best friend Danielle’s tenth year anniversary of her death: she was murdered. And her killer hasn’t been found yet.

After the memorial, something unexpected happens and they cannot find the body which brings medical examiner Tom Baker and Ava Capp together to solve the cold case. Tom was a little suspicious at the beginning and considered her as another suspect but lately he changes his mind and as you can guess they start to attract each other even though there was no time for funky business, there is an important murder case they have to solve and save their lives from the danger.

I loved both of the characters and intriguing, riveting story-building: great concoction of murder mystery, romantic suspense with smart and witty dialogues. I’m giving my 3.5 stars and rounding them up to 4! It was entertaining, quick reading !

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/St. Martin's Griffin for sharing this enjoyable ARC with me in exchange my honest review.

Witty, smart, a little bit manic but generally a lot of fun. Part romance and part murder mystery this book has fun with some of the common tropes. It may take you a while to get into the style if you a first time reader of Mary Janice Davidson but stick with it it's definitely worth it.

Thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin's Griffin/Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Truth, Lies, and Second Dates is an enjoyable contemporary rom-com with some murder mystery thrown in (I don't want to go so far as to call it romantic suspense, although it probably falls into that genre also). I actually liked not being entirely sure of the heroine's love interest pair-up in the beginning, so I don't want to spoil that for future readers by mentioning any names, but suffice to say, both the antagonists were very different & interesting.

The writing style is a bit stilted (particularly the * references / sometimes things are overly spelled out) & somewhat confusing at times (Ava's internal thoughts), but overall was light & fun, with a lot of humor. As was the author's goal, there are some common trope subversions that are refreshing, as well as some addressing of less common representations of dealing with sexuality. I found the plot & dialogue to be intriguing enough to want to keep reading at a fast pace, so I'd recommend this one as a "beach read" sort of thing – actually, maybe on a flight? ;)

I can see that this book, in particular because of the personalities of the protagonists, wouldn't be for everyone, but I think if you're a fan of blunt dialogue & atypical characters, you'll be able to enjoy it. There are two characters referenced as being on the spectrum, which I personally found to be a positive representation, but could see how some readers might have been confused by some of the interplay, particularly in regards to a main character.

The author notes in her intro "...I’m a weirdo and romance and horror are my first loves." The characters have a bit of macabre murder fascinations, which as someone who is intrigued by true crime & murder made total sense to me, but to some people might seem off-putting (the characters even call this out). I thought their relationship development was cute, if not totally swoon-worthy (it's just not really that kind of romance). I liked that all corniness/clichés were intentionally tongue-in-cheek because as much as I read romance, I get very *ugh barf eye roll* during that kind of high-harlequin romance style stuff (you know the stuff I mean – this book didn't have that).

Overall, I wouldn't rate it in the top books I've read or anything, but it's entertaining enough & I enjoyed it, which is all I really want from the books I read on a regular basis (hey, not everything is supposed to be a "classic"!).

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

It took me a while to get used to the pace of this book; it was a bit manic and all over the place. However, once I got in synch with the author, I enjoyed the book. It was a bit heavy handed with the use and discussion of tropes, but I felt like the author was winking at me the whole time so I enjoyed that aspect as well.

I enjoyed this book; thanks NetGalley.

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately I did not enjoy this romance. The author introduces too many characters very quickly and it forces you to figure out which is the real storyline. Just couldn't keep up.