Captain Ava Capp is a pilot with a willing man in every port. She is trying very hard to outrun her past and the murder of her best friend, Danielle, when they were teenagers. But it all caught up to her when she bumped into her friend’s twin brother, Dennis, on a flight to Minneapolis. The last place that Ava wants to be. She is roped into attending an anniversary memorial for her friend.

Ava met Tom when he helped her get a very drunk Dennis in the car and the two of them ended their encounter with a scorching kiss. She ran into him again at the Medical Examiner’s Office, and it is revealed that Tom is a medical examiner. He has also taken an interest in Danielle’s case and that throws the two of them together.

I enjoyed the funny comments and banter and interjections by the author in the beginning, but later on it became a bit too much. I still liked Ava’s lists at the start of many of the chapters. Tom is a great character, but Ava was a bit too all-over-the-place. Levity is an effective tool, but it can be too much, especially when the characters start acting childishly. I found Danielle’s family’s reaction to Ava a bit unrealistic and crazy. Apart from the fact that they grieved their lost daughter, there wasn’t a good reason for their extreme animosity.
The romance between Tom and Ava worked well, and I also enjoyed the supporting characters. The flying details built into the story was interesting.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Truth, Lies, and Second Dates is Mary Janice Davidson's third book in her Danger series.  The book is what I would consider a romantic comedy/suspense/chick-lit.

This book is funny at times; however, the writing is off in other areas regarding the romantic comedy elements necessary for this to be an absolute hit with me.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity to read a complimentary advance reader copy of this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

This was a quirky cute read. I like this authors tongue-in-cheek writing style and like the repartee between Ava and Tom in this book. It was a quick read, with a mostly good storyline; I did not like the ending of the mystery part of the book, but enjoyed the rest of the book.

Captain Ava Capp is pilot who is famous for a recent belly landing, hates flying through her hometown of Minneapolis and was a previous pill popper.  And oh, her best friend was brutally killed 10 years ago and the crime is still unsolved.  She has a flight attendant sidekick named G.B. and meets Dr. Tom Baker, a medical examiner, when she becomes entwined in the cold case of her best friend.  The author shares her love for tropes and it was fun looking for them throughout the book.

I was happily surprised by how much I enjoyed this witty romance mystery.  It was laugh out loud with a very unreliable narrator who is snarky, odd and definitely does not take herself seriously.

If you enjoy wacky, laugh-out-loud reads, don't miss "Truth, Lies and Second Dates" by MaryJanice Davidson with a cast of quirky characters and situations that kept me entertained and engaged from start to finish. I loved the instant attraction and undeniable chemistry between airline pilot Captain Ava Capp and Dr. Tom Baker from the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's office. The secondary characters enhanced my reading pleasure. I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

I was very excited to read this book by this new to me author and while I can't say I'm mad at it and can't say I loved it either. In the end I'd guess I'd say that I was stuck somewhere in the middle with my personal opinion of it. There were some things I can honestly say really appealed to me and a couple things that simply didn't work for me. As for the things that really worked for me: The main and secondary characters, the clever banter, a good amount of humor and a solid mystery to try to sleuth out. So, what didn't work for me? The actual time given to this couple's romance. I found it not only slow-burning but too much confined to the backseat of pretty much everything else featured in this book. For me that is a big issue because I read books for the romance and while I felt there was a ton of potential here; it never got the chance to step into the spotlight and shine.

This was fun read. You will laugh out loud reading this book. This was quick read for me. You most likely won't completely like either Tom or Ava but even the weird ones need to find love. You might not like them because they aren't your normal hero/heroine but I enjoyed reading them because they weren't like that. This book is quirky and a good mystery to figure out. So sit back and enjoy this read.

*I received this free book from NetGalley and am leaving my honest opinion*

I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I have historically always really enjoyed Davidson's books (with a few exceptions) - they're snarky and sassy and hilarious. I really enjoyed this book, the characters were all so funny. I especially loved Hannah, and having her be a genius level IQ made her precociousness make a lot more sense for a six year old. Ava and Tom were adorable together and I loved their banter. Their chemistry was good but I wouldn't say it lit the page on fire or anything. Tom's character was so endearing and interesting - I always love a romance hero who's on the spectrum and takes everything literally. Honestly all of the characters in this book were very entertaining. There was a lot going on in the book but, as noted in the author's note, this was kind of done on purpose to make this a trope filled, romance reader's fun read. I definitely enjoyed it and I'd recommend it!

I did enjoy the romance but I had a hard time understanding some of their conversations along other characters.  I have read another series by this author and loved it but this one was not one that I got into.

This was a cute book. I enjoyed the mix of romance with humor, twists and mysteries. I loved that this book poked fun at itself and the normal romance tropes.

I had so much fun following along as Captain Capp and Dr. Baker tried to fight their every present feelings for each other. I really enjoyed Captain Capp and found myself actually laughing out loud with some of her antics. The story moved well and had more than I was expecting. It really had a little bit of everything wrapped up in a neat package. It kept me engaged and wanting to continue reading to find out what would happen next. It was a quick read due to my wanting to find out more and more. 4 stars. Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC. I really enjoyed it.

I'm giving this book 3.5 because while it's a good read I found it hard to connect with the heroine character but did enjoy the other characters in the book. I found the story to be intriguing and the pace nice, there was humor, mystery and romance. Ava come home to Minnesota because of a flight schedule as a pilot she finds herself at a ten year memorial of her dead best friend, not something she had planned and the result sends her on an adventure she never would have planned. The local ME comes into to save the day, but Tom is quite an unique fellow. himself that brings in a cast of characters that will go straight to your heart! All in all this is a good intriguing read

Campy, fun opposites attract romance with a mystery.
Captain Ava Capp is a pilot by day and a perennial runner from every relationship. She lost her best friend in early adulthood as well as her parents. Life seems a lot easier 30,000 feet above.

When her dead best friend's twin brother Dennis is on her flight to Minnesota she finds herself sucked back into the life she tried so hard to fly away from. Ten years later, the family still hates her and blames her for the death. It doesn't help that vandalism happens at the memorial service just when she has returned to town.

With the help of adorekable ME Dr. Tom Baker and her cast of flight friends, Captain Ava fights for her innocence and life all the while falling into every romantic trope possible.

I really enjoyed this book, Davidson is a new to me author, with a huge back catalog of books I can't wait to dig into. I love how she breaks the forth wall, uses hilarious footnotes and creates an opposites attract love story that never has me disliking either of the heroes.

I will definitely go back and read the others in the series. If you like fun, light-hearted romances that keep you turning pages while you laugh, this is a must read. Readers who enjoy Janet Evanovich will like the mystery elements along with the friendships and love elements.

Sorry, but this one wasn't for me. I thought the premise of the plot was interesting, but the tone of the book completely threw me off. There were some heavy topics, which can absolutely still be included in a mostly humorous story, but it was like not a single character could take ANYTHING seriously! From death, murder, sex, a potential airplane crash...nonchalant attitudes & jokes were flying left and right. I found the over-the-top goofiness offputting. Also, a 24-year-old M.E.? I doubt it. I had to check where the author was from, and was surprised she was American; the book sounded like an Australian/British author setting their story in America and barely doing any research about it.

MaryJanice Davidson always, always delivers. There is always a bit of quirk, some oddity, and a delicious fun. She has a way of creating characters that I know I would love if they were real.  The lightheartedness is exactly what we need during the holidays that may turn out to be less than jolly, due to isolation during Covid. Read this! You’ll smile and maybe even chuckle!

Ava Capp is known as Captain Capp. She is a pilot for Northeastern Southwest- “we fly everywhere! ” ( I am not making this up). Twenty-eight and single, she is happy with her current life.  This changes when she is coerced into attending a memorial service for her best friend who was murdered ten year ago.. She becomes both a possible suspect and a potential victim at the same time. When hunky Medical Examiner Dr. Tom Baker enters the picture things become even more complicated. Will he rule Ava out as a suspect and if so, can he protect her?

Populated with some of the most unusual characters I have ever encountered, the narrative flows perfectly. The dialogue is witty and often laugh out loud funny. Engrossing and fast moving, this book is absolutely well worth reading. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from St. Martin’s and NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Truth, Lies, and Second Dates by Mary Janice Davidson is a fun love story and mystery.  Captain Ava Capp is a pilot, who runs into her best friends brother on a flight.  The problem is her best friend was murdered when they were teenagers, and Ava has not been back to Minnesota since.  Ava meets a man she is attracted to Dr. Tom Baker, and the story keeps putting them together.  Tom is clumsy, which is pretty funny.  Both Captain Capp and Dr. Tom are strange people, but this book was very enjoyable and unique.  I will be reading more books by this author, and I highly recommend this book.  
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

At first, this book took me a while to get into. I got the pilot Captain Ava Capp and how she did not want to be home and how she did not have any relationships. I even got her sarcasm, or wit whichever you want to call it. My thing though is I really did not find a whole lot of com in this story. The person who was supposed to be her romantic interest Dr. Tom Baker is also thinking that she killed her best friend ten years ago, along with the family of the deceased girl. Which again I get you want to blame someone but there is still no reason for her to do it as a teen. Then she herself again loses her parents two years later and is left alone yet she is the one they are ganging up on. I felt he should have been more supportive if he is or was to be so intellectual, he would see she had no reason to kill her friend. Yet she takes him back really easy.   
  Even when you get to the end when the person is revealed as the person who did the crime was a little strange as well, won’t go into it. I did like Ava the pilot and her crew those characters were really good I thought as well as the niece of Dr. Baker.

Ava Capp, an airline pilot, has been running (or flying) away from her past for years now. But, the ten-year anniversary of her best friend’s death has her returning to her old hometown, against all better impulses.  With a pile of memories that she’s tried to avoid or ignore, she’s facing off with the Medical Examiner, Tom Baker, MD, whose knowledge of the case, and questions about Ava are near-endless.... even as she’s not a suspect, just secretive.  

Never quite sure what to expect from a story that is part romance, part mystery, all hilarious and never takes itself too seriously, MJD’s books have a sly snark factor that is really the voice in your head that better sense doesn’t let outside. With a budding romance between Ava and Tom, plenty of questions surrounding the “who did it” and a pile of ‘rubbish’ that Ava would rather forget – and moved far away from to do so – the story laugh out loud funny and wholly entertaining.  

Don’t come into this expecting a twist: know there will be several and most are happening pages before you realize it! With characters that you would want to befriend (at least I do) and plenty of snark – this is a rollicking good time without all the ‘Christmas’ themes – and a perfect antidote to a bad day.  

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.  

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-aPk  /” > <a> I am, Indeed </a>