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>

I was so excited when I saw this book offered on Netgalley because I knew I was going to love it. Maryjanice Davidson has a sense of humor that I love. I know not everyone does, but it’s not worth talking to people like that. There were silly things like the Crisp and Gross Funeral Home. I mean, who thinks of a name like that? Some of the character descriptions were awesome. Pat Monahan, family patriarch, is described as “Methuselah. Or one of his close relatives.” And the family matriarch is described like this: “...who when she wasn’t wringing her bird-like hand, was cracking her bird-like knuckles. Wait. Do birds have knuckles?” And the idea of a sushi place combined with a comedy club called Konishi-ha? That, right there, is comedy gold. I also laughed when the narrator said that Ava “carpe’d the diem.”

Ava is a wonderful character and I found everything she did amusing, whether it was saying absurd things over the speaker to the passengers on the plane or pretending to be a blind pilot. Tom made for a great foil to her antics, taking most things literally, but thankfully, recognizing when she was joking.

I’m not one to recap the plot of a book, but there were some things that I highlighted because I found them particularly clever or they made me laugh out loud. Ava’s friend Dennis had too much to drink and was lying in the back seat of the car with an emesis basin. “Dennis was using the hell out of the thing. Or he was being devoured by dinosaurs.” At another point, Ava describes her skin as being so dry, she “felt like an animated piece of bark.” And when surprised by something: “She gaped—she’d almost used up her gape allowance for the month, but it was definitely warranted.” And when a group of people accused her of something she hadn’t done, she briefly wondered whether she’d “stumbled into Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery.’”

Tom is clearly on the autism spectrum so when he was faced with a circumstance for which he had not prepared a response, this is what happened: “Tom opened his mouth, and then locked up. Just stood there. You could almost see 01010101 does not compute 01010101 behind his eyes.” Naturally, Ava surrounds herself with wise-asses so it’s no surprise when her friend G.B. accuses her of having,“The mind of a poet, the speech of a concussed cheerleader.”

Tom’s niece Hannah, for whom he is the guardian, is a child genius. Ava considers herself “Outclassed, outgunned, outsmarted by a kid younger than my favorite bra.” But I loved this exchange between Tom and Hannah after she used his phone without his permission and then defended herself by saying his password was too easy:

“My password this week is follicle,” he protested.
“See? Easy. You shaved your head earlier this week, you’ve been reminding me I’m overdue for a trim, and you’ve mentioned Ava’s curly hair twice. I can only assume you wanted me to hack your phone.”

This is a murder-mystery-romance so when Ava is inevitably faced with the murdered, she’s her typical smart-ass self. She refers to herself as a teenager saying she was “‘...Resentful and prissy, as only teenagers can be.’ Well, teenagers and cats.” But the best part is when she starts explaining the killer’s motivations to the killer and he says, “Why are you narrating?”

I really had only one problem with the book, and it’s something that may not even be noticed by most readers. Unfortunately, having a degree in gerontology and working in so many nursing home-type settings, it immediately struck me. Ava and Danielle volunteered in a nursing home and Ava hated it. “The third time she’d had to wipe shit off Mr. Wilkin’s ass, she’d decided enough was enough and told her folks she was quitting.” I realize it wasn’t a good nursing home and they eventually were shut down, but even the worst place wouldn’t have a volunteer doing something like that. Incidentally, my very first paid job was in a nursing home working in the kitchen, the only place teenagers my age were allowed to work. And the thought that we might have anything at all to do with patient meds is ridiculous. Other than that, the book was great.

TLDR: This book is awesome, it’s funny, and you should read it.

I sort of like the "is it a romance or is it a mystery" blend, but then there are things I like a lot less about it. I wanted to read this because I really loved MaryJanice Davidson's Fred the Mermaid books, but this straight contemporary just fell totally flat for me.

This is my 2nd book by this author and I really enjoyed the writing and Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.

If you have a sense of humor you absolutely must read this book, it is filled with some romance, mystery, murder, and characters that make you laugh out loud.

This is a definitely fun read, of course, you can picture it when you leave home town and have to return, will you regret it, will this is a sure win to find out! Read the book, you will enjoy it!

Initial Thoughts

I downloaded this book a while ago but didn’t get a chance to read it until closer to release date. I really liked the idea of a pilot as a main character. Also, I was excited to see some enemies to lovers-esque vibes from our main character and her love interest.

Some Things I Liked

Veronica Mars vibes. This story is basically Veronica Mars if Veronica was a pilot instead of a lawyer. And, I was so here for that. It’s one of my favorite CW shows from back in the day.
Murder mystery. The synopsis didn’t really do this part justice. Ava isn’t just living with trauma in her past. It’s an unsolved murder and I was so excited that the plot revolved around her not only seeking closure, but also solving the crime.
Big Bang Theory vibes. Not to compare it to anther TV show, but I loved that Tom and Ava reminded me of Sheldon and Amy in their business-like approach to romance. I liked how they really seemed to understand each other.

Some Things I Wasn’t Crazy About

Ava and Tom were both so no-nonsense. Honestly, it made them almost robotic. Their dialogue was a bit chaotic and hard to follow because of that. Now, that could be a knock to the writing style, but overall, I felt I had a hard time understanding some of their conversations as well as their conversations with other characters. Sometimes the sarcasm didn’t translate well.
The romance. I liked it, but at times, I didn’t understand how Ava went from zero attachments, hating relationships, to what she ended up with. It just felt rushed.

Series Value

I didn’t love this book, but I think there’s value in a series here. Captain Ava and Dr. Tom solving crimes together could be a fun dynamic that I’d revisit.

Final Thoughts

I liked this book. I didn’t love it. I wouldn’t reread it. But, I also wouldn’t stop myself from continuing it if it became a series. There are a lot of good bones here but some portions fell flat for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommendations for Further Reading

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne – if you enjoyed the enemies to lovers vibes in this story, try this standalone by Sally Thorne.
Love Sold Separately by Ellen Meister – if you liked the idea of a snarky and sassy heroine solving a murder with an unlikely ally from the police force, try this standalone.

Fun, quirky and simply delightful. I enjoyed it, Thank you publisher and netgalley for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

Captain Ava Capp is a pilot with the Northeastern Southwest airline. She would prefer to stay out of Minnesota as her dear friend, Danielle, was murdered there ten years ago, a murder that has never been solved. When a faulty drug test puts her on a 72-hour delay from flying and an act of vandalism involving her friends’ ashes makes her a suspect, she needs to find out who would do such a thing…and why. She is pleased when her initial meeting with Dr. Tom Baker, a member of the Ramsay County medical examiner’s office, leads to a chance at romance. He is helping raise his very intelligent niece Heather along with Heather’s grandfather Abe. What will happen when Danielle’s killer finally makes a move to eliminate Ava as well? I have always enjoyed Ms. Davidson’s writing style as her story is laced with humor and friendly sarcasm that makes the words speed by. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)