This was my first Laura Griffin novel, and I am sorry I hadn’t discovered her sooner. This was the fourth book in a series, but it functioned perfectly as a stand-alone novel. At no time did I feel like I was missing information that I needed to follow along. The book is primarily about the murder of a local barista as well as crimes that were connected to her death. The main characters are Leyla, the owner of the coffee shop where the murdered young woman had worked, and Sean, an FBI agent who had come to town for her brother’s wedding and stayed for some covert operation that was taking place in the area. The two are drawn to each other despite each having reservations about any involvement. Layla becomes very interested in Sean’s case and takes it upon herself to help, despite his insistence that she not be involved. Additionally the story follows the investigation of the murder by the lead detective, Nicole, who works with Sean regarding some overlap between her case and his. This was a very well thought-out romantic suspense story with well rounded, three dimensional characters. Her writing style was engaging and the book an enjoyable read from beginning to end. The narration made the story come to life and the audiobook was easy to listen to. I would recommend this title to any who enjoy a good romantic suspense story and a looking forward to reading more of Ms. Griffin’s work. I am voluntarily submitting this review after listening to an advanced complementary copy of this audiobook.

A wonderful romance/mystery novel! It should be noted that this can be read as a standalone, which I love!! I actually read the book as a standalone and really enjoyed it.

Leyla Breda is the owner of a coffee/pastry shop in the small beach town, Lost Beach. The community is relatively quiet, but crime has been rising in the area lately. Leyla opens her shop one day and discovers one of her employees murdered in the alley behind her shop. Is this a simple murder case, or something darker? Sean Moran plans to figure that out. Sean is an undercover agent who came to town for Leyla’s brother’s wedding, and for work. As soon as he meets the independent and beautiful Leyla, he is intrigued & attached. Together, they will figure out what implications this murder has on the small town.

I really enjoyed this story. I was very interested in the mystery that is presented and was invested in figuring out what was happening. I also loved the characters of Leyla and Sean. They were honestly wonderful characters separately, but even better together. Something about a strong FBI agent falling for a cute, spunky, and a little bit bossy small town woman just brings me joy. Both the characters and the story kept me intrigued, which helped make every part of this book interesting to me.

The audio of this book is odd, I’ve seen other reviewers say the same thing, but at first the voice seems robotic? But as I kept going, the voice got better and better. I’m not sure what causes this. I went back to the beginning to see if I just got used to the voice, but the beginning still sounded weird to me. I would give the audio a 3 out of 5 stars.

I overall chose to give this book a 4 star rating because I felt like there were other characters that could have been more fleshed out, and I would have really enjoyed hearing more from them (especially Nicole)!

If you like third person stories, stories set in one timeline, romantic suspense stories, etc; then you will love this!

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Laura Griffin for providing me with this audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review!!

A coffee shop/catering business owner gets pulled into a murder investigation when one of her staff members turns up dead outside of her shop. Good story with a love interest.

This started out interesting and sucked me in, but then not too far in I got bored and just couldn't stick it out. It ended up being pretty predictable, despite it's potential. I did enjoy the narrator though.

Deep Tide had all the feels and in the end it seemed apparent that someone may have to go out with the tide...
This new piece by Griffin began with an interesting mystery with a coffee shop murder but who on earth would want to kill a coffee shop worker?
The idea that everyone is suspect begins to unravel when we learn that there's a specific individual who is masquerading behind his falsehoods and has been linked to 3 previous crimes so far...
If this is true, how on Earth did this person get overlooked in a career meant to protect and serve?
As Leyla and Sean heat up things the miles between them extend and at one point it's called off in the romance department.
Second chances?
Welp, yes and you know sloppy seconds ain't the way to go for us strong feminine women.
Folks, when you hear this, "Lets go back to bed" at the end...Ya, know this gal ain't too thrilled.
Ladies, elevate! We are more than body parts. Come on now!
That ending just was too lame duck for me and the rest of the storyline was good but nothing that really tickled my fancy.
Thank you to Laura Griffin, the publisher, NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the free audio book in exchange for an honest review. This is narrated by Teri Clark Linden.

Leyla has a bakery where she is now expanding into catering. When taking out the trash, she finds a murdered woman by the dumpster and her life becomes even more chaotic. Sean Moran, her brother’s friend, also in law enforcement like her brother, keeps showing up when she’s at her lowest. There’s an immediate attraction between the two, but Leyla’s has rules about getting involved with non-residents as they have a lot of tourists. Sean's sudden appearance this time is due to his investigation into a tech mogul with ties to a cartel, and the murder behind Leyla's store is somehow connected.

I am new to this series and I think that you can listen or read this as a standalone based upon the author quickly bringing you up to speed. However, I did not enjoy this one as much as I thought I would or wanted to based upon the description. I am not sure if the fact that this read more like a cozy, that the audio book narrator was kind of blah, the very slow start of the story, or all of the above. I just did not get into this one which is ashame. 3 stars

Interesting and well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Woman finds a dead body. Falls in love with undercover cop on the case. Difficult to follow at times and a little slow. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Such a strong start -- great setting, great characters -- and then it just fell apart at the end with totally predictable events.


Review copy provided by publisher.

I may have found a new author to one click. This has a great balance of mystery, action and suspense. I did have a hard time with the narration the voices just did t fit/work well for me personally. But all I. All it was a very good book

I hated it. Every single second of the book. Didn't like the story, the character or the voices the author did for each character. I wanted to try something different and it just wasn't for me. Lots of cringey lines and the smut scenes were just not good (for me).

This is a book in a series, but you can read it as a stand-alone (I did). I guess some of the characters have appeared before, but this is not an impediment to understanding this story. I enjoyed the plot, the mystery/detective work and the romance, and Leyla is an easy-to-like character. Not sure about Sean, though - he's ok, but I couldn't connect to him as easily for some reason... like it should be taken for granted that they were to be envolved.

In terms of pace, there were some parts of the investigation that felt a little bit off, as if they were not so important but still there was a scene/dialogue or two about them. If you're into whodunit misteries, bear in mind that this part of the story happens more as a support to the romance than vice-versa. At least that's how I felt. In the first half of the book, the investigation seems to have more emphasis but as the romance picks up, it loses focus, even if there are some grand happenings envolving police work and catching bad guys.

Still, I really enjoyed reading Deep Tide. I would like to read some of Laura Griffin's other books as well, as she has a captivating writing style, in the way that has kept me finding things to do/organize at home just to keep on listening to the audiobook. I recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Deep Tide by Laura Griffin
The Texas Murder Files #4. Romantic suspense. Can be read as a stand-alone.
Leyla Breda is aware that there is crime in her neighborhood. Finding one of her employees dead in the alley behind the shop is a shock and has Leyla working closely with investigators. Sean Moran is undercover trying to stop the crime syndicates in the small beach town. Working together, Leyla and Sean end up in more danger than expected.

🎧 the audiobook is narrated by Teri Clark Linden who also did the previous books in this series. The performance makes the suspense really pop. The best part is that Leyla’s voice is the same through the series so it’s easy to tell one audiobook from the others, which isn’t always the case. Especially if it’s the same narrator doing different couples in each book. The timing keeps the reader engaged which helps the story flow.
As usual, I did have to speed up the narration so a more comfortable conversational feel.

Exciting, and intriguing.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and Dreamscape Media.

My synopsis: Leyla Breda finds one of her employees murdered in the alley behind her coffee shop. FBI agent, Sean Moran and his team suspect that the criminals they've been watching for years are using the picturesque town as an intersection for their dealings.

Using Leyla's brother's wedding as a disguise to be undercover, Sean didn't realize his attraction to her until she began bossing him around. While her brothers want Sean to back off from their little sister, Sean uses Leyla's community connection to dig deeper into the case.

My Rating: I gave this book a 4 star. It was intriguing and I enjoyed the characters. This book is a little suspense, romance and I just adore Leyla's personality. This book is book 4 of a series by Laura Griffin but it can definitely be read as a stand-alone. This is one of my first book by her and now, I must read the other 3 books in the series.

This was a good, slow burn romantic suspense. It's the 4th book in the Texas Murder Files series but is totally fine as a stand-alone.
I have been seeing ads for this series everywhere, so I read the first book, and I was so excited that @netgalley gave me the opportunity to listen to this one!
If vou enjoy police procedural books with a hint of romance, this is the series for vou!

This one felt like it dragged on and didn’t hold my interest as well as some other similar books I’ve listened to lately. I did enjoy some of the character development and the plot was intriguing but I found myself having to go back often to re listen because I didn’t know what was going on.

Another winner by Laura Griffin. Leyla is a strong lead character. I liked her a lot. Sean is an alpha male but not overbearing. I liked the connection between Sean and Leyla. They worked really well together. I listened to the audiobook for this one and was reluctant to stop listening. The story was fast paced and intriguing. The narrator worked well for the story. I liked the connections to the characters from other books, but you can truly read this one standalone and fully enjoy it. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review. I look forward to more stories set in Lost Beach.

Exciting story about a caterer who meets and FBI agent at her brother's wedding. She soon discovers the body of one of her employees in the alley near her shop. The investigation starts immediately and draws her into it, as well as the FBI agent. They are attracted to each other and that complicates things.

This story has heart thumping moments, as well as sweet, touching moments. And heartbreaking moments. It's a very well written suspense book, with a love story.

I've enjoyed other books by this author and I can recommend this one too.

I received a copy of the audio book and I enjoyed the narrator, as well as the story. This is my honest review.

I have found a new author! This story was so good I had to get the rest of the series and get caught up. This has a great balance of mystery and action with a little suspense mixed in to keep it interesting. The characters are fabulous, and the villain is unexpected. I loved it !

Leyla Breda is beside herself when the body of one of her employees was found behind her coffee shop. Leyla soon meets Sean Moran. He is in law enforcement as are her two brothers. However, Sean is vague about why he is in town and how long he will be around.

Meanwhile, Leyla has every intention at keeping her work going, and this includes catering jobs. One of her potential clients just might be part of the reason that Sean is in town. In fact, as an FBI agent, he is getting closer to solving his current case. There is definitely going to be a conflict between Leyla and Sean as he tries to keep his job separate from his personal life, but that is complicated by the fact that he is very drawn to her.

Perhaps the two will team up, and for more reasons than one. Sean has an important role in this story, but then so does the detective Nicole, who is striving to solve the murder. This intriguing story was an excellent page Turner, with mystery, drama and the chemistry between Leyla and Sean. I look forward to yet another book in this exciting series.

Many thanks to Berkley and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

I love this series. And I use the word series loosely. While the books are set in the same universe, each book focuses on different characters. They can easily be read as standalones.

At one point in my life, I almost exclusively read contemporary suspense novels. And while they are more of an outlier these days, I still love to read a good one. This series definitely fits the bill. And while I am sure there will be a HEA at the end, it’s a twisty journey on how the couple gets there.

Our main characters are Leyla and Sean. Leyla is Joel’s sister and in a little happy news, the book opens at his wedding to Miranda. Their story was told in Flight and I really liked it. Sean came into town for the wedding and isn’t exactly honest in his initial encounters with Leyla. In addition to that we learn he is from out of town, so that adds another layer to their journey. In addition to the main characters, we are introduced to Nicole, a detective on the force investigating the murder. I kinda like her. She’s scrappy. I’m hoping she gets her own book next.

Laura Griffin is really good at mixing the romance with the mystery and even throwing a little danger for Leyla so Sean can ride to her rescue.

I both listened and read this one, as time permitted. And I liked the book better than the audio this time. I’m not sure if it was the narration, the story or maybe even me, but I spent way more time reading than listening and that is not normal when I have both the book and audio.

If you like your mystery with a little romance, I can highly recommend this one along with the entire series. I can’t wait to read her next one.