Gator Queen is a cozy mystery that was so easy to feel immerse in it, and I must confess I feel like there were some Scooby-doo vibes throughout the story. The town and the residents are quirky, and our main character Maggie is strong while still showing a softer side.

This was a fantastic way to start a new mystery series (Critters and Criminals), with a great and funny plot, making it such an easy read. The bond between the two sisters gave me a realistic vibe which was great and the mystery itself was unique.

Overall, the pace was right on point, and the setting and characters were amazing. The mystery was not cliché and I felt there was the perfect balance between romance, mystery, and funny moments. I recommend it to all that enjoys a good cozy mystery with murder, manipulation and trespassing lizards.

Thank you, NetGalley & the publisher, for approving me to read this arc and write this review.

Gator Queen

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“ Even in the quirky town of Wahoo, Florida, twenty-five-year-old Maggie Andrews is an anomaly—a petite but determined female gator trapper who isn’t afraid to get dirty. But to fulfill her father’s dying wish, Maggie left her job at the Boston Zoo to take over the family business and reunite with her twin sister Vera.”

I loved this one!! The mystery was a good one along with the romance. I love the humor in it which a lot of books lack. The characters are well written and the setting is amazing. I want to visit Wahoo. I will recommend this author and this book to anyone and everyone.

oh. my. goodness. this book was absolutely incredible!!!! i had so much fun reading this book. it was lovely and wonderful and amazing. thank you so much to netgalley for letting me read this book before the publication date!!!

Gator Queen by Tara Lush

⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒

I’m a few days late… but thank you so much to Tara Lush, 8th Note Press, and NetGallery for the advanced copy of Gator Queen!!

When I got sent this one, I was a little skeptical. Gator trapping, a romance bookstore, and crime? It seemed a little all over the place.

But OMG was I wrong.

I think I loved this one way more than I should’ve, to be honest.

Tara Lush is HILARIOUS.

There are so many one-liners that I’m going to remember for the rest of my life. They were so funny.

This is a mystery with some hints of romance, which worked so well together.

I loved the witty banter between everyone. I loved the plot. It was super cheesy, but not in a boring way.

And so many (two) hot men to pine over as a reader

Also kudos to Maggie being a Taylor and Lana stan.

Princess Fuzzypants here: When Maggie returns to her home town to take over her deceased father’s business and help her twin launch a bookstore, she figures the most ornery critters would be the gators. Boy, was she wrong. There are some humans, one who had the temerity to be murdered, who are in cahoots and determined to make Maggie and Vera’s lives difficult. In fact, someone has tried to frame Vera for the murder.

Maggie, who was always her sister’s protector, teams up with hunky professor, Jack, who knows a lot about murders and crime, to figure out what is going on. It is pretty clear there were nefarious dealings going on long before the murder. Just how those dealings fit into the murder and who is deeply involved remains to be seen. But if gators don’t intimidate Maggie, human predators are not even a concern.

I enjoyed the quirky story and characters. I like feisty heroines who can fight their own battles but are not unwilling to accept back up and I don’t mind a little salty language that never steps too far over the line. In fact, I just liked the story. I do hope we have more of Maggie and crew. Gators and bad guys do not stand a chance. Five purrs and two paws up.

I was super intrigued by the description of this one! I live in Louisiana and really love alligator-related things so an alligator romcom mystery? I had to read it!

The mystery aspect of this book was well-written and interesting. I was able to figure out who the culprit was early, but just early enough for me to feel smart, not enough to make the story uninteresting. I found the Florida small-town antics fun and some details like the alligator cater/romance store business cards were really funny!

What didn't 100% work for me was the romance and characters. I was rooting for a different person to be the love interest than the one Maggie ended up with. I didn't connect with a lot of the characters well and particularly struggled with Vera. She seemed shallow and insecure and made a lot of mistakes because of it. I felt bad for Maggie having to clean up her messes.

I think if you want a mystery set in a Florida small town you'll love this one. However, if you go into it expecting a romance it falls a bit flat. I'm more of a romance reader so I don't think I'll continue the series but I think mystery readers will really enjoy this one.

4.5/5 ⭐
The first in a new cozy series about Maggie, who has returned home to rural Florida to take over her late father's gator trapping business. She soon finds herself tangled up in a mystery about a murdered gator trapper and the main suspect is her twin sister Vera. She teams up with a criminologist to find the real culprit.

I thought this was a really good debut for a cozy! It was fun,. fast-paced, and easy to read. I loved the characters, minus Vera at times because she was so stubborn about a certain plot thing. But I think going forward, she will get some good character growth. As a Floridian, I appreciated all the details about Florida's weirdness, but also the subtle tackling of real environmental issues like development taking over nature. This was so enjoyable, and I can't wait for the next one!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Twin sister duo! Main character has come home to take over her father’s catch and relocate ‘gator business.🐊 The other sister is opening a romance bookstore. It’s a fantastically paced book with lots of humor, great characters, fake dating, and a bit of steamy romance thrown in.

I've read Tara's Coffee Lovers mystery series and one of her romance books before, so I was really interested in her new book which blends the cozy mystery genre with a lot more romance. Tara has done a fabulous job of bringing together the flirty banter and sizzling romantic tension while keeping the charm we love in cozy mysteries intact! Her witty writing and fun whacky Florida setting never fail to make me laugh.

There is plenty of potential for future stories, especially with the twins reconnecting to honor their father's dying wish. The characters have interesting careers, which allows room for growth in the storyline. I appreciate that Jack, the romantic interest/partner in sleuthing, is a criminology professor. It's refreshing to see a slightly different male lead than the usual ones we see in cozy mysteries, although I still love cozy mysteries because of all the cozy comforts they bring.

If you're looking for an entertaining read that combines cozy mystery feels with a lot more romance, then check out this book. Thanks to the author and publisher I read this book. All thoughts are mine.

Oh my gosh. That was one heck of a ride. I kind of don’t know what to say about this book other than that it was a ridiculous lot of fun. The mystery was good. There were several possible suspects, and I was kept guessing who the ultimate villain would turn out to be for most of the book. I’m not sure that I really got to know Maggie or her sister very well (yet) so I’m quite curious to see where this series is going to take them in the future. Their potential love interests are also largely unknown at this time. Both are highly intriguing and I’m anxious to learn more.
I received a complimentary advance copy of this book through NetGalley.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and 8th Note Press for the advanced copy of Gator Queen! It is out today, March 26th!

Everything about this book drew me in (the title, the cover art, the description)! After a few chapters, I knew it wasn’t going to be what I had anticipated. The summary of the book says that it is about gator trapping Maggie Andrews coming home to Florida to continue her father’s business and reunite with her sister. Throw in some crime and fake dating, and it sounds like the perfect read.
While the idea was one that I enjoyed, the writing was subpar. It was basically the author saying this happened and this happened next. I felt like there was no imagery, and the scenes were very short. Also everything was too unrealistic. I like amateur sleuthing, but this was too unbelievable. The ending came out of nowhere, too. I feel like this could have been a four star novel if there would have been more time spent developing it. Also, I couldn’t stand how many times the author randomly threw “gah” into the novel.

A gator trapping, romance book selling, kitten owning amateur sleuth teams up with a criminology professor to solve the murder of a rival gator trapper and clear her sister's name.

Maggie Andrews moves back to Wahoo, Florida to take over her deceased father's gator trapping business and help her twin sister open her romance only bookstore. Nothing stays calm in Florida too long. Maggie and her sister Vera find themselves in the center of a murder investigation when their families long term gator trapping rival turns up dead. Maggie teams up with Jack Bianchi, a criminology professor on sabbatical, to clear her and her sister's name before their bookstore opens.

I enjoyed this modern cozy mystery. The romance is a kick above what you normally see in a cozy which definitely falls in line with my interests but I can see how the traditional cozy reader may not like it. The dynamic between Jack, Maggie, and Vera was great. That being said, Vera as a character was really hard to route for, but I'm hoping after the events of Gator Queen she will be an easier character to route for in the next book. At times the dialogue was really funny but sometimes the funny went to far and was cringy, describing lust as "pants feelings" for example. The final act reveal also fell a little flat and lack luster. Ultimately I did enjoy this book and will be reading the sequel when it comes out.

Review highlight posted to both of my instagram stories on my personal and bookstagram. permanent post added to bookstagram, @lizzycats.card.catalog

Thank you netgalley, and 8th note press for the opportunity to read this book!

This book was such a quirky, funny, cozy read and is perfect for a rainy day in the house. I was drawn in right away by the mystery aspect of the story. This book follows Maggie Andrews, who isn’t your typical girl, no, she runs Gator Queens, a gator trapping business in a small town in the state of Florida, with her twin sister, after her father passes away. Maggie receives a mysterious gator call, and once arriving, finds a dead body who her sister, Vera, becomes the prime suspect of. Watching the murder investigation unfold was one of my favorite things. BUT maggie doesn’t solve this investigation on her own 👀 OF COURSE there’s a love interest, duh, that would be Jack Bianchi, a criminology professor, who happens to be in town renting their cabin to get some writing done. To help further the investigation, they decide on a fake dating scheme that had me GIGGLING!

i think this book was so well written, with the banter, the laugh out loud moments, and the mystery of who is behind the murder. I also loved the fact that Vera had vitiligo adding a bit of seriousness into the story and how women can perceive themselves with this. I loved seeing Maggie tell her she was still beautiful etc.

If you are in the mood for a cozy, low stakes read this is a book for you ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was such a fun read! Twin sisters running 2 very different businesses in Wahoo, Florida. Maggie and Vera Andrews running the family business of gator trapping and a romance bookstore. A murder that one of the sisters seems to be the main focus of. Jack, the handsome professor who is on a book writing sabbatical regarding serial killers. Tara does a great job of making the story lines all blend together just right.

This is Tara's first book in the Critters & Criminals series. I look forward to reading the second.

This was a fun and quick mystery set in the swamps of Florida, when a man is found dead by a rival gator trapper. I enjoyed our main character Maggie and liked reading her backstory of how she became a gator trapper. I thought her relationship with Vera, her twin, was interesting and loved the very small amount of romance we got with their new tenant Jack. The mystery kept me interested, and I enjoyed how it wrapped up all nicely. It wasn't completely full of twists and turns like some thrillers, but it was certainly a cozy mystery. I will say the writing was nothing that was incredibly moving, but I did enjoy myself while reading and I will be looking for more in this series in the future! I give this start of this series a 3.5/5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.

Twenty-five-year-old Maggie Andrews left her job at the Boston Zoo to take over the family's gator trapping business in Wahoo, Florida and to reunite with her twin sister Vera. When a rival gator trapper turned up dead in a swamp full of bullets from Vera's stolen gun, she became the prime suspect.

Maggie couldn't sit back and let the detectives do their job. She wanted to clear her twin's name especially as their bookshop was going to open soon and a murder would be bad for business. Enter Jack, a criminology professor from Miami and their new tenant. These two paired up to investigate and pretended to date so as not to arouse suspicion.

This colourful cover drew me in even though I'm not one to read cozy mysteries. I enjoyed the story! I wanted more from the romance but the mystery and the slew of characters was all entertaining.

Thank you to Netgalley and Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. It was a quick read. I enjoyed the twin sister characters. I like the story line trying to prove her sister’s innocence. I even liked the budding romance that was building throughout the story. Portraying women in strong rolls like gator trapping was pretty cool too.

Gator Queen is book one in the Critters and Criminals series by Tara Lush.
This was such a fun, hilarious cozy mystery with a touch of romance.
An entertaining new series to read with a spunky and intelligent main character and an interesting cast of supporting characters that help to enhance a well thought out plot.
This book had an extremely intriguing plot and I was swept along with the story from the start. Tara Lush's writing is peppy, sharp and edgy and I loved her portrayal of the main character Maggie.
An excellent cozy mystery, Gator Queen is one I recommend.

Thank You NetGalley and 8th Note Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Really enjoyed this book. I’ve never read Tara Lush before. The romance is as hot as the Florida sun, This is a must read!

This is such a cute and cozy mystery. Little bit of romance along the way. I was hooked by the characters from the start. Maggie is such a lovable character. I would recommend this title if you are in for a fun read.