A very fun mystery novel about a small town off the beaten path that somehow attracts more than its fair share of ex-military, ex-agents, and former spies. It is also a sweet story about found family, never-too-old romance, and community. Sometimes mysterious, sometimes funny. A perfect cozy mystery, with at least two more in the series.
I had not read this series when first published last year, and am delighted that it is now being produced in audiobook format. This has two excellent narrators voicing three different characters.
My thanks to the authors, publisher, @BrillianceAudio, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook of #RockyStart for review purposes. Publication date: 24 June 2025.

"Rocky Start" is what happens when you drop a romance novel into a covert ops retirement community, shake it like a martini, and add one very good dog. I had an absolute blast with this one. It’s small-town romance packed with danger, snark, retired assassins, and just enough chaos to keep me fully hooked.

Rose Malone is barely holding it together. Her boss-slash-landlord just died, leaving her jobless, nearly homeless, and conveniently back on the radar of a nineteen-year-old arrest warrant. Her daughter Poppy is still in high school, shady relatives start showing up like vultures, and the town’s only real authority figure is six feet under. Excellent timing, truly. Enter Max Reddy, who rolls into town looking for hiking boots, catches a shady looking guy literally hitting Rose, and immediately throws him into the street. Not exactly a meet-cute, but definitely a meet-mess.

What starts as Rose and Max just trying to avoid disaster quickly unravels into something way stranger, because Rocky Start is not your average Appalachian town. This place is fully staffed with retired spies, assassins, con artists, and extremely polite people who absolutely know how to kill you if necessary. There’s questionable real estate, family secrets, missing money, and shadowy bosses pulling strings in the background. Basically, it’s cozy right up until it’s very much not.

The romance is surprisingly sweet, especially considering both Rose and Max have enough emotional baggage to fill multiple vaults. Max is basically Jack Reacher if Jack Reacher were less broody, slightly more emotionally available, and had an absolutely perfect dog. Rose is done being anyone’s doormat. She’s got survival instincts, deadpan humor, and zero hesitation about inviting a man into her house if it means keeping herself and her daughter safe. Respect.

Cris Dukehart and Eric G. Dove absolutely nail the audiobook. The dual narration works beautifully, and the alternating POVs flow perfectly. Honestly, they made the fast-paced plot even more addictive, and I’d listen to both narrators take on any future books in this series without hesitation.

Sure, some of the plot threads exist mostly to tee up future books, and yes, Max basically gets adopted into this town whether he wants to be or not. But I didn’t mind. The vibe is a little "RED," a little "Schitt’s Creek," and a little "Mr. and Mrs. Smith: Retirement Home Edition." I came for the romance, stayed for the espionage, and now I need more books in this world immediately.

This one landed solidly at 4 stars for me. If you like your small-town romances with a body count (off-page), ex-spies with trust issues, and zero chill but excellent banter, "Rocky Start" absolutely delivers.

Whodunity Award: For Starting A Small Town Romance... With Backup Assassins Standing By

Huge thanks to Brilliance Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced audiobook and for letting me move into Rocky Start early. And extra love to Cris Dukehart and Eric G. Dove for making the chaos even more entertaining.

Rocky Start had all the makings of a fun, chaotic romantic suspense but it took a while to find its footing. The beginning felt a bit scattered, and it was hard to fully connect with the story right away. Also… so many weapons. Like, so many. If you’re into quirky murder mysteries with a side of over-the-top danger and dry banter, it might hit the mark, but for me it was a little too much boom and not enough build.

This book reads like if Finley Donovan is Killing it and the movie Red had a baby. The elderly wet work women were by far my favorite characters.

Rocky Start delivers a cast of absolutely unhinged small-town characters, covert ops energy, and a heroine just trying to keep a roof over her and her daughter’s heads. The town itself practically breathes, and every oddball in it is exactly the kind of chaotic delight you want lurking behind your bakery or popping up with a shovel and no explanation. From antique tea cups, to a mortician to disappear a dead body - this town can quietly serve every need. Rose and Max are both messes with hidden depths, and watching them try to out-stubborn their own wills while fate keeps pushing together and outing old secrets through new mayhem.

There is a littly mysogyny on the edges to be honest - not enough so to ruin the book, but enough to occasionally pull me from the narrative. There is a bit of a "not like other girls" vibe and I am usually not a fan of that. There is nothing wrong with other girls. There is nothing wrong with being a girl, so why does it matter if you are different than every single other one?

The naration was great. While I preferred the female narrator heads and tails over the male, there was nothing wrong wtih male narration. At time it felt more like a kia commercial than a novel, but over all it did not take away from the novel. The female narration only added to it. She was absolutely fantastic.

This review is for the audio book, narrated by Cris Dukehart & Eric G. Dove. Each narrator brought a genuinely delightful tone to their characters and to the story.

Rose has lived in Rocky Start, a very small town straddling the state lines of Tennessee and North Carolina, for 19 years. She got there just before the birth of her daughter, Poppy. Since then, she's been working for, and renting an apartment from, Ozzy, the owner of an "oddities" shop. She's always suspect that there's more to her boss than he's letting on. He never really sells anything, but always keeps the shop open. He also seems to have a strange amount influence amongst the town's other "special" residents.

When Ozzy dies, Rose's state of mind is thrown in to chaos. Will she have a place to live? How will she afford to send Poppy to school? Who is this mysterious, arrogant young man claiming to be Ozzy's son?

And will her past come back to haunt her?

These characters were just plain fun. Rose was such a delight to read. As someone around the same age, her POV and thought process were refreshing.

The plot reads like a campy spy novel, but it's SO engaging. I absolutely loved it.

Definitely worth the time.

I enjoyed this book. I haven't read or listened to anything by either author but I wanted something different, I certainly got that and it won't be my last adventure with them. I enjoyed this book which has got everything, well nearly everything because despite living in this unusual town there is no murder to investigate. Instead the book follows along as both Rose and Max get into trouble. Rose and her daughter live in a town where nobody is who they pretend to be and after the town's protector dies (suddenly but so far not mysteriously) they begin to learn the town's secrets as visitors start turning up. Max, who kind of reminded me of Lee Child's Jack Reacher but with a dog, is a traveling stranger just passing through and only stopping long enough to pick up a package but of course that all changes. The story is told mostly by Rose and Max as they fall for each other and keep the town safe, but there are some other perspectives too, so you get a full picture of what is going on. I really enjoyed the townsfolk, with there unusual personalities and skill set and of course you can't forget the loveable dog. I quite often find myself saying the dog was my favourite character or stole the show but for once there was too many characters that could fit that bill. The story moved at a fast pace as the bad guys started to arrive but did slow down for a bit of romance to take place. I look forward to the next book.
Rose and her daughter Poppy are worried with the unexpected death of there friend that they will not only be job loss but also homeless. Especially as a man claiming to be his son turns up and things turn violent when he tries to turn them out. But he gets more than he was expecting because in a town of ex operatives they look after there own. Rose worked for a con man magician and not the government but when Oz, the town's guardian takes her in and she and her daughter becomes one of them. With Oz's death people come looking for something that puts not only Rose but the whole town in danger. Can they turn to a traveling stranger who is just passing through for help? Max just wants the quiet life, walking the trails with his dog but even he can see a town in the need of help. Will he stay long enough to make a difference?
There are two narrators for this book. This works well because you have no problems remembering which characters perspective you are listening to. They are both good has and provide a number of different character voices.
I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I love Crusie and Mayer, I just do. This isn't high art, it's a romance novel, but it's a romance novel with an interesting setting, interesting characters, and complications which are more than "if these people actually communicated there would be no plot", and stakes which are plausibly life and death.

Behold, a small town where a high death count makes sense, but if law enforcement is investigating the deaths something has gone wrong. It would be an odd setting for a cozy mystery series (though actually I'd read that) but is well suited for the start of a romance series. I really liked the setting and the people who lived there, the authors made good use of implication so that they could give themselves options going forward, while making the location solid for readers.

Rose and Max are what I had hope'd they'd be when I heard of this book. They have morally questionable pasts, and appropriate skill sets and trust issues. Their skill sets are not too broad, though, and their actual weaknesses reasonably affect the plot.

Yeah I need to read the rest of this series. Now.