GRR Reviews Slim To None by Freya Barker

Emma's daughter is all grown up, and she decided to move to Cedar Tree and start her life alone. Being disabled and needed to use a cane or walker, she is nonetheless beautiful and active, doing freelance bookkeeping and bake pies for her best friend's diner. Until a strange phone call in the night stirred her blood like never before... // Gus, private investigator, is on the trail of bail jumper who may have info on a mob boss he wanted to take down. Links took him to Cedar Tree, where he is supposed to find a bookkeeper... like the Red-headed Emma. When someone tossed Emma's house, and Emma's clearly in danger, Gus steps in as Emma's protector, and love bloomed. But someone from Gus' past is watching... and waiting for retribution...

Good romantic suspense with a couple of good twists and turns, plus enjoyable main characters. Gus is protective without overbearing and a disabled heroine? An unusual but inspired choice. 5/5

GRR Reviews Decker and Joy by Elle Rush

Private Investigator Decker is chasing down an escaped prototype named E.L.V.I.S for North Pole Unlimited's top-secret research division, and he knew it's somewhere in this town, a few weeks before Halloween... // Joy is busy handling foster animals and the store at Kitten Caboodle. The policy is not to allow the adoption of black kittens during October, and they just happen to have three (came as a package). So when someone starts to get REALLY insistent on adopting those kittens, something feels very wrong. // Decker and Joy met when Decker found that his missing prototype may have been shipped to Joy's store, just as someone pulled off a triple kitten-napping by starting a huge distraction. Now the two will have to work together...

Light-hearted and fun, but it's more adventure than romance. 3.5/5

GRR Security Risk by Megan Matthews

Tabitha left her old life behind to start over in Pelican Bay, by borrowing a bit of her abusive ex-boyfriend's cash, not that she plan to spend it all. She inherited a house from her aunt in the town, and meeting her hunky but gruff neighbor, Ridge, was... nice, as are her other neighbors. But why is her ex Mario chasing her down by sending in his scary lieutenant? Where are the diamonds they keep insisting she took with her? Will she live through it?

Uh, hate to say this, but this book smells like amateur writing. Tabitha fell for the first handsome guy she saw despite surviving years of abuse. She couldn't recognize a mafia front despite lived years next to it (and happen to have couple hundred thousand lying around in CASH) and basically has too many TSTL moments to count. Oh, and Ridge? Total caricature of a security guy. 2/5

GRR Reviews A Cowboy Firefighter for Christmas by Kim Redford

Misty is just driving into Wildcat Bluff near Christmas when she was flagged down by a half-naked cowboy who needed her help to put out a suspicious grass fire. Turns out he's Trey, hot cowboy, and volunteer firefighter. She's surprised she was able to help, as she had bad memories of both fires and Christmas. Someone is committing arson in the area, and Misty can't tell Trey that she's actually an investigator trying to find out if the fires are set by their rivals, or is there a separate firebug involved... But they definitely feel hot for each other...

Nice, good bits about personal fears and overcoming them. The mystery aspect OTOH is a bit on the "meh" side. 4/5

GRR Reviews Never Goodbye by Ruth Cardello

Ian is the secret fixer in the family. He has made connections and learned skills to remove any and all obstacles in his family's path. Having failed to locate their lost brother himself (see book 5 and book 6) made him believe he had failed his family and made him doubt everyone he came across... including Claire, his "new" brother's wife's best friend, and life coach. // Claire stepped away from her life coach job in Australia to accompany her best friends to the US and help them settle in. She did not expect to fall under the microscope of a paranoid Ian, now suspecting EVERYBODY. But Claire knew how to handle difficult people, and Ian may have met his match. But can Claire make Ian see that his relentless pursuit of the truth have made him forget his ultimate responsibility, i.e. his family?

Deeper than you first suspect, the initial coupling was basically angry-sex, where each line verbal sparring is flirting. But it's the subsequent developments, and the slow realization by Ian that his pursuit of the truth may actually end up hurting him and his family, that makes it good. I usually have a problem with the "run away to sort my feelings" trope. But here, it pivoted into a hurt/comfort trope, which served as a setup for the darkest hour. Now THAT is a good way to use the "run away to sort my feelings" trope. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Make-Believe Honeymoon by Vivi Holt

Callum, ex-SEAL, is now a private investigator. He needs to investigate a case where a billionaire with biological children died and left EVERYTHING to his step-son. When this step-son booked a cabin on a Honeymoon cruise with a wife, he needs to get onboard... Which means finding a fake wife ASAP. // Jessie, single mother and former beat cop, is moving home after her husband (a fellow cop) was gunned down by corrupt cops. She chose to start over as private investigator, and it seems her first assignment will be a pretend-wife to Callum on a cruise. She's definitely not ready for love, and definitely not with her boss. But with the magic of the Caribbean cruise, who knows what will happen, even as they try to uncover a nefarious plot?

I saw the ending long before the actual end, but it was done well nonetheless. There are just too many points of mystery and suspicious behavior and there can be only one conclusion. It was also pretty ingenious to mix it with a fake marriage trope. 4/5

GRR Reviews Dirty Exes by Rachel Van Dyken

Blaire enjoys being half of "Dirty Exes", a PI firm that specializes in humiliating cheating jerks. Then she found their latest client on the dirt on Jessie Beckett... her ex, who left her to star in the NFL. She knew he's married since, but she didn't know he's cheating... The problem is Blaire is still attracted to Jessie, even though his best friend, hotel magnate Collin, also wants her... and he's willing to trade some help with her job for her affection. How's a girl going to balance between work and play, and between two guys, one totally right and the other totally wrong?

Good romcom, with a mix of responsibilities that managed to NOT turn angst-y. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews The Temptress by C J Fallowfield

Lulu came from a distinguished background. Her father works with British Intelligence, but she didn't want government service. So she created "Sweet Temptations", a honeytrap agency, to test men (and women) for their spouses, and if the customer pays well enough. to MANUFACTURE proof of straying. But her personal life floundered, for she's a single mother with a son from ONE blessed union with a Frenchmen, Luc in Paris, who's so skilled and so loving, she had not experienced such passion EVER SINCE. But due to circumstances beyond her control, she lost contact with him, and held an everlasting regret since. Her latest job came as a personal request by a Mrs. Le Grande, who flew to London specifically to meet with her, and offered up a 7-figure fee to "prove" her husband had strayed.  Seems Mr. Le Grande comes to London for a few days every week. So Lulu wore her disguise and approached the bar... and got the shock of her life... For Mr. Le Grande is none other than her Luc. Now she's caught between her job, her status quo... and her love for Luc... And Mrs. Le Grande won't let her walk away that easily...

Very good, and very hot sex. Though the frequent flashbacks to six years ago and back to today had robbed the narrative quite a bit of the momentum, IMHO. I personally would have started in the bar, as she approached the guy (she didn't know is Luc), then start the flashback, continue until they lost contact), rather than jumping back and forth between present and past. The motivations even make sense. One last remark: the first thing a blackmailer should do is to make sure there's nothing that can be held over the blackmailer him/herself, and let's just say, Mrs LeGrande didn't do that. But how that's found was a bit too... easy, as if it's a deus ex machina.  4.5/5

GRR Reviews Colt, Billionaire Reunion by Alexa Verde and Autumn Macarthur

Colt divorced his wife Mirabella when she disappeared chasing a case. He assumed she simply left him and the kids behind, and she kept so many secrets...  But she's back, and she claimed to have been injured and lost 4 years of her memories. And the children... were not borne by her... but a surrogate... Yet another secret.  How can he trust her ever again?  // Mirabella didn't plan to be gone for years. Being caught by a serial killer in his deadman's trap that almost killed her also left her amnesiac for years. But she still has to find her best friend's killer... who was probably NOT the serial killer. But if it's a copycat, why? Who knew them well enough to be sending them daisies, the same MO as "the Daisy Killer"? And who is saving whom this time?

Hmmm... Good twist at the end, in presenting the whole thing as a murder mystery with a ton of angst-y issues to solve. But at times, the angst seems to have overtaken the plot. 4/5

GRR Reviews Always Room for Cupcakes by Bethany Lopez

Lila was betrayed by her husband when she found him muff-diving on another woman in parking lot of Starbucks in a car. She took a photo, and plastered it all over town. Now she's divorced and raising three kids alone. That little expose lead to a private investigator, Moose, wanting to hire her for some work, and a group of close friends. Lila's latest assignment seems to be leading her into some drug cartel trying to setup in town headed by someone called Hector... and a sexy guy on a Harley and motorcycle leathers by the name of Cade who rescues her in times of need. But is he a hero... or a hidden villain? And when Hector found her interferring again and again... What will happen to her?

The book is weird, as if it was written by two different authors. The tone was funny and light and happy in the first half, esp. up to the point of Cade showing up and wanted to woo Lila. But the end, when Hector caught up, had a TOTAL tonal shift, with extreme violence (let's just say limbs, death, and destruction) and bondage play first time? Really? 3/5

GRR Reviews Clair (Beach Brides) by Grace Greene

Clair joined her friends on Enchanted Island in throwing her wish of a husband as a message in a bottle into the ocean. But secretly, she was engaged to her boss and business partner, Sean. So she's not really looking for anyone. But upon her return, Sean soon disappeared, leaving her with bills and bill collectors. Clair was forced to return to her hometown to live with her sisters. // Ten months later, Greg arrived in Clair's hometown. He's actually a private investigator, to check up on Clair. But Greg fell for Clair quickly, even as he figured out what his client wanted. Now Greg must confess his initial duplicity for a chance at happily ever after...

Okay, this isn't the first "evil ex sent PI to check on woman, but PI fell for woman" plot I've seen. In fact, I've just finished one (check out "Fool Me Once" by Catherine Bybee). This one is not bad, but lacks certain complications and charms. 3/5

GRR Reviews Fool Me Once by Catherine Bybee

Divorce attorney Lori is a divorcee herself, and she's a part of a secret company called Alliance, that arranges "marriages of convenience" for rich and famous clients. She doesn't believe in happily ever after. When several of her clients are now single, and one of them was embroiled by controversy due to unexpected circumstances, she arranged a Caribbean cruise for the group and found herself tempted by one man: Reed. // Reed quit the police force when his superiors were more interested in a cover-up than justice. Becoming a PI seems natural, meeting Lori was definitely a bonus. And when Reed found out Lori's secrets, he found himself conflicted, as Lori was not the target (yet she unwittingly supplied the clue that allowed him to figure out the rest), but if he reported back, Lori will take the fall. And if he confessed, Lori would surely never wanted to see him again... Then the decision was taken out of his hands, for there are other players at play as well... And they all wanted Lori's secrets...

Ah, nice twists and turns. Reed is definitely a conflicted character who wanted to do the right thing, and tries to ride that line between ethics. Lori's cynicism was tested again and again. Like this a lot. 5/5

GRR Reviews Christmas Miracle in July by G M Gauthier

Jack had always hated Christmas. So when his latest assignment as a private investigator took him to Christmas Town, where Christmas is 24/7/365, it's almost like hell on Earth. And the client Mr. Edwards, demands nightly reports... on time, even when there wasn't much to report on. Meeting the storekeeper Charlotte was nice, but he's on the case, and Charlotte is in the center of it. Things got complicated when Jack developed feelings for Charlotte, and Charlotte is determined to help Jack see the Christmas spirit...

Cute, with a good twist (you finally learn WHY Mr. Edwards launched the investigation). Not exactly a miracle, but it's a warm and fuzzy read. 4/5

GRR Reviews Captured by Ella Goode

Luna hopes that this latest job, being a private investigator, will break her string of bad luck jobs (all of which featured spectacular failures). This time, all she has to do is sit in her car, occasionally use her camera, and follow the subject, Maddox, around, from a distance. What can go wrong? // Maddox knew he's being followed. But when his tail refused to engage, he's intrigued. Now he'll turn the tables... and engage her.  And in the end, he will capture her...

Ah, disguises, one of the perennial tropes of romance, and makes for good rom-com as well. It's all about the hidden agenda, where each person knows more than they are letting on. And yes, you'll learn who hired Luna. It's a bit of "insta-love", but it's handled quite nicely in this short (just over 100 pages) novel.  4/5

GRR Reviews Logan by Melissa Foster

Logan was a retired navy SEAL now a private investigator. He felt responsible for his father getting shot dead by an intruder and his mother blinded by the same intruder while he's on active duty. For years, he hung on, living from day to day, doing cases, trying not to feel anything... Until he saw the strong yet vulnerable "Stormy" bartender being accosted by a drunk party guy... and he saw red. He saved her, and she, while not wanted to admit her own problems, found him attractive, yet it had been so long... But with her evil ex ready to get out of jail in merely days, she just wants to enjoy the present before she had to run again... But Logan is determined to help her to put it all behind her... if he can only get her to open up... because he has connections...

Man saves beautiful woman hiding from evil ex... evergreen trope, but this one got some interesting polish. Too bad we never get the see the real evil in action. Still, a good if not spectacular romantic suspense.

Category: Contemporary / Romantic suspense

Overall Rating: 4/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Fierce Attraction by J B Heller

Ashlynn is a shy librarian who was almost killed by her crazy boyfriend when her pregnancy turned out to be a false alarm. Her ex went to prison, but she's traumatized for life. She thought she's getting better, but she's not ready to date, when Axel walked through the door of her library... // Axel is a PI who wondered if he can ever find the right woman, when he ran into Ashlynn in the library. One look and he knew she's the woman for him, but she's not ready to date... but with a bit of consultation, he knew he can wait... That is until they found Ashlynn's evil ex had just skipped his parole check-in...

Axel and Ashlynn are okay characters, but the solution was a bit much on serendipity. Overall, there isn't much that raised this above the ordinary.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 3/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Stand By Your Man (Women Running Wild) by Bobby Hutchinson

Stand by Your Man is a great rom-com / mystery hybrid when a female PI is forced into multiple conflicting loyalties including love and family, and her attempt to walk the tight-rope keeping everyone happy resulted in even worse problems.

Maddie is a PI, that is being squeezed from all sides. Her sister Francie seems to have fallen for a criminal, Sebastian, and wanted Maddie to help her prove his innocence. However, Seattle Police was quite sure Seb is guilty of something. Then Seb's brother Finn hired Maddie to find the truth too. Finn makes Maddie tingle in all the right ways, and Maddie loves Finn's daughter Zoe. Now Maddie is totally conflicted as to how to go about the investigation... look for evidence to sink Seb... or to set him free? Can she play both sides while keeping Finn happy? Or will the whole thing just destroy her under an avalanche of conflicting responsibilities?

All the different conflicts were masterfully wrapped up at the end. The conflict is multi-layered and all escalated properly with deadlines. This is some masterful plotting to a great resolution.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: A female PI is caught between family loyalty and truth as she checks into her sister's beau and falls for the beau's brother

Overall Rating: 5/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Her Fierce SEAL: Midnight Delta Book 6 by Caitlyn O'Leary

While the overall plot wasn't bad in "Her Fierce SEAL", the author made the fundamental mistake by making her MMCs US Navy SEALs, as this book had them running around the US being bodyguards, law enforcement, going undercover like spies, and stuff they were NOT supposed to be doing BY LAW (i.e. deploy in the US) that made the book fundamentally flawed.

To recap, Finn Crandall had to deal with the aftermath of his undercover assignment and he regretted not having saved as many of the victims as he could have on all his previous assignments, and it's eating him up inside. He asked for leave and fled to Texas, and happened to run into Angie Donatelli, a PI trying to reunite a mother with her baby who was kidnapped and sold to illegal adoption. Angie always relied on herself, even when taking down monsters who beat up women and paid a price for it too. And when Angie's life was being threatened, Finn's protective instincts kicked into full gear, even as they found that the case Angie was investigating had everything to do with Finn and Team Midnight Delta's previous tangle with the bad guys... even as a new link with the Bratva appeared with a link to a corrupt general, it is time for Midnight Delta team and Angie's family to take a stand...

SEALs are not spies, mercenaries, or bodyguards. Due to this FUNDAMENTAL problem contrary to reality, it is impossible to give this book a higher than average mark. Add to the unrealistic shootout scenario that had the SEAL team members acting as if they're in an Old Western shootout (knock out the glass in the window and shoot back!) and you're left with a "SEAL abuse" novel that the author arbitrarily slapped "SEAL trope" onto a bunch of generic alpha military males.

Strangely, the first novel, where the lieutenant rescued someone while on his midnight jog, wasn't that fact-abusive. But it seems every subsequent novel the fact abuse got worse and worse. There are much better romances dealing with on-duty SEAL or even ex-SEALs that don't abuse reality like this.

Category: Romantic Suspense / Military

Primary Plot: SEAL on vacation ran into private investigator who was working a case he used to be involved in; baby trafficking...

Tropes: disguise, SEAL, private investigator, kidnapping, protector, woman in peril

Overall Rating:  2/5

GRR Reviews The Almost Wives Club: Kate by Nancy Warren

Almost Wives Club: Kate is a girl finding her place in life, and away from other's expectations, even if she had to become a "bad girl" to do it. There were a ton of emotional growth, but other than the few main characters, the "evil" (i.e. the family that keep arranging things for her) are just flat as heck.

To recap... Kate Winton-Jones was content in letting everybody else setting her course... into marrying Edward Carnarvon III, who's rich, handsome, and a proper match to her beauty and social standing. That was, until she discovered, by accident, that her fiancee had set up a honeytrap test for her by sending a private investigator to attempt to seduce her, right after she had signed a pre-up. Thoroughly humiliated and betrayed, she threw the engagement ring at Edward (drawing blood), left the estates on a bicycle, took Uber into town, swapped cars with her best friend, sent her phone to Miami, booked a vacation to Phoenix, bought a train ticket to New York, and drove her friend's horrible VW bug and ended up in Carlsbad, not too far from LA, where she lived an unexpected life... as a surfing instructor, for she was at one time, a top surfer, until the "proper" life claimed her. She was surprised when the PI showed up as one of her students... He had tracked her down, but he claimed he was just there looking for her on his own behalf and he was absolutely honest when he said "Don't marry him, Kate" back at the sting. She decided that she's tired of being the good girl... and sleeping with the PI, who was his fiancee's best friend, may be indeed the right thing to do...

Kate basically tired of being "the good girl" but just screwing around wasn't helping the situation. If one guy tracked her down, other people can too. My problem with the book is not with the morals of sleeping around, but rather, how Kate finally learned to be manipulative... By finding out her intended's secret, and basically used that to force HIM to agree to break off the engagement that neither really wanted. For a girl that got tired of the gilded cage, to see her using a gilded stick just somehow felt... "wrong" on some level.

And I must say the chemistry between her and the PI just didn't feel that warm and fuzzy. Still, it's an emotional journey.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman, after finding out she was "tested" for her fidelity by her fiancee with help of PI, ran away humiliated and chose to live her dream. PI tracked her down to make sure she's safe...

Tropes: runaway bride, Private Investigator, coming of age, triangle

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Review: Sinful Intent by Chelle Bliss

"Sinful Intent" by Chelle Bliss was a basic trope of opposites attract with a dose of strong protector. Unfortunately, there's really nothing really outstanding about this story.

Morgan DeLuca came onto the the Alfa PI and his first job is to check out a stalker. However, the client is someone he instantly wanted to bed. But the client, Race True was not just a woman, but a fast driver, tough career woman, but oh so lonely. As the two fell for each other in only a few days,  their personalities clashed, but their urges are undeniable. As Morgan investigates stuff into Race's past, they increasingly feel something more than just lust, but it will take an ultimate threat to Race to make them realize their love for each other.

The characters are a bit shallow, and some auxiliary characters did not need to be there and thus felt extraneous. The suspense also wasn't quite paced properly so the ending feel a bit off in terms of ratcheting up the tension. All in all, tolerable, but nothing to write home about.

Category: Romantic Suspense

Primary Plot: Woman needing the PI's help to solve a stalker situation; PI falls for her

Overall Rating:  3/5