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The Alibi
Merritt Saxe, newly hired public relations specialist with the Florida prison system, answers an urgent plea from their division’s director, Willard Ware Baintree. Following his orders, she finds him in the apartment of his mistress, his bloody T-shirt and the mistress’s dead body convincing her the criminal justice superstar is himself a criminal. The director claims he didn’t kill the woman and coerces Merritt into being his alibi. Meanwhile, as the director pulls her farther into his web of lies, Merritt breaks with her longstanding boyfriend and begins a steamy relationship with hunky attorney Israel Goodspeed, whose brother works for the director. Yet how can she trust Israel with her secret or her heart when she suspects the director has been orchestrating their relationship to keep her in line? Speaking out about the cover-up could cost her more than time in jail…it could cost her life.
192 pages, Paperback
Published September 13, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 17, 2017
3.5 Stars
How would you react if your boss used you as an alibi? He says he didn't kill his pregnant lover ... but Meritt Saxe saw the body and saw her boss covered in blood. Although she is appalled and scared, he forces her to help him cover up the crime.
She's new at her job and doesn't want to mess that up ... but now she's convinced her boss is a murderer ... so will he come after her if she doesn't keep quiet?
Meritt blames the stress on the breakup with her boyfriend, but then she meets attorney Israel Goodspeed. When she finally breaks down and tells him what she knows, he becomes her protector.
But what will her boss do when confronted?
This is a very short read... less than 150 pages. While well-written, it comes across as more romance than mystery. There is very little suspense and most of the action revolves around Meritt and her boyfriends.
Many thanks to the author / Wild Rose Press, Inc / Netgalley for the digital copy of THE ALIBI. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
How would you react if your boss used you as an alibi? He says he didn't kill his pregnant lover ... but Meritt Saxe saw the body and saw her boss covered in blood. Although she is appalled and scared, he forces her to help him cover up the crime.
She's new at her job and doesn't want to mess that up ... but now she's convinced her boss is a murderer ... so will he come after her if she doesn't keep quiet?
Meritt blames the stress on the breakup with her boyfriend, but then she meets attorney Israel Goodspeed. When she finally breaks down and tells him what she knows, he becomes her protector.
But what will her boss do when confronted?
This is a very short read... less than 150 pages. While well-written, it comes across as more romance than mystery. There is very little suspense and most of the action revolves around Meritt and her boyfriends.
Many thanks to the author / Wild Rose Press, Inc / Netgalley for the digital copy of THE ALIBI. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
December 10, 2017
An easy-read romantic thriller… Through the story of one Jewish girl from Miami, we are witnesses of her up-and-down life. Being in a wrong time in a wrong place, covering her colleague on her new job in Florida, she was called by her director and became his alibi for murder. That will change her life. She will ended her old relationship and she will find herself frighten and lost. Until, in one holiday party, she got her partner, a lawyer Israel Goodspeed. He will help her to back her life and he will became her protector and solve the crime…
Big thanks to Book Unleashed for the opportunity to read this book before released date...
Big thanks to Book Unleashed for the opportunity to read this book before released date...
September 28, 2017
Oh, a mystery that has gripped me from the start. I am not sure why I don’t read much of these stories, but this particular book was all to my liking. I was intrigued from the blurb and so happy to find out it was definitely a time well spent while reading. Meritt Saxe answer her boss’ request to come pick him up and finds herself caught up in a murder that puts her in a very undesirable position. She tells her story about how she had to deal with a secret, all the while trying to find her happiness and regain a balance in life.
What made me like the book even more was the tone of the narration. Merritt’s voice is like listening to a friend confessing her secret, simple and even regretful at times. The difference between the innocent and young PR specialist and the mature character that relates the events is well defined. We see her struggle to prove herself in a rather aggressive world – working in the prison system is not a difficult job, especially for a woman.
The Romance blends beautifully with the thriller side of the story. I believe the author did a wonderful job combining the two, so that the story never leaves its focus. Merritt and Israel’s relationship is under the same painful secret and she will struggle if she should trust him or not.
All in all, I am really pleased with “The Alibi”. It is a great book for fans of crime and thriller, but as well for romance lovers. This is my first book by Marilyn Baron, but I’ve heard so many great things about her writing and our current story is a proof of that. She is definitely an author worth following. Enjoy !
(I have received a copy of this book as part of a blog tour organized by Book Unleashed)
What made me like the book even more was the tone of the narration. Merritt’s voice is like listening to a friend confessing her secret, simple and even regretful at times. The difference between the innocent and young PR specialist and the mature character that relates the events is well defined. We see her struggle to prove herself in a rather aggressive world – working in the prison system is not a difficult job, especially for a woman.
The Romance blends beautifully with the thriller side of the story. I believe the author did a wonderful job combining the two, so that the story never leaves its focus. Merritt and Israel’s relationship is under the same painful secret and she will struggle if she should trust him or not.
All in all, I am really pleased with “The Alibi”. It is a great book for fans of crime and thriller, but as well for romance lovers. This is my first book by Marilyn Baron, but I’ve heard so many great things about her writing and our current story is a proof of that. She is definitely an author worth following. Enjoy !
(I have received a copy of this book as part of a blog tour organized by Book Unleashed)
November 26, 2017
The story is actually set in the past, which is why it threw me in a loop for a moment when that part was revealed in the prologue (which was set in the present). It created an extra bit of mystery to the story which I presume is the intention of the author because there's not much of mystery to the story which hasn't been explained by the blurb.
While it was interesting read especially with the political background, it wasn't a gripping tale I thought it would be. And the characters presented weren't fleshed out to their full potential.
Plot: 4/5
Characterisation: 3/5
Prose: 3.5/5 (1st POV)
How much I enjoyed it: 4/5
Book received from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair review
While it was interesting read especially with the political background, it wasn't a gripping tale I thought it would be. And the characters presented weren't fleshed out to their full potential.
Plot: 4/5
Characterisation: 3/5
Prose: 3.5/5 (1st POV)
How much I enjoyed it: 4/5
Book received from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair review
November 18, 2017
The alibi by Marilyn Baron.
Merritt Saxe, newly hired public relations specialist with the Florida prison system, answers an urgent plea from their division’s director, Willard Ware Baintree. Following his orders, she finds him in the apartment of his mistress, his bloody T-shirt and the mistress’s dead body convincing her the criminal justice superstar is himself a criminal. The director claims he didn’t kill the woman and coerces Merritt into being his alibi.
A good read. I liked the story and the characters. It was just a little slow. 4*. Netgalley and back lit pr.
Merritt Saxe, newly hired public relations specialist with the Florida prison system, answers an urgent plea from their division’s director, Willard Ware Baintree. Following his orders, she finds him in the apartment of his mistress, his bloody T-shirt and the mistress’s dead body convincing her the criminal justice superstar is himself a criminal. The director claims he didn’t kill the woman and coerces Merritt into being his alibi.
A good read. I liked the story and the characters. It was just a little slow. 4*. Netgalley and back lit pr.
October 6, 2017
So you go to school for four years. You have a boyfriend who says that he loves you and wants to marry you. You get out of school and can't find a job in your town that fits your degree. What do you do? Where does that leave you? For Merritt Saxe, this is so not an easy decision. She is faced with moving out of town to work in her field as a Public Relations Specialist OR stay where she is in a dead-end job and hope for her boyfriend to propose after he gets out of law school in three years. Baron has a compelling and entertaining story that will leave readers craving more of these characters lives!
What Merritt thought was a perfect entry-level job in her suited field, turns quickly into a nightmare. What do you do when you have a love struck boss, and an arrogant director who runs the Florida prison system? You suck up and hope that you are doing your job right! When Merritt's boss leaves for the day unexpectedly, she puts Merritt in charge and tells her that nothing should go wrong in her absence. But that is EXACTLY what happens. Shortly after Peggy leaves the office, Director Willard Baintree calls to request assistance. He provides her the address and tells her to get over to him as soon as possible, without letting anyone know of his whereabouts. What seems a little suspicious at first, becomes downright criminal upon seeing the director in blood-stained clothes and his mistress's dead body in the next room. After telling her that he didn't kill her, Merritt knows that she is now his alibi and fears for her life. She has to be at his every beck and call, right? Wouldn't that make her an accessory to murder if she told anyone? Their secret cannot stay bottled up forever, especially once she finds the man of her dreams who happens to be...a lawyer.
Baron does a superb job with character development and credibility. As this mystery slowly unfolds, so many things are thrown at these characters in rapid succession--making the story fun and enticing! The pace is fast, which is a preference for most and the story is creative. If you are a reader of mystery, suspense, and crime fiction, you may want to pick this up!
A copy of this book was provided to Turning Another Page by Book Unleashed, but this in no way affects our honest opinion of the book or the review that has been written. We provide a five-star rating for The Alibi by Marilyn Baron.
What Merritt thought was a perfect entry-level job in her suited field, turns quickly into a nightmare. What do you do when you have a love struck boss, and an arrogant director who runs the Florida prison system? You suck up and hope that you are doing your job right! When Merritt's boss leaves for the day unexpectedly, she puts Merritt in charge and tells her that nothing should go wrong in her absence. But that is EXACTLY what happens. Shortly after Peggy leaves the office, Director Willard Baintree calls to request assistance. He provides her the address and tells her to get over to him as soon as possible, without letting anyone know of his whereabouts. What seems a little suspicious at first, becomes downright criminal upon seeing the director in blood-stained clothes and his mistress's dead body in the next room. After telling her that he didn't kill her, Merritt knows that she is now his alibi and fears for her life. She has to be at his every beck and call, right? Wouldn't that make her an accessory to murder if she told anyone? Their secret cannot stay bottled up forever, especially once she finds the man of her dreams who happens to be...a lawyer.
Baron does a superb job with character development and credibility. As this mystery slowly unfolds, so many things are thrown at these characters in rapid succession--making the story fun and enticing! The pace is fast, which is a preference for most and the story is creative. If you are a reader of mystery, suspense, and crime fiction, you may want to pick this up!
A copy of this book was provided to Turning Another Page by Book Unleashed, but this in no way affects our honest opinion of the book or the review that has been written. We provide a five-star rating for The Alibi by Marilyn Baron.
October 8, 2017
Wow, I was impressed with Marilyn Baron's THE ALIBI. There's a richness of language that paints a picture making it easy, as readers, to drop into the story. As an example: "Watertown was in the middle of Downtown Nowhere, the dictionary definition of a sleepy town— a town that was practically in a coma— where the Spanish Moss grew thick and the Southern accents thicker." And, it gets better with each page.
In case, you haven't figured it out, this isn't a conventional romance. There's no insta-attraction going on. THE ALIBI is an unfolding of a tale filled with Southern, small town mystery, intrigue, suspense, murder, and a bit of down home charm.
Merritt Saxe is an up and coming employee working in the PR department for the Department of Corrections for Florida. While she dislikes Press Releases and speaking with the media, she does her job. Maybe a bit too well. When The Director calls in a panic, she steps in to help out and that's when things really start to get interesting. This story follows along her point of view as she battles with her feelings and conscience over what she knows and what she thinks she knows.
THE ALIBI is humorous, shocking, downright scandalous in a small town sort of way, and an absolute enjoyable read.
This review first appeared in its entirety on The Romance Reviews website.
In case, you haven't figured it out, this isn't a conventional romance. There's no insta-attraction going on. THE ALIBI is an unfolding of a tale filled with Southern, small town mystery, intrigue, suspense, murder, and a bit of down home charm.
Merritt Saxe is an up and coming employee working in the PR department for the Department of Corrections for Florida. While she dislikes Press Releases and speaking with the media, she does her job. Maybe a bit too well. When The Director calls in a panic, she steps in to help out and that's when things really start to get interesting. This story follows along her point of view as she battles with her feelings and conscience over what she knows and what she thinks she knows.
THE ALIBI is humorous, shocking, downright scandalous in a small town sort of way, and an absolute enjoyable read.
This review first appeared in its entirety on The Romance Reviews website.
October 4, 2017
Seriously a good story with romance and suspense. I couldn't put the book down. There was constantly something I just had to get to and once I got to that point there was something just over the next page or two that I couldn't wait to see.
The characters were developed well and I had no trouble feeling their emotions. I enjoyed learning a few things that I didn't know before.
The title is perfect for the story and the cover of the book is great to catch the eye of the reader.
I highly recommend this story to other readers.
The characters were developed well and I had no trouble feeling their emotions. I enjoyed learning a few things that I didn't know before.
The title is perfect for the story and the cover of the book is great to catch the eye of the reader.
I highly recommend this story to other readers.
January 2, 2018
Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview The Alibi by Marilyn Baron.
What do you do when your boss asks you to cover for you - well depends on what it is...and WHY...
This is a quick read about a young woman who is asked to be an alibi for her boss with unexpected consequences.
Fast read but somewhat predictable. Good for a snowy Friday night.
Barnes & Noble
Indie Bookstore
What do you do when your boss asks you to cover for you - well depends on what it is...and WHY...
This is a quick read about a young woman who is asked to be an alibi for her boss with unexpected consequences.
Fast read but somewhat predictable. Good for a snowy Friday night.
Barnes & Noble
Indie Bookstore
September 13, 2017
Can't wait for this release. <3
December 27, 2017
5 Cranky Stars
This story had it all: murder, lies, betrayal, and romance. Merritt Saxe is the type of main character that you admire in one chapter, and then you just want to slap her in the next chapter. Kudos to Marilyn Baron for creating a story that kept me hooked from the beginning.
Merritt Saxe had it all: a promising career as a public relations person for the Florida Corrections Department, and a somewhat loving boyfriend. Something was up with Daniel the boyfriend. I wanted to drop kick him in a couple of scenes. Merritt’s life gets turned upside down when she becomes complicit in the cover up of a murder.
The way the story plays out rivals a Hitchcock thriller. You never know what’s coming next.
This story had it all: murder, lies, betrayal, and romance. Merritt Saxe is the type of main character that you admire in one chapter, and then you just want to slap her in the next chapter. Kudos to Marilyn Baron for creating a story that kept me hooked from the beginning.
Merritt Saxe had it all: a promising career as a public relations person for the Florida Corrections Department, and a somewhat loving boyfriend. Something was up with Daniel the boyfriend. I wanted to drop kick him in a couple of scenes. Merritt’s life gets turned upside down when she becomes complicit in the cover up of a murder.
The way the story plays out rivals a Hitchcock thriller. You never know what’s coming next.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews