It's common knowledge in Plentiful, Wyoming, that bookstore owner Scarlett O'Malley imagines trouble brewing everywhere. Of course, real trouble bubbles over the day an enigmatic stranger named Logan Wolfe shows up in town. The outsider's one hunk of a guy, with a smile that could knock a redhead off her sky-high heels. But when a mysterious woman literally drops dead at Scarlett's feet and the town's wealthiest widow disappears, suspicion falls on the secretive man. Scarlett is positive Logan's up to something -- but is he out to scam the people in town, or steal her heart?
The last thing Logan wants is a screwball sleuth dogging his footsteps and digging into his past. The ex-cop came to Plentiful to escape the madness of Las Vegas and to ditch bad memories, not to have some zany redhead with a man-killer body mess with his peace of mind or history that's better off buried. But Logan can't help admiring Scarlett's spirit -- or the gold stars dangling from her belly button ring. And when her wacky investigation takes a surprising turn, Logan finds himself glued to Scarlett's side, helping her look for clues, keeping her out of trouble -- and maybe falling in love ...
Always a romantic, Patti Berg spent her childhood dreaming about being whisked away by a knight in shining armor, a devil-may-care swashbuckler, s sheik on a shiny black stallion, or a broad-shouldered cowboy with a Stetson tilted low on his brow. Now she spends her days making up stories where her heroes do whatever she wants them to. Patti lives in Northern California with her husband, Rob.
Ditsy heroine who jumps to conclusions while "solving" mysteries and getting herself into trouble. Hunky stranger who may or may not be a thief, a gigolo or even a murderer. Story reads as if it's part of a series but apparently it's just poor writing and not a series at all. A cute story but really predictable.
I found this book on my shelves on a random Friday night and decided to donate it to make room for my newest purchases. I then decided to read all the books in the discard pile prior to committing to letting them go 😂 starting with this one. No clue where/when I acquired this book, and I had never heard of the author before, so I did a little research. Which led to my discovery that just 4 months prior to my decision to read this, Patti Berg had passed away after a battle with cancer. Having lost my father 5 months ago to the same disease, I knew my still very raw grief would likely cause me to give this author more grace than I normally would, and I was correct.
Scarlett is a young, petite, redheaded spitfire of a woman, also a mystery bookstore owner, living in smalltown Plentiful, Wyoming. One day, the Big Bad Wolfe (aka Logan) makes his appearance - and no one in town knows who he is but for wealthy, old Opal. Scarlett and her 3 friends (all elderly women - & the group refers to themselves as the Tuesday Morning Sleuths, mind you), set out to solve the mystery of just who this strange man is and what are his intentions for sweet, unassuming Opal?
The level of cringe, nicknames, & corny play on words in this book might lead one to believe it’s a quite innocent read, but to much eyebrow-raising surprise, this one has its fair share of smut 😂
Two very specific things my inner critic must vent about, the first being Patti’s unfortunate tendency to be very repetitive… we had very thorough descriptions of Scarlett’s attire (think hooker: short leather skirts, cropped tops, and “sky-high stilettos”) which is quite risqué for a bookstore owner who is often climbing ladders to shelve books… and literally someone’s eyes were ALWAYS narrowed, and Scarlett was forever huffing at a wayward red curl that would undoubtedly fall right back in place despite her most determined efforts.
My greatest annoyance is Patti’s disturbing obsession with belly buttons & belly button rings. Rest assured Scarlett always had one dangling at her midsection and poor ol’ Logan just couldn’t keep his eyes off of it.
I’ve never purposefully DNF’d a book, and though it was tempting, I’ll give it to Patti - the actual mystery Scarlett & Logan work together to solve is what got me through to the very end. A little mystery, hot + heavy insta love, & a bit of a miscommunication trope… a mindless distraction if you need one, I suppose.
Is there such a genre as cozy mystery romance? If so then this book would be it. In the beginning it seemed more of the cozy mystery, then it was more romance. A little more of one or the other and this would be an excellent book.
THIS AUTHOR NEVER LETS ME DOWN. ALWASY A FUN AND DELIGHTFUL READ. HERE WE HAVE SOME ROMANCE AND SOME MYSTERY. WHAT MORE CAN ONE ASK FOR. I LOVE THE CURVE BALLS YOU GET IN THESE BOOKS SHE WRITE. JUST A NICE BREAK FROM MY REGULAR MYSTERY BOOKS. THIS IS A CUTE FUNNY BOOK WITH MYSTERY IN IT.