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The Good Life #3
The Misdeeds of Sadie Quinn
Business in ruins: one.
Money in the bank: $4.82.
Crime scene: one and counting.
Sadie Quinn’s been down on her luck before, but never like this, and the moment of folly that forces her to go on the run has pushed her out of the fire and into a thermo-nuclear disaster.
Fleeing to the one place she knows she can get her life back on track – her grandfather’s small-town home – presents a complication: The Misdeeds List.
Her grandfather’s non-negotiable condition for letting her live with him is that she must help him relive the misdemeanours of his youth. The problem is, the wilder the acts become, the more attention she gains from the handsome local cop, and for all the wrong reasons.
At first Sadie thinks the misdemeanours are just random acts of madness brought on by an elderly mind that’s beginning to lose its hold on reality. But as she helps her grandfather tick off the items on his list, she begins to see the pieces of a puzzle slotting together – a puzzle that offers clues to her own troubled past.
Now, not only does Sadie need to redeem herself to win the right kind of handsome-cop attention, she must also commit one last and spectacular misdeed to fit the final piece of the puzzle into place.
Something has to give.
The Misdeeds of Sadie Quinn is the third of four stand-alone novels in the award-winning Good Life series.
Money in the bank: $4.82.
Crime scene: one and counting.
Sadie Quinn’s been down on her luck before, but never like this, and the moment of folly that forces her to go on the run has pushed her out of the fire and into a thermo-nuclear disaster.
Fleeing to the one place she knows she can get her life back on track – her grandfather’s small-town home – presents a complication: The Misdeeds List.
Her grandfather’s non-negotiable condition for letting her live with him is that she must help him relive the misdemeanours of his youth. The problem is, the wilder the acts become, the more attention she gains from the handsome local cop, and for all the wrong reasons.
At first Sadie thinks the misdemeanours are just random acts of madness brought on by an elderly mind that’s beginning to lose its hold on reality. But as she helps her grandfather tick off the items on his list, she begins to see the pieces of a puzzle slotting together – a puzzle that offers clues to her own troubled past.
Now, not only does Sadie need to redeem herself to win the right kind of handsome-cop attention, she must also commit one last and spectacular misdeed to fit the final piece of the puzzle into place.
Something has to give.
The Misdeeds of Sadie Quinn is the third of four stand-alone novels in the award-winning Good Life series.
343 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 26, 2021
4 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Merren Tait
7 books32 followersMERREN TAIT is the award-winning author of The Good Life series, a humorous exploration of kick-arse women changing gears and seeking a quieter life in the less-well travelled places of (a fictional) New Zealand. The first book in the series, The Year of the Fox, has been optioned for television.
Merren has lived a series of bookish lives. Her first incarnation was as a book-hungry child, then as a mildly pretentious English literature student. Her third life saw her teaching English to somewhat-willing high school students, and her fourth, sharing her love of books as a librarian. Now she has been reincarnated as a fiction creator.
She is of Scottish, English, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Irish and German extraction and attributes her cross-cultural comedic flair to the enthusiastic interbreeding of her ancestors.
Merren lives in a small house on a large piece of land near Raglan, New Zealand, where she dreams up fabulous names for her chickens. Like Princess Layer.
Merren has lived a series of bookish lives. Her first incarnation was as a book-hungry child, then as a mildly pretentious English literature student. Her third life saw her teaching English to somewhat-willing high school students, and her fourth, sharing her love of books as a librarian. Now she has been reincarnated as a fiction creator.
She is of Scottish, English, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Irish and German extraction and attributes her cross-cultural comedic flair to the enthusiastic interbreeding of her ancestors.
Merren lives in a small house on a large piece of land near Raglan, New Zealand, where she dreams up fabulous names for her chickens. Like Princess Layer.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 3, 2022
Merren Tait is one of my absolute favorite authors. She writes the most fabulous characters and settings in her native New Zealand, and her books are filled with pathos, humour and love. The Misdeeds of Sadie Quinn starts with Sadie on the run from her ex, driving a car that's on its last legs and having accidentally adopted a goat. She's heading to an out of the way town to hide at her grandfather's house, Poppy. But when she arrives, the curmudgeonly man she remembers growing up has been replaced by a man with the mental age of a naughty, eight-year-old boy. Poppy tells Sadie she can stay, but only if she helps him recreate the 'misdeeds' he did as a kid. Sadie isn't sure if Poppy is genuinely experiencing a new lease of life, or if he's officially losing his marbles, but she's got nowhere else to go so sticks around to try and keep him out of the trouble he so wants to be in. Complicating matters is the town's only policeman, Callum. He grew up in the house next to Poppy and has only ever interacted with Sadie three times, each occasion resulting in his bodily harm. Now Sadie can't seem to get rid of him and she's not sure if he's hanging around because he might like her, or he's onto Poppy's mad schemes.
This book is simply brilliant. Sadie is a character who has never truly embraced who she is, both physically and emotionally. She's six foot three, and as a woman who is six foot herself, I know exactly what it feels like to have people making your height the most important thing about you, and usually for all the wrong reasons. Sadie feels like a failure in everything she does, but she's determined to do the best for Poppy, when the rest of the family are trying to get him into a home. And Callum is one of the most understated and hot heroes I have ever read. He's just wonderful, with lots of Rory vibes from Highland Games.
The side characters and locations are also richly drawn and utterly engaging. This book drew me in from the first page and didn't let go until it wrung tears from me with the last line. Merren Tait is a writing tour de force, and The Misdeeds of Sadie Quinn is a multi-faceted diamond of a book. Go read it now!
This book is simply brilliant. Sadie is a character who has never truly embraced who she is, both physically and emotionally. She's six foot three, and as a woman who is six foot herself, I know exactly what it feels like to have people making your height the most important thing about you, and usually for all the wrong reasons. Sadie feels like a failure in everything she does, but she's determined to do the best for Poppy, when the rest of the family are trying to get him into a home. And Callum is one of the most understated and hot heroes I have ever read. He's just wonderful, with lots of Rory vibes from Highland Games.
The side characters and locations are also richly drawn and utterly engaging. This book drew me in from the first page and didn't let go until it wrung tears from me with the last line. Merren Tait is a writing tour de force, and The Misdeeds of Sadie Quinn is a multi-faceted diamond of a book. Go read it now!
October 30, 2021
I loved this book - it’s very funny and offers pathos as well. Merren goes from strength to strength with each novel in this series.
February 13, 2023
My library did a blind date with a book for valentines and based on only the first line, I chose this one.
I don’t think I would have ever picked it up otherwise, it just wouldn’t have fell into my radar, but it was good and I would read another Tait novel in the future. Cute story with twists I didn’t expect to even expect to have!
I don’t think I would have ever picked it up otherwise, it just wouldn’t have fell into my radar, but it was good and I would read another Tait novel in the future. Cute story with twists I didn’t expect to even expect to have!
October 30, 2021
Another wonderfully fun story of a beautiful woman struggling in the world by Merren Tait. I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as her first two, but I liked the plot, the outcome, and the sex scenes as she always does quite a job on these.
November 8, 2021
I loved this book! The characters were quirky and endearing, the antics of the locals hilarious, and the plot was completely captivating. Some very funny dialogue and steamy sex scenes. Looking forward to the next one!
May 7, 2022
Another great read, full of entertaining characters who are relatable on an emotional level. I felt like I was almost directly involved in their negotiation of life’s challenges as Merren brings a very Kiwi essence to them.
July 17, 2022
Very funny, fast paced, and in the end, moving. Bonus for raunch hounds: a sex scene that's genuinely well written (though still pretty cringe inducing since - declaration of interest - written by my sister).
September 18, 2025
fabulous, can't wait to read the fourth, and I hope there will be more after that
November 9, 2021
Enjoyed this book as much as Merrens
others books! Made me laugh out loud..was so, so funny from the first pages! I can't wait to read her next book!
others books! Made me laugh out loud..was so, so funny from the first pages! I can't wait to read her next book!
March 5, 2023
Thank you Merren Tait!
Another wonderful story that made me laugh and cry. Excellent writing from the very first sentence to the very last.
Another wonderful story that made me laugh and cry. Excellent writing from the very first sentence to the very last.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews