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The San Francisco Mystery #7
Lady Hawthorne
√ Spy thriller
* A love triangle
√ Dark ops mission
* Forced proximity
√ Temptation
* A kiss of fantasy
√ Steamy lesbian romance
* HEA
√ Part of a thriller series but can be read as a standalone
Fallout from Dr. Jen Dawson’s sexcapade with Victoria Marshall results in a bloody gash to Tommy Vietti’s head. Dr. Jen and Amanda Hawthorne take Tommy to the hospital where his wound is repaired with staples, but their relationship remains frayed. While there, the three bruised friends are recruited to pick up the pieces from a bioterrorist attack. Dr. Jen volunteers to treat patients in the Emergency Room while Tommy and Amanda join forces with Agent Roxy MacNeil to investigate.
On their dangerous international mission, Amanda summons her inner strength to avoid falling into old habits as she learns earth-shattering revelations about her Scottish ancestry. Titillated by Amanda’s discovery, Roxy pulls Tommy and Amanda deeper into the tangled web of her manipulative, duplicitous world.
Dr. Jen works day and night treating victims of the mass attack, including someone once very special to her. She desperately misses her daughter, Kristin, but makes a new friend in Nurse Denni Russo.
Tommy feels like he’s walking on shifting sands as he transitions from a city detective to an international agent, relying on his gut instincts, drinking abilities, and shooting skills. Roxy, Tommy, and Amanda might be outgunned and outnumbered on foreign soil, but they’ll never be outsmarted as they attempt to save humanity.
Will Jen and Amanda’s promise to let bygones be bygones withstand distance, temptations, and life-threatening circumstances?
* A love triangle
√ Dark ops mission
* Forced proximity
√ Temptation
* A kiss of fantasy
√ Steamy lesbian romance
* HEA
√ Part of a thriller series but can be read as a standalone
Fallout from Dr. Jen Dawson’s sexcapade with Victoria Marshall results in a bloody gash to Tommy Vietti’s head. Dr. Jen and Amanda Hawthorne take Tommy to the hospital where his wound is repaired with staples, but their relationship remains frayed. While there, the three bruised friends are recruited to pick up the pieces from a bioterrorist attack. Dr. Jen volunteers to treat patients in the Emergency Room while Tommy and Amanda join forces with Agent Roxy MacNeil to investigate.
On their dangerous international mission, Amanda summons her inner strength to avoid falling into old habits as she learns earth-shattering revelations about her Scottish ancestry. Titillated by Amanda’s discovery, Roxy pulls Tommy and Amanda deeper into the tangled web of her manipulative, duplicitous world.
Dr. Jen works day and night treating victims of the mass attack, including someone once very special to her. She desperately misses her daughter, Kristin, but makes a new friend in Nurse Denni Russo.
Tommy feels like he’s walking on shifting sands as he transitions from a city detective to an international agent, relying on his gut instincts, drinking abilities, and shooting skills. Roxy, Tommy, and Amanda might be outgunned and outnumbered on foreign soil, but they’ll never be outsmarted as they attempt to save humanity.
Will Jen and Amanda’s promise to let bygones be bygones withstand distance, temptations, and life-threatening circumstances?
- GenresMysteryContemporary
365 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 26, 2022
About the author
Alexi Venice
29 books400 followersAlexi Venice writes award-winning medical, legal, and crime thrillers with smart and gritty female leads. Her stories blend high-stakes investigations, courtroom shenanigans, emotional depth, and character-driven romance in the relentless pursuit of justice.
Both The San Francisco Mystery Series and The Monica Spade Trilogy are Lesfic Bard Award winners. Standby Counsel was named Best Legal Thriller of 2021 by BestThrillers.com, and Baking Ice Cubes was a BestThrillers.com Legal Thriller finalist in 2025.
With thirty-four years of legal practice informing her storylines, Venice brings authenticity to the page. Her heart and imagination fuel the slow-burn, and sometimes forbidden, romance.
When Venice isn’t writing, she’s wrangling grandsons and playing on the lake.
Both The San Francisco Mystery Series and The Monica Spade Trilogy are Lesfic Bard Award winners. Standby Counsel was named Best Legal Thriller of 2021 by BestThrillers.com, and Baking Ice Cubes was a BestThrillers.com Legal Thriller finalist in 2025.
With thirty-four years of legal practice informing her storylines, Venice brings authenticity to the page. Her heart and imagination fuel the slow-burn, and sometimes forbidden, romance.
When Venice isn’t writing, she’s wrangling grandsons and playing on the lake.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 8, 2023
WTH with Roxy !! one has a love/hate about her!
December 18, 2022
A steamy spy thriller that crackles with international intrigue, lesbian romance and horny humor. Highly entertaining. Recommended for spy thriller fans looking for some spice, and for avid lesfic fans looking for high-stakes intrigue.
In the 7th installment in Alexi Venice’s San Francisco Mystery Series, bioterrorists have attacked a local water treatment facility. Early evidence points to Russia, who may be retaliating against the U.S. for assisting Ukraine in the war effort. But CIA agent Roxy MacNeil suspects there may be more to the story. This isn’t just a local threat, and if she can’t find an antidote quickly, global water supplies may be at risk.
Roxy recruits series heroine and ex-lover Amanda Hawthorne for the mission. While never one to run from a fire, Amanda also has personal reasons to welcome the assignment. For one thing, she’s just been fired. Adding to her troubles, longtime soulmate Dr. Jen Dawson has just cheated on her (a revenge romp for Amanda’s fling with Roxy). Amanda’s still recovering from a fight with the “vicious dominatrix” who took Jen to bed.
Joining the mission are Jen’s ex-fiance and baby daddy, detective Tommy Vietti. That leaves Jen to work at the hospital, where scores of victims are arriving – including someone she knows intimately. All the while, Jen longs to reclaim the life she and Amanda shared.
The globetrotting mission – which takes the trio from California to multiple locations in Scotland (where series fans will be delighted with fresh insight into Amanda’s ancestry) – is engaging enough on its own. But the narrative hook is a seemingly endless series of sexual temptations. Jen knows her ex all too well, fearing that by letting her go off with Roxy, she’s given Amanda “a license to philander.” And let’s not forget handsome Tommy, who was once poised to father another child with Amanda (with Jen’s blessing, no less).
While Venice juggles a large cast, the book’s star remains Amanda. Despite enduring heartbreak, she’s also a ton of fun – empowered with crackling, make-you-blush dialogue that will trigger more than a few laugh-out-loud moments (example: in response to Tommy’s clueless pronunciation of a bridge, “Must you pronounce it like an erect penis?”). In all, the book’s witty banter, timely terror plot and a steamy romance make for a highly entertaining read. Lady Hawthorne bodes well for the future of the series.
In the 7th installment in Alexi Venice’s San Francisco Mystery Series, bioterrorists have attacked a local water treatment facility. Early evidence points to Russia, who may be retaliating against the U.S. for assisting Ukraine in the war effort. But CIA agent Roxy MacNeil suspects there may be more to the story. This isn’t just a local threat, and if she can’t find an antidote quickly, global water supplies may be at risk.
Roxy recruits series heroine and ex-lover Amanda Hawthorne for the mission. While never one to run from a fire, Amanda also has personal reasons to welcome the assignment. For one thing, she’s just been fired. Adding to her troubles, longtime soulmate Dr. Jen Dawson has just cheated on her (a revenge romp for Amanda’s fling with Roxy). Amanda’s still recovering from a fight with the “vicious dominatrix” who took Jen to bed.
Joining the mission are Jen’s ex-fiance and baby daddy, detective Tommy Vietti. That leaves Jen to work at the hospital, where scores of victims are arriving – including someone she knows intimately. All the while, Jen longs to reclaim the life she and Amanda shared.
The globetrotting mission – which takes the trio from California to multiple locations in Scotland (where series fans will be delighted with fresh insight into Amanda’s ancestry) – is engaging enough on its own. But the narrative hook is a seemingly endless series of sexual temptations. Jen knows her ex all too well, fearing that by letting her go off with Roxy, she’s given Amanda “a license to philander.” And let’s not forget handsome Tommy, who was once poised to father another child with Amanda (with Jen’s blessing, no less).
While Venice juggles a large cast, the book’s star remains Amanda. Despite enduring heartbreak, she’s also a ton of fun – empowered with crackling, make-you-blush dialogue that will trigger more than a few laugh-out-loud moments (example: in response to Tommy’s clueless pronunciation of a bridge, “Must you pronounce it like an erect penis?”). In all, the book’s witty banter, timely terror plot and a steamy romance make for a highly entertaining read. Lady Hawthorne bodes well for the future of the series.
June 6, 2023
Outstanding!
Twists! Turns! Terror! Drama, death, dedication! Heartbreak, reconciliation, joy! Stories, backstories, subterfuge! An international terrorism plot … but who? The Russians? The Chinese? Alexi Venice winds you up with all of it, and more! Well-developed characters and plot, even a touch of the supernatural. This book is the best of the series, so far - Jen, Amanda, Roxie, Veronica, and Tommy are all along for the ride - but will they all still be there at the end?
Twists! Turns! Terror! Drama, death, dedication! Heartbreak, reconciliation, joy! Stories, backstories, subterfuge! An international terrorism plot … but who? The Russians? The Chinese? Alexi Venice winds you up with all of it, and more! Well-developed characters and plot, even a touch of the supernatural. This book is the best of the series, so far - Jen, Amanda, Roxie, Veronica, and Tommy are all along for the ride - but will they all still be there at the end?
July 24, 2023
Trigger: Talks of infidelity and talks of past affairs discussed in this one*
With Jen's affair coming to light, and her wanting to make Amanda feel bad and make herself feel a little better, she knew after it was a mistake when she slept with Victoria Marshall, and she tells that to Amanda very honestly. Just like Amanda did to her. However, Amanda then gets whisked away by the same woman she had an affair with and then, while sober, basically tells that same woman that she was not in love with her nor would she ever be able to. That's kinda harsh even with all of what Roxy did.
I did feel bad for Roxy, but at least Jen knows her secret and knows that while dying, she was only thinking about being reunited with her daughter again.
Even though she kept her secret, about loving Amanda as well, Roxy didn't ever confess to Amanda, nor did she ever make moves on her friend/affair-lover again in this one. So no worries there. I did think Tommy was a complete douchebag in this one. Just being a typical straight jock who thinks he can sway into any gay girls pants. It's disgusting and it shouldn't be a thing, but unfortunately even as a straight myself, I know there are always going to be guys just like that.
I just think that whole bit could've been kept out, we don't really need to know that Amanda was feeling Roxy, we know it was consenting even if it was reluctant from Amanda at first, because she wasn't around Jen and was being influenced by the drugs in her system, when she finally woke up, and she realized she did that behind Jen's back, she immediately said it was a mistake to Roxy. She then told Jen that whole thing, that's when things get weird between 4 and 5, but then in 6 all of a sudden, just because of Roxy and Amanda's past affairs, which were wrong to happen, we see Jen withdraw from Amanda completely.
Then, in this one, we have Amanda whisked off to Scotland to solve a mystery about herself and some crazy Scottish ancestry.
With Jen's affair coming to light, and her wanting to make Amanda feel bad and make herself feel a little better, she knew after it was a mistake when she slept with Victoria Marshall, and she tells that to Amanda very honestly. Just like Amanda did to her. However, Amanda then gets whisked away by the same woman she had an affair with and then, while sober, basically tells that same woman that she was not in love with her nor would she ever be able to. That's kinda harsh even with all of what Roxy did.
I did feel bad for Roxy, but at least Jen knows her secret and knows that while dying, she was only thinking about being reunited with her daughter again.
Even though she kept her secret, about loving Amanda as well, Roxy didn't ever confess to Amanda, nor did she ever make moves on her friend/affair-lover again in this one. So no worries there. I did think Tommy was a complete douchebag in this one. Just being a typical straight jock who thinks he can sway into any gay girls pants. It's disgusting and it shouldn't be a thing, but unfortunately even as a straight myself, I know there are always going to be guys just like that.
I just think that whole bit could've been kept out, we don't really need to know that Amanda was feeling Roxy, we know it was consenting even if it was reluctant from Amanda at first, because she wasn't around Jen and was being influenced by the drugs in her system, when she finally woke up, and she realized she did that behind Jen's back, she immediately said it was a mistake to Roxy. She then told Jen that whole thing, that's when things get weird between 4 and 5, but then in 6 all of a sudden, just because of Roxy and Amanda's past affairs, which were wrong to happen, we see Jen withdraw from Amanda completely.
Then, in this one, we have Amanda whisked off to Scotland to solve a mystery about herself and some crazy Scottish ancestry.
December 25, 2022
The advice that authors give - and get - is to "write what you know". This might have been good advice at one time, and if it's still true, Alexi Venice knows a lot about a lot of things.
There are terrorists poisoning the water supplies in selected cities, mostly big cities around the world, but for some reason they have chosen the water supply of relatively small Eau Claire, Wisconsin where Dr. Jen Dawson volunteers to try and save lives.
If anyone wonders what the title of this book means, as with Venice's other books, you'll have to find out by reading it, and it'll be a stunner when you find out.
The preparations for what Amanda and Tommy Vietta are about to go through are fascinating, and I think Alexi Venice must have at one time been a secret agent.
This is a wild international ride of intrigue and some special magic from a unique Scottish Loch! This is the kind of story that, while you're reading it, you think, "This could happen, couldn't it? Or could it?"
I loved this book so, so much!
Read
January 26, 2023Picking up where #SandyBottom ended, Amanda and Jen's relationship drama gets paused when the threat of potential for a global mass casualty event demands their immediate and full attention. Amanda's previous romantic involvement with Roxy ups the odds for more personal messiness. International intrigue, ominous family secrets, tricky romantic entanglements, along with a dash of entertaining speculative woo-woo and more make this seventh entry in the series a narrative pivot that offers an easy, charming read with some elements of campy fun.
[note: Bad actors not from the U.S. are often referred to as "the Russians" and "the Chinese" which might clank for some readers.]
http://blerdybingereader.blogspot.com...
[note: Bad actors not from the U.S. are often referred to as "the Russians" and "the Chinese" which might clank for some readers.]
http://blerdybingereader.blogspot.com...
December 25, 2022
What a wonderful story! This book was like slipping into a comfortable robe and slippers with Jen, Amanda and Tommy fighting crime. Even though this book can be read as a standalone, I recommend reading the whole series for the full flavor of the series. I am so lucky to have read the whole series. I received an ARC and this is my voluntary review.
February 1, 2023
daunting story
International intrigue, romance, irony, sadness and lust all in one place. This makes for a terrific read! Thank you for this story Alexi Venice!
International intrigue, romance, irony, sadness and lust all in one place. This makes for a terrific read! Thank you for this story Alexi Venice!
October 15, 2023
Great story
I have enjoyed this fun action pack heartfelt adventure of Jan and Amanda as they get back together only to be back in to saving the world.
I have enjoyed this fun action pack heartfelt adventure of Jan and Amanda as they get back together only to be back in to saving the world.
December 16, 2022
If you love fast-paced thrillers that are served over lovely helpings of romance, then you’re going to eat this one up! Lady Hawthorne is one part Robin Cook and equal measures Vince Flynn that are whipped and folded into a spicy mix of Michael Palmer and Harry Potter. Sound interesting? Well, it is, and if you are a fan of The San Francisco Mystery Series, you’re going to want to pick up Lady Hawthorne and find out what kind of trouble Amanda, Jen and Tommy get themselves into this time. If you’ve never read any of Alexi Venice’s San Francisco Mysteries, then this is a good time to check it out.
As always, Venice keeps her readers turning pages into the night. The plot is one twisty rollercoaster ride filled with hair-pin turns and sudden drops. Venice proves once again that she knows how to craft a story filled with excitement and suspense—right to the very end. I couldn’t read it fast enough. And when I turned to the last page, I wanted more!
Amanda, Jen and Tommy are the backbone of this series, and readers are easily drawn to them. The character development is well done and consistent. If possible though, book seven finds them even more appealing. Venice avoids the awful “character stagnation” that befalls many characters in a multi-book series by rounding them out with a unique sense of humor and intelligence. Long-time San Francisco Mystery Series fans will be as charmed as ever as they impatiently whip through this latest book.
Venice is the queen of craft when it comes to secondary characters. Roxy MacNeil reenters the series after a bit of a hiatus. Her reappearance is nicely timed and well arced. Readers have a complicated relationship with her as she is the reason for Amanda and Jen’s relationship woes. However, one cannot resist her beguiling ways; she’s so well drawn. Venice knows how to use her too; Roxy provides the perfect amount of push in this plot, giving it interesting shape and dimension.
Final remarks…
I was completely absorbed in the narrative of Venice’s latest thriller. I’ve always enjoyed this series, but Venice has outdone herself with this one. The Scottish folklore, the espionage, the bioterrorism and medical mayhem—it’s all quite riveting. It makes for great storytelling and fast-paced reading. Thrill-seeking, mystery lovers are going to want this in their TBR pile.
Strengths…
Fast-paced
Thrilling
Suspenseful
Well-developed
Entertaining
As always, Venice keeps her readers turning pages into the night. The plot is one twisty rollercoaster ride filled with hair-pin turns and sudden drops. Venice proves once again that she knows how to craft a story filled with excitement and suspense—right to the very end. I couldn’t read it fast enough. And when I turned to the last page, I wanted more!
Amanda, Jen and Tommy are the backbone of this series, and readers are easily drawn to them. The character development is well done and consistent. If possible though, book seven finds them even more appealing. Venice avoids the awful “character stagnation” that befalls many characters in a multi-book series by rounding them out with a unique sense of humor and intelligence. Long-time San Francisco Mystery Series fans will be as charmed as ever as they impatiently whip through this latest book.
Venice is the queen of craft when it comes to secondary characters. Roxy MacNeil reenters the series after a bit of a hiatus. Her reappearance is nicely timed and well arced. Readers have a complicated relationship with her as she is the reason for Amanda and Jen’s relationship woes. However, one cannot resist her beguiling ways; she’s so well drawn. Venice knows how to use her too; Roxy provides the perfect amount of push in this plot, giving it interesting shape and dimension.
Final remarks…
I was completely absorbed in the narrative of Venice’s latest thriller. I’ve always enjoyed this series, but Venice has outdone herself with this one. The Scottish folklore, the espionage, the bioterrorism and medical mayhem—it’s all quite riveting. It makes for great storytelling and fast-paced reading. Thrill-seeking, mystery lovers are going to want this in their TBR pile.
Strengths…
Fast-paced
Thrilling
Suspenseful
Well-developed
Entertaining
July 25, 2025
Rediculous
I read a lot of fantasy & sci-fi…. For this series to start out fantastical but relatively grounded and end up in this messy nonsense…. Sad…
I read a lot of fantasy & sci-fi…. For this series to start out fantastical but relatively grounded and end up in this messy nonsense…. Sad…
December 29, 2025
Alsome, Alexi Venece us my favorite author at this time. She's great!!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews