Kay'sville

Rhea Jensen #4

by Sheralyn Pratt

Utah. On Kathryn McCoy's list of top ten places she never wants to live, it's right up there at the top. When she accepts a job transfer to the Beehive state, Kathryn knows it's a step down career-wise, but it also reunites her with her best friend, Rhea Jensen--the private investigator she's learned to rely on for all her best scoops. And when a mother is shot in her own home, Kathryn turns to Rhea and the self-righteous Officer Dahl to get her exclusive on finding the evidence that will put the killer behind bars. But what Kathryn doesn't expect is for Dahl to awaken the ghosts of her past that will set her on the path to healing.

Genres: Lds Fiction, Mystery, Lds, Abuse, Clean Romance, Mystery Thriller

224 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2010

About the author

I like to keep things light and fun, and believe that life is journey so if you're going to buy a book, your life should better for it. Whether a book I write is intended to help you escape for a few hours or designed to teach you a new skill, I hope you find it unforgettable...in a good way. ;)

Current/Upcoming Titles:
- Pimpernel
- Walk of Infamy
- King of the Friend Zone
- The Kiss that Launched 1,000 GIFs

About the Rhea Jensen series. I like to tongue-in-cheek tell people, WARNING: This Series Contains Mormons. This series is more mystery/adventure with a dab of romance. HOWEVER, the last book in the series, Walk of Infamy, will be a stand-alone novel and end to the Rhea Jensen series that Pimpernel fans will likely enjoy.

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the characters in this series. They are some of my favorites! When I started this book I thought it was the end of the series but thankfully it is not. I've just finished stalking Sheralyn to learn that book 5 titled Unpleasant Grove should have a release date soon!


Content: I consider this clean but it deals with heavy issues that some people might struggle reading about. Not a lot of details but not a book I would let my teenager read right now.

Originally Read September 2012 - Reread November 2016

11/13/16 - Doing a reread of the earlier books in this series and all I can say is wow. I think I loved this more 2nd time through. This is one of my all time favorite series. Love it!

[Kathy * Bookworm Nation · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not really sure how to review this one. If I had to use one word to describe it, I'd say it was heavy. I enjoyed the previous books, but have put off reading this one because of the subject matter. So, when I started reading I somewhat knew what was coming and I just wanted to get that part over with and move on, but it ended up being a big part of the story.

I've liked Kathryn in the previous books, and I still like her in this one. She has overcome a lot, and yet her past is still heavily influencing her choices and it was hard to see at times. She also is a bit judgmental and kind of mean. I like her softer side, I guess. It’s been awhile since I've read the other books, but Rhea seemed a lot...harder in this one. Especially the flashbacks, while she was an awesome friend to Kathryn, she came across so cold. I don't remember her being like that in the other books.

I hate to say this, but I felt like nothing really happened in this book. There really isn't any mystery. Not a whole lot of character development, we get a lot of back story about Kathryn and Rhea, but not a whole lot of growth and a lot of bad decisions from Kathryn. Even if I understood where she was coming from, it was still really hard to see her make such bad choices. The church element was weird and kind of negative; it actually rubbed me the wrong way. I think it gives people a wrong impression about the LDS church. Seemed like there were a lot of stereotypes and judging members. But, at the end of the book I was just surprised that nothing really happened. It was really heavy, especially the flash backs. I was hoping the present parts would be more hopeful and show Kay finding some peace. There is a bit of hope with her and Dahl, but it’s pretty small and the book ends when things are finally starting to look up for them. I just felt like aside from learning about Kathryn’s past, we didn’t really see her character grow. She was pretty much the same at the end of the book as she was at the start. The only difference was her realizing she felt different or safe around Dahl and that maybe she wanted to start making better choices when it came to men.

Overall, it was too heavy for me. My heart broke for Kathryn; I can't imagine anything more horrible. I couldn't understand how other girls could also be so cruel to her. The whole situation was heartbreaking, I was glad and happy about what happened to the frat house and some of the guys, but I still wanted a bit more justice for her. All I can say is that there is a special place in hell for people like that.

I look forward to reading the next book, I hope it will tie up some loose ends and get some closure and HEA for Kathryn and Rhea. I feel bad giving this two starts since it was well written and I had a hard time putting it down. I loved the friendship between Kathryn and Rhea and their loyalty to one another. I like the hints of romance. But I didn’t really enjoy the story.


Content
Romance: Clean I wouldn't really classify this as a romance. There is a "love interest", but its more about Kay discovering herself.
Language: None
Violence: Moderate While nothing is detailed, it is still heavy. When Kay is in college she goes to a frat party where some girls set her up to get gang raped. The guys drug her so she doesn't remember anything, but it was pretty brutal. Vague details about what happened, again nothing detailed since she was knocked out. The scenes before and after were detailed though and it doesn't take a lot of imagination to know what happens. So I'd say it was fairly graphic, and not suitable for sensitive readers.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a HUGE fan of the Rhea Jensen series, and Kay'sville did not disappoint! I'm not going to lie: I was worried. I'd grown to love Rhea, and I wasn't sure I wanted to read a book from Kay's perspective. I was so wrong. I love Kay. It's true. My whole heart and soul are now invested in Kay's well-being. I am soooooo happy to know how Rhea and Kay met and became best friends. I love now knowing how Kay's mind works. I'm not going to lie: in the first 3 books, Kay comes off as a know-it-all and a bit cold-hearted. But now knowing all she's gone through-- I'm in awe of her.
And it needs to be said: Dahl and Ty are super sexy fictional men. My only complaint would be that these men are not real :)
In all seriousness, though, I loved how the two storylines fed off each other. Each one was riveting in its on right, but because they switched back and forth, it made me that much more anxious to keep reading. Extremely well-written. I'd definitely recommend this to all my friends (and already have), and I'm looking forward to the next book in the Rhea Jensen series! :)

[Rachael Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't say enough good about Sheralyn or her Rhea Jensen series. I love all of her books--especially Kay'sVille. Just to warn you, Kay'sVille is definitely heavier, but gripping, emotional, and really well written. I loved the peek into Kay and Rhea's pasts, the strong bond of friendships, and the growth of all the characters. I loved how they were human, made mistakes, and conquered fears. I loved it all. Well, except for the fact that I now feel like the most unfashionable person alive. :)

[Mindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars. Loved it. I really enjoyed the back story of the two friends. They have a lot to say, I'm glad Sheralyn let us in on that. Poor Kathryn... City Limits ended with such a cliff hanger, it is addressed so you're not left wondering.

[Lacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have truly enjoyed this series, and hope that another book comes out. It's a fun spin on LDS novels, poking fun at some sterotypes of Mormons and Utah's in general in a good natured way. Makes me laugh. :)

[Maree · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was o.k., but was probably my least favorite of the series so far. It includes some pretty heavy subject matter and I also don’t connect as well with the character whose viewpoint this was told from as well.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is different from the others in the series. Instead of being from Rhea’s perspective it is from Kay’s (as hinted by the title) and contains flashbacks which give her backstory. It is not as intense as the others but is still well written. Contains: kisses, mentions of rape, mild swearing.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The mystery was easily solved, and was just a side story to the lengthy back story of Rhea and especially Kay, told from Kay's PoV. Includes the physical, mental and emotional aftermath of a sexual assault.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Told from Kay's point of view. Some disturbing content concerning a gang rape (not graphic).

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice diversion. Still get some Rhea, but Katherine is pretty interesting too.

[Sharon Hogenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this book are necessary to understand the relationship between Rhea and Kay, but it is a very sad story and not one I want to read often.

This is the fifth book of the series.

[Cary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still fascinated…

[Tonya Bryner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series! It was interesting having this story told from Kay’s perspective and learning a ton more about her.

[Trina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually really loved this view from Kay and her backstory. I want more of her story!!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks Sheralyn!

First of all thanks so much to Sheralyn for sending me a sneak peek of book #4 in her Rhea Jensen series. This one felt like a compnion novel to me as it takes a completely different point of view than the rest of the Rhea Jensen series. It is told by Rhea's best friend Kay and fills in the details of how they met and why they are who they are. Readers may be scratching their heads after book three wondering why Kay ditched her high powered reporting job in L.A. to follow Rhea to Utah. Kay'sville fills in those gaps. Kay is a strong willed, in your face type of girl with fashion sense and an attitude... but she hasn't always bee that way. In Book 4 we learn what her roots are, and I think you'll be surprised as I was. Her flashbacks of pre-college life were some of my favorite parts of the book. Dahl is her sidekick cop who helps her in reporting a story and solving a mystery. He is my other favorite part of Kay'sville. My favorite secne: I loved and laughed at like Kay's description of dating in Utah.

On the flipside Kay's ville was really hard for me to read from Chapter 11 on only because of a serious crime which as committed and the details used to describe it. Readers will want to be aware that it Kay'sville has some very raw spots and delves into adult issues. Sheralynn has reached out to readers on her blog to let them know that starting at book 4 the Rhea Jensen series is taking on heavy issues which move it more into mainstream fiction. Read what she had to say about the book in our interview.
http://fireandicephoto.blogspot.com/2...

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing book that keeps you reading and wanting more at the end. Pratts writing seems so effortless. I loved how she told Kathryn's past history at the beginning of each chapter till the end when you know the reason for her reaction to men being either drunk induced attraction or shyness to any touch as if painful...because of her gang rape incident at UCLA. As Rae accuses her parents let her go to college without any guidance from them or any contact when coming from an innocent state of being in Alabama to a sinfilled city of untrustworthy people who ate her alive with no conscience. Since college Rea has looked after kay. When Kay takes a reporting job in SL, this doesn't change. They support each other in work and in their growing relationships. Kay in convincing Rea to give Ty a change in marriage and let them weather the storms with the powerful four in the future and Rea helping Kay to realize that she isn't broken to all future relationships with men because of her past. Kay has her heart hurt because of office ken Dahl's rejection of her because she isn't mormon and in the rejection turns to her old tricks of sleeping with another guy which upsets Dahl. IN the end Kay tells him of her past and they end as friends...I really hope that although Kay is opposed to joining the Church even though she has studied is thoroughly because of Rea joining; she will start to know some more truths and that Dahl and her can connect permanently.
Dahl a cop isn't wanting to help kay the reporter with inside info until they become friends at the end.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, so good also (But still love #3 the best). In book 4 you learn a lot more about Kay. This book is from Kay's point of view. Every chapter starts with a excerpt about Kay's past, where she is from, how she met Rhea, how they became friends, what happened to her to make her not trust men, and how she became a reporter. The rest of the book is about Kay investigating a story about a house wife who is shot and killed, and then her house is burned down. During the story Kay comes back into contact with Officer Dahl we met in book 3, and her attraction to him, but he is a Mormon, and she is not, and how they both know nothing can happen, but her realizing how much she can trust him and that not every man is out to take over her. You also still get to see the anguish Rhea is in from her ultmatum from the last book, and how Kay is trying to help her see that becoming a Mormon didn't ruin everything for her, and she needs to trust in God, even if Kay doesn't necessarily believe in God. All the stories come together, and you grow to love Kay even more.

I can't wait to read Book 5. I have looked it up on my Kindle and got the "Try it part" and know I will need to purchase it. Can't wait to read what I have so far, and the rest.

[Christine Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fourth book in the Rhea Jensen series gives us a whole knew perspective; Kay's perspective, to be precise. Kay'sville is narrated by Kay (Rhea's best friend) and while there is a case to solve, the main focus of this book is Kay herself. We learn about the beginnings of Rhea and Kay's friendship, and the painful secrets that she keeps locked away.

We also learn more about Rhea and what makes her tick. Answers to questions you didnt' even know to ask are revealed in this fourth installment of what is becoming one of my all time favorite series'.

While is there some sexual content, it is all inference, not descriptive and extremely important to the the plot and to understanding Kay.

I hope that there will be a book five and not too far into to future, because there are definitely plot lines that need completion.

[Katie (hiding in the pages) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe this is the final book in the series, however it had a different feel to it. The previous books are told in Rhea's point of view and this one was in her best friend, Kay's, view.

I really enjoyed getting some background info on this friendship, but it was pretty sad. Kathryn (ie. Katie, Kate, Kay) is from southern Alabama and is the granddaughter of a preacher. She goes against her parents' wishes and moves to LA for college and is cut off. She encounters a horrible sorority/frat and ends up broken.

I really enjoyed Kay's journey to figuring herself out. I really like the characters too and the little mystery. My only problem with this book is this: unless there's another book in the series, we are left somewhat hanging with Rhea's dilemma. I like things neatly wrapped up.

[Melissa T · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I much prefer the books written from Rhea's point of view. I still enjoyed this one, but it wasn't as fun. Much like the one written from her boyfriend's point of view, this had too many glowing descriptions of Rhea. She's almost becoming unbelievable to me. When you have two main characters who are model thin and beautiful, Olympic-level, or nearly so, athletes (I'm serious-- a woman can run eight 5-minute miles is pretty rare. Saying she was running five-minute-miles for long distances was just a bit much for me), and then who has the perceptive power of Sherlock Holmes, it gets to be a fit far-fetched. You expect such things when watching James Bond. Somehow it seems out of place in this novel. That said, I enjoyed hearing the back story, and I will still read the next in the series.

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, at first I was really annoyed that this book seemed to have some inconsistencies with the earlier books. This was before I realized she'd changed the story a bit in the new editions of the earlier books, so I'm a lot less annoyed with that.

I like getting more information about Kay's background and how she and Rhea came to be friends, but I of course wish there was more about Rhea and Ty in the story.

Also, as a note on the series as a whole, they need a better editor. There are sometimes missing words or words that should have been taken out in an edit and weren't, and it can get annoying. If you can look past that though, I don't have many negative things to say about this book.

First read 2011
Second read October 2015

[Kristyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is not quite a sequel to the Rhea Jensen series because it is from her best friend Kay's point of view, but does have significant developments for Rhea's story also. And although it has a murder mystery in it, it's a very small portion of the book, unlike the others.

It's mostly Kay currently, with flashbacks of her tragic past. It was not your typical LDS novel, and goes into some pretty bad stuff that happened to Kay, and why she does things now. I won't let my teenage daughter read it until she's older and more mature, even though she's read and enjoyed the rest of the series.

I hope that following books will be more like the first three than this one, but look forward to a happy ending for everyone.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like these characters but I had a hard time following this book because it's written from Kay's point of view rather than Rhea's. It's a good idea in theory, but whenever Kay spoke in first person I immediately thought it was Rhea speaking since that's the way it had been in all the previous books. It probably took me more than half the book to remember it was Kay's story. As part of Kay's story, the story of their college years was told, a little at the beginning of each chapter. This, too, was interesting in helping identify who they are. From what I understand there are 2 more books that I'd love to read but since my library doesn't have them I may be out of luck.

The editing continues to be a problem.

[K · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was nice to get some background on Kay, but it was extremely frustrating to read Rhea's story second-hand. I haven't had a real problem with Kay before, but her snobbish commentary on clothes throughout this book was really grating. I also didn't like the format of flashbacks at the beginning of each chapter. About halfway through the book I ended up reading through all the flashbacks, then going back and reading the main story without the interruptions. Having done that, I don't understand the pacing of the flashbacks vs the story; they didn't seem to connect in a coherent way. Furthermore, this book was filled with editing errors which kept pulling me from the story.

I wouldn't recommend this book because of the disturbing and somewhat graphic nature of Kay's backstory.

[T.K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, sleep deprivation, thy name is Sheralyn Pratt! I foolishly picked up this book in the evening planning to just read a little bit, but there is no such thing with her books. Though being in Kay's head instead of Rhea's was a little odd at first, I quickly realized how much more I was learning about them both from the different perspective. Each chapter begins with a flashback to their college days, filling in important details that I never realized were missing. Now my only torment (besides the need for sleep) is that this may be the last of the series. I am so not ready to say goodbye.

[Beth Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading the first 3 books in this series, I was really bugged when the point of view for the whole book changed to Rhea Jensen's friend, instead of Rhea. Once I got into the story though, I really liked this book!

The story bounces back and forth between Rhea's friend, Kay, current efforts to become a great news reporter in SLC and deal with all the strange Mormon culture things (come of which are hurtful) and college days of how Kay and Rhea met, became friends, etc. The flashbacks are a painful journey and you become very emotionally vested to see if things turn out good for Kay and Rhea.

I hope #5 stays as good.

[Shwride · Rating 1 out of 5]

All right, I know. If I didn't like the last one why did I read this one. I guess it's because it finally came in at the library. This is the 4th Rhea Jensen novel, and it's not actually about Rhea, which might be fine if the character at the center of this novel is so completely unsympathetic, even though the author went to great lengths to excuse her bad behavior, that if the book hadn't been short, I'd never have made it to the end. What a disappointment. I'm completely uninterested and reading any more of the series.

[Karl Nehring · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not exactly a mystery, nor is it quite a detective novel; rather, it is a character study, meant to show the relationship between TV reporter Kay and spy/uberwoman Rhea Jensen. Although the characters have something of a cartoonish quality to them, their relationship is interesting, and "Kay'sVille" succeeds in its aim of increasing readers' understanding of the main characters of the Rhea Jensen books (of which "Kay'sVille" is the fourth).

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may have been my favorite book in the Rhea Jensen series so far. It's from Kay's perspective, offering a current-day look at what's going on in Kay and Rhea's world, as well as a surprising and enlightening look into the two girls lives, how they came together, and how their friendship has impacted them both. It's a must-read, a different kind of roller coaster, but a roller coaster nonetheless! It's a song in a different key, but it makes for beautiful music!