The
Sweetheart Mystery
Brash
& Brazen #4
by
Cheryl Ann Smith
Genre:
Contemporary Romance
Harper
Jane Evans is so over pro
cheerleading but she’s not quite ready for prison. Good thing she’s
got a badass ex-boyfriend ready to go to bat for her . . .
Sure,
Harper made a few unsavory threats against her team’s manager—she’d
had a few drinks and she despised the skimpy uniform he expected her
to wear. That didn’t mean she wanted him dead. But when the sleazy
dude is found murdered in his tighty whiteys, Harper is the number
one suspect—and former FBI agent Noah Slade is the one man who can
help. Too bad she once told Noah she never wanted to see him again .
. .
Noah
may have done a number on Harper’s heart all those years ago, but
he’s determined to do right by her now. Yet the fiery beauty isn’t
the only demon from his past, which makes hunting down a murderer by
her side . . . complicated—never mind the powerful attraction still
pulsing between them. Good thing he’s willing to do just about
anything to keep from losing Harper again. And an old love just might
bring her a new career—assuming she can stay out of jail . . .
The Sweetheart Mystery, Cheryl Ann Smith's latest addition to the Brash & Brazen series, combines two of my favorite things: romance and mystery. So it's no surprise that I dove into this as soon as it arrived on my iPad.
The Result? The Sweetheart Mystery is such a fun read! The mystery kept me on my toes, the romance was sweet and sexy, and the main characters always had me laughing. Plus, it had a fainting goat, and really, how can you not love that?
The Sweetheart Mystery introduces us to Harper Jane Evans and Noah Slade, teenage sweethearts turned adult enemies.
Harper Jane Evans is feisty, stubborn, and maybe a tad bit too loose with her mouth - the later of which is what has gotten her in so much trouble lately. Everyone thinks she's murdered her nasty, womanizer boss, but that's far from the truth - she was just caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. From the moment Harper is introduced, I liked her. I loved her sass and her determination, and I could relate to her foot-in-mouth disease, because been there done yet - thankfully, not bad enough to land me in Harper's position, though. I especially loved how she was able to take life's lemons and turn them into lemonade. Her and her dedication to driving her junker rental car always had me laughing out loud.
Noah Slade, on the other hand, is strong, slightly aloof, and handsome - all traits I love in a hero. What made him so relatable, though, was the fact that he did screw up, especially when it came to Harper. While sometimes it made me want to yell at him - even more so when it came to light what he did to Harper back in high school - I respected him for trying to make things right by winning Harper's innocence and maybe even her heart back in the process. The only real compliant I have about his character is that I wish more was discussed regarding his FBI background, but overall not the biggest of issues.
The romance and mystery, both of which attracted me to this book in the first place, were great. Harper and Noah were great together, and I just loved the funny back-and-forth banter they constantly had going on, especially when Harper's junker rental was in the picture. Better yet, I loved Noah's determination to always bring Harper down to Earth, especially when she was going a little bit crazy from all the bad going around. The mystery was a suspenseful whodunit, and I have to say, I completely didn't call the killer correctly. Additionally, I loved the edition of the fainting, drama queen goat, a goat that was in love with Harper, as well as its eccentric owner. Both brought some quality moment to the book as well.
In all, The Sweetheart Mystery is an enjoyable romantic mystery read! I'm excited to read more by Cheryl Ann Smith in the future.
Grade: B+
The Sweetheart Mystery is now out!
Source: eARC provided by publisher
National
bestselling author Cheryl Ann Smith became hooked on
romance at age fourteen when she stayed up all night to read The
Flame and The Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss. Her own writing journey
happened much later, when one afternoon she ran out of books and
decided to write her own. Previously, she has published five sexy
Regency novels and one novella with Berkley in her School for Brides
series.
Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts and a giveaway!
I always like the feisty characters and Harper sounds like she would be a fun one to read about. Noah sounds pretty great too. I am glad that you enjoy this one, and I am going to have to look into the first few books in this series now. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! -Janet @ Silver Dagger Book Tours
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