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sea_caummisar's review
4.0
It's been a long while since I've read a cozy. I wanted to get lost in something light and funny. This story has those elements, but what I found myself was lost in a story of a character who makes bad decisions. Like really bad decisions. I had to keep reminding myself that this is fiction.
Imagine coming home, to your new home, recently left behind to you by the death of your aunt, and you find a man suffering from a gunshot wound. Instead of calling the police, you help the man by calling some crazy doctor, and oh yeah, you then fantasize about this man. Mind you, you never find out how or why he was shot. But yeah, she was stuck in lust.
The story wasn't bad, but a tad predictable. Still, it was a nice little mind vacay into some light and easy reading.
Imagine coming home, to your new home, recently left behind to you by the death of your aunt, and you find a man suffering from a gunshot wound. Instead of calling the police, you help the man by calling some crazy doctor, and oh yeah, you then fantasize about this man. Mind you, you never find out how or why he was shot. But yeah, she was stuck in lust.
The story wasn't bad, but a tad predictable. Still, it was a nice little mind vacay into some light and easy reading.
lisamh68's review against another edition
3.0
This was entertaining. Some mystery and lots of crazy. I would have liked more romance.
shelleykunkle's review against another edition
5.0
I am so glad I found this series! Looking forward to the next book!
khaleesimod93's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
The book was amazing from start to finish! It wasn't light, but it wasn't overwhelming. I adore Madison. At first, I was so irritated with how the book was going. No way were Tucker and Will getting away with their bull. I couldn't understand why Madison just let it go on, especially after she heard Tucker talking on the phone. The first thing she should have done was get her own lawyer!! So her naivete really annoyed me at first. I'm just glad it worked out in the end. I also love Zach, and him and Madison are perfection. But my favorite character has got to he Fabiana! She's so funny and such a badass! I can't wait to read the next book
chelsea_not_chels's review against another edition
1.0
More reviews available at my blog, Beauty and the Bookworm.
Madison Westin has recently gone through a divorce and is now mourning the death of her aunt, who has left Madison most of her estate in Tarpon Cove, part of the Florida Keys. Madison moves into her aunt's old house and plans to take up management of a commercial property called The Cottages which her aunt owned. However, not everything is fine in paradise, and Madison has to contest with a shady lawyer, shady manager, interfering relatives, and a guy by the name of Zach who shows up with a gunshot wound in her backyard.
Madison was absolutely infuriating as a main character and narrator. She's a complete moron. I wanted to slap her for the entire length of the book. Let's examine a few things that Madison does that no sane person would. She does not hire her own attorney to handle the shady attorney and property manager who insist they were hired by her deceased aunt, even though she suspects from the beginning that they're lying and up to something. She lets a guy with a gunshot wound, who she's literally just met, stay in her house for days because he says he knows her aunt. How does she know this guy is telling the truth? And then she gets involved with him physically. Okay, he's hot, whatever, go ahead and get your physical pleasure, but what about the fact that he's apparently a criminal of some variety? Madison, you don't know what you might be getting mixed up in! She then lets this stranger's even stranger brother stay with her, even though Zach openly admits he's a criminal. She then agrees to house a just-released convict for several months. She gets involved with a ton of people who she knows are criminals, and when something goes wrong, guess what? She's completely blindsided by it. Because who would ever think that something could go wrong with a setup like that?
There's no real mystery in this book. I think it was supposed to be one, but it's not. There's a murder, but it doesn't show up until well into the book and even then Madison isn't any sort of mystery-solver. There are no twists, no turns; everyone who seems skeevy actually is. You can see the ending from a mile away. No one is anything except what they seem. And honestly, for what's supposed to be a mystery or suspense novel, we spend an awful lot of time hearing about what Madison is wearing. Oh, and the "big reveal" comes from a character who Madison speaks to on the phone, once, and is not otherwise involved with the story at all. Why? What's the purpose? To fill a narrative gap? That should have been thought out first and tied in. Mysteries can't have sprawling casts of characters because it makes no sense for them to have those sprawling casts. Rather, they should have small- to medium-sized groups, and you should constantly be forced to question the truth and motives of everyone except the narrator--whose motives and involvement should be questioned by everyone else involved.
The writing is fairly sub-par, too. Brown has no conception of how to properly use quotation marks in regards to dialogue. The dialogue itself is sloppy and stilted, not natural at all, and is extremely formal even between characters who supposedly know each other very well, such as Madison and her mother and brother. Oh, and did I mention that everyone around her endorses Madison's poor decisions? They work out, of course, because why would there ever be consequences for poor-decision making? There were so many cool ways this story could have gone, but Brown didn't take any of them. A much easier, neater route with a good potential for real mystery and romance would have had Madison unwittingly getting pulled into Zach's business busting a ring of thieves; it would have brought about natural interaction between the two, and she would have had a chance to organically grow and meet the other characters in the book. But that's not what happened. Instead, Brown went with a plot that was completely contrived and unbelievable.
Madison Westin has recently gone through a divorce and is now mourning the death of her aunt, who has left Madison most of her estate in Tarpon Cove, part of the Florida Keys. Madison moves into her aunt's old house and plans to take up management of a commercial property called The Cottages which her aunt owned. However, not everything is fine in paradise, and Madison has to contest with a shady lawyer, shady manager, interfering relatives, and a guy by the name of Zach who shows up with a gunshot wound in her backyard.
Madison was absolutely infuriating as a main character and narrator. She's a complete moron. I wanted to slap her for the entire length of the book. Let's examine a few things that Madison does that no sane person would. She does not hire her own attorney to handle the shady attorney and property manager who insist they were hired by her deceased aunt, even though she suspects from the beginning that they're lying and up to something. She lets a guy with a gunshot wound, who she's literally just met, stay in her house for days because he says he knows her aunt. How does she know this guy is telling the truth? And then she gets involved with him physically. Okay, he's hot, whatever, go ahead and get your physical pleasure, but what about the fact that he's apparently a criminal of some variety? Madison, you don't know what you might be getting mixed up in! She then lets this stranger's even stranger brother stay with her, even though Zach openly admits he's a criminal. She then agrees to house a just-released convict for several months. She gets involved with a ton of people who she knows are criminals, and when something goes wrong, guess what? She's completely blindsided by it. Because who would ever think that something could go wrong with a setup like that?
There's no real mystery in this book. I think it was supposed to be one, but it's not. There's a murder, but it doesn't show up until well into the book and even then Madison isn't any sort of mystery-solver. There are no twists, no turns; everyone who seems skeevy actually is. You can see the ending from a mile away. No one is anything except what they seem. And honestly, for what's supposed to be a mystery or suspense novel, we spend an awful lot of time hearing about what Madison is wearing. Oh, and the "big reveal" comes from a character who Madison speaks to on the phone, once, and is not otherwise involved with the story at all. Why? What's the purpose? To fill a narrative gap? That should have been thought out first and tied in. Mysteries can't have sprawling casts of characters because it makes no sense for them to have those sprawling casts. Rather, they should have small- to medium-sized groups, and you should constantly be forced to question the truth and motives of everyone except the narrator--whose motives and involvement should be questioned by everyone else involved.
The writing is fairly sub-par, too. Brown has no conception of how to properly use quotation marks in regards to dialogue. The dialogue itself is sloppy and stilted, not natural at all, and is extremely formal even between characters who supposedly know each other very well, such as Madison and her mother and brother. Oh, and did I mention that everyone around her endorses Madison's poor decisions? They work out, of course, because why would there ever be consequences for poor-decision making? There were so many cool ways this story could have gone, but Brown didn't take any of them. A much easier, neater route with a good potential for real mystery and romance would have had Madison unwittingly getting pulled into Zach's business busting a ring of thieves; it would have brought about natural interaction between the two, and she would have had a chance to organically grow and meet the other characters in the book. But that's not what happened. Instead, Brown went with a plot that was completely contrived and unbelievable.
sarahtokar's review against another edition
1.0
Very stereotypical portrayal of South Florida riff-raff. Unlikely plot and unrealistic dialog. Don't bother.
pglt1177's review against another edition
4.0
I found this as a sponsored ad in FB and realized it was on the Kindle Unlimited list. It was just what I wanted. A quick, funny story that I can just lose myself ib.6
jacklozada's review against another edition
2.0
I received this book as an Advanced Readers Copy from Goodreads. Thanks Goodreads.
Madison Westin is a recently divorced woman who inherits her dead aunt's beachfront cottages in Florida. She also inherits her house and all the crazies that show up.
I was really looking forward to this book but it fell a little short. The dialogue was robotic, she accepted things that actual humans with common sense would not. For example, a hunky private eye with a gunshot appears in her backyard and there is an instant romance between them. I'm sure the author wanted to make her out to be a tough girl but she was just annoying and I didn't like her as a main character.
All in all, this book was just okay.
Madison Westin is a recently divorced woman who inherits her dead aunt's beachfront cottages in Florida. She also inherits her house and all the crazies that show up.
I was really looking forward to this book but it fell a little short. The dialogue was robotic, she accepted things that actual humans with common sense would not. For example, a hunky private eye with a gunshot appears in her backyard and there is an instant romance between them. I'm sure the author wanted to make her out to be a tough girl but she was just annoying and I didn't like her as a main character.
All in all, this book was just okay.
whenimreading's review against another edition
1.0
I really wanted to like this based on the synopsis but I could not finish. I don't know how this has 4 star reviews????!
The writing is BASIC, there is no depth to the plot/characters/locations/(everything you look forward to in a book tbh). There is no romance- AT ALL. The "mystery" is not worth finishing, the main character has no backbone and comes off very weak, the love interest is just some one dimensional dude with no personality. I was hoping this would be a nice summer read, I did like the setup - follow through, not so much. :(
The writing is BASIC, there is no depth to the plot/characters/locations/(everything you look forward to in a book tbh). There is no romance- AT ALL. The "mystery" is not worth finishing, the main character has no backbone and comes off very weak, the love interest is just some one dimensional dude with no personality. I was hoping this would be a nice summer read, I did like the setup - follow through, not so much. :(
sarahlr802's review against another edition
5.0
what can I say? I took a chance on a book and it turned out to be a good one. LOVE THE BOOK!! The characters are fleshed out and seem like they can real. They were fun to read and the dialouge was stellar. Can't wait to read the sequel.