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A review by lezreadalot
Gallows Humor by Carolyn Elizabeth
3.0
3.5 stars. It feels strange not to give this a higher rating, but as far as romantic suspense/mystery goes, I know I've read better. And as far as the romance goes, I've also read better from this author, pretty recently, so it's hard not to compare. But I still enjoyed this quite a bit! It just didn't quite live up to expectations.
Corey is an analyst at the morgue; Thayer is a new doctor on staff at the hospital. When they meet, they're immediately intrigued by each other. Meanwhile, Corey has a case with some discrepancies that she can't quite shake, and starts to investigate it independently. I haven't read a lot of medical romances, and especially not those that are more on the suspense side than the contemporary side. This was a slight, and welcome, departure from my norm in that regard. I really really liked both characters. Thayer, for all that she's drop-dead gorgeous and has men and women falling over themselves for her, is such a down-to-earth and pragmatic character, and so easily likeable. And it's cool reading about a character with a job like Corey's. Her stubbornness, though a little frustrating, was definitely understandable. It felt really well-researched and immersive, especially during the medical scenes. The suspense/mystery wasn't what can be called intricate; it only gets that label from me because it's just obviously not a contemporary. There was nothing to "figure out" per se; your first guess as to who the bad guy is will probably be right. Which was a bit of a bummer to me.
The romance was good, but as wonderful as I found the chemistry between the two characters... it was just too much too soon. The two other books I've read from Elizabeth have been second chance romances. Even though that's not my favourite trope, it has the added benefit of establishing history between the characters, so if they get together very quickly in the book, it seems more natural, because they've already had some kind of relationship. This romance wasn't a second chance, but it still moved at lightning speeds, and just didn't convince me or compel me as much as I wanted.
Listened to the audiobook as read by Lori Prince, who was great as always. Since I did like the characters a lot, I might continue this series? I just hope the plots/mysteries have a little more to offer.
Content warnings:
Corey is an analyst at the morgue; Thayer is a new doctor on staff at the hospital. When they meet, they're immediately intrigued by each other. Meanwhile, Corey has a case with some discrepancies that she can't quite shake, and starts to investigate it independently. I haven't read a lot of medical romances, and especially not those that are more on the suspense side than the contemporary side. This was a slight, and welcome, departure from my norm in that regard. I really really liked both characters. Thayer, for all that she's drop-dead gorgeous and has men and women falling over themselves for her, is such a down-to-earth and pragmatic character, and so easily likeable. And it's cool reading about a character with a job like Corey's. Her stubbornness, though a little frustrating, was definitely understandable. It felt really well-researched and immersive, especially during the medical scenes. The suspense/mystery wasn't what can be called intricate; it only gets that label from me because it's just obviously not a contemporary. There was nothing to "figure out" per se; your first guess as to who the bad guy is will probably be right. Which was a bit of a bummer to me.
The romance was good, but as wonderful as I found the chemistry between the two characters... it was just too much too soon. The two other books I've read from Elizabeth have been second chance romances. Even though that's not my favourite trope, it has the added benefit of establishing history between the characters, so if they get together very quickly in the book, it seems more natural, because they've already had some kind of relationship. This romance wasn't a second chance, but it still moved at lightning speeds, and just didn't convince me or compel me as much as I wanted.
Listened to the audiobook as read by Lori Prince, who was great as always. Since I did like the characters a lot, I might continue this series? I just hope the plots/mysteries have a little more to offer.
Content warnings: