jessejane306 's review for:

He's To Die For by Erin Dunn

4.0

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A cop with an interesting background and a rockstar with means, motive, and opportunity. It’s a very bad idea but he’s just so darn pretty.  

This is both a romance novel and mystery novel. The mystery is bigger and more complicated than I expected. It added to the fun of the romance and intrigue. The main tropes I noticed were the forbidden connection and rock star. 

I was dubious about a white woman taking on a MM romance with the protagonist being a person of color. A lot of men who write women well say they just write them as people. That is what I think Dunn did. 

I’d put the spice level at 2/5. The door is ajar but the sex on page is vague. Since the author is a woman, I appreciated that. She wasn’t fetishizing these characters. I thought Dunn did a good job writing people, not tropes. This is not my community so take my ¢2 for what it’s worth.

Is it realistic? Miranda Lambert married a member of the NYPD. I’ve met first responders with foreign accents. Lots of former intelligence officers up in private security. It’s not the most implausible plot I’ve seen this year. 

It was over the top at times but always made sense. The pacing was even, voices and motivations consistent. I enjoyed this. 4/5