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lindsaynixon 's review for:
Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun
by Elle Cosimano
sadly 2.5 stars; rounded up since I reserve 2-stars for DNF.
I loved #1 in this series so much that I immediately preordered #2 and read it within days of publication (I paid for both through audible).
This one, however, was a huge letdown, especially compared to the two previous books. I kept thinking the entire time "this has a severe case of "middle book syndrome"" because there wasn't really much plot, action, movement, or a case. In the other books there was an actual storyline or "mystery" or "problem to solve" and here everything just sort of went around in circles. There was a tiny bit of character development but it was boring, uninteresting, and not pertinent to... anything.
The author drops off two "cliffhangers" at the end (it is painfully clear they are planted to have content for #4) so I suppose that answers that question...
WHAT I LOATHED MOST was the change in Finlay. Finlay WAS a witty and independent woman. She was pulling herself up by her bootstraps and cool. NOW, sadly, Finlay is one of those pathetic panting puppies in crappy romance novels that can do little more than think about some guy and his amazing pectoral muscles and how horny she is. It was not the Finlay I've enjoyed being friends with. I couldn't wait to "get off the phone" with her. She was so annoying.
Her nanny, Vera, was the only saving grace--thankfully Vera was as funny and sharp as ever and without her I would have DNF'd.
Other problems:
There are also characters and setups that go nowhere. For example the author makes a big show of introducing and reintroducing these two podcasters and how they want to interview Finlay but then nothing happens.... they literally don't do anything or serve any purpose except to leave you wondering why you had to meet them?
This book also suffered some truly horrendous bad writing, from Russian mobsters making long "here's why I did this" monologues (show don't tell please) to fireman saying things like "don't make me cool you off with a firehouse" to a couple smooching (he actually said something more dumb but I'm paraphrasing here).
SUMMARY:
Finlay's ex wants her back, her publisher rejects her book and asks her to rewrite parts, she still has the hots for the cop, and Vera is still in trouble with loan sharks. Oh, and the Russian mobster Felicks is expecting Finlay to kill somebody whose identity isnt known. No big deal.
To solve the book issue (and maybe the boyfriend issue) Finlay enrolls in some "cop camp" where adults get to be treated like cops/go through training exercises for a week. Sure okay. The entire time she's there nothing exciting happens. She misses every meal and complains about this, and how it doesn't work with her dieting new years resolution and sadness she has to eat poptarts (so much talk about poptarts). She's also trying to figure out which cop is the bad cop Felicks (russian mob) wants dead. The "cop boyfriend" is there too and she swoons after him every other pages. The cop also says really dumb shit straight out of every dumb romance novel. Just bang already so I don't need to hear about his butt in pants PLEASE and how he wants to give her the moon. Barf.
One big hollywood thing happens at the end that made me roll my eyes for 10 minutes.
Moving on, To solve the loan problem, they decide to sell a car, this introduces Javiar which is the love interest of Vera because apparently this series is just going down the romance hole. Plus he is introduced to setup book 4.
The ex-husband is there only to setup for book 4.
The mobster situation isn't settled either, so you'll have to read more about that again in book 4.
Yep, nothing really happened except her sister finds a girlfriend, maybe, and Finlay and the cop resolve their "feelings."
Thanks netgalley for my ARC.
NOTE: If you decide to read this, do yourself a favor and read it very close to #2. While #1 could be read as a stand-alone, and #2 probably could be, this one definitely can't and you need to read #2 right before or you will be very lost/confused. The author does sometimes give a little reminder or context, but it is not enough. I had to go looking for spoilers to refresh myself often.
I loved #1 in this series so much that I immediately preordered #2 and read it within days of publication (I paid for both through audible).
This one, however, was a huge letdown, especially compared to the two previous books. I kept thinking the entire time "this has a severe case of "middle book syndrome"" because there wasn't really much plot, action, movement, or a case. In the other books there was an actual storyline or "mystery" or "problem to solve" and here everything just sort of went around in circles. There was a tiny bit of character development but it was boring, uninteresting, and not pertinent to... anything.
The author drops off two "cliffhangers" at the end (it is painfully clear they are planted to have content for #4) so I suppose that answers that question...
WHAT I LOATHED MOST was the change in Finlay. Finlay WAS a witty and independent woman. She was pulling herself up by her bootstraps and cool. NOW, sadly, Finlay is one of those pathetic panting puppies in crappy romance novels that can do little more than think about some guy and his amazing pectoral muscles and how horny she is. It was not the Finlay I've enjoyed being friends with. I couldn't wait to "get off the phone" with her. She was so annoying.
Her nanny, Vera, was the only saving grace--thankfully Vera was as funny and sharp as ever and without her I would have DNF'd.
Other problems:
There are also characters and setups that go nowhere. For example the author makes a big show of introducing and reintroducing these two podcasters and how they want to interview Finlay but then nothing happens.... they literally don't do anything or serve any purpose except to leave you wondering why you had to meet them?
This book also suffered some truly horrendous bad writing, from Russian mobsters making long "here's why I did this" monologues (show don't tell please) to fireman saying things like "don't make me cool you off with a firehouse" to a couple smooching (he actually said something more dumb but I'm paraphrasing here).
SUMMARY:
Finlay's ex wants her back, her publisher rejects her book and asks her to rewrite parts, she still has the hots for the cop, and Vera is still in trouble with loan sharks. Oh, and the Russian mobster Felicks is expecting Finlay to kill somebody whose identity isnt known. No big deal.
To solve the book issue (and maybe the boyfriend issue) Finlay enrolls in some "cop camp" where adults get to be treated like cops/go through training exercises for a week. Sure okay. The entire time she's there nothing exciting happens. She misses every meal and complains about this, and how it doesn't work with her dieting new years resolution and sadness she has to eat poptarts (so much talk about poptarts). She's also trying to figure out which cop is the bad cop Felicks (russian mob) wants dead. The "cop boyfriend" is there too and she swoons after him every other pages. The cop also says really dumb shit straight out of every dumb romance novel. Just bang already so I don't need to hear about his butt in pants PLEASE and how he wants to give her the moon. Barf.
One big hollywood thing happens at the end that made me roll my eyes for 10 minutes.
Moving on, To solve the loan problem, they decide to sell a car, this introduces Javiar which is the love interest of Vera because apparently this series is just going down the romance hole. Plus he is introduced to setup book 4.
The ex-husband is there only to setup for book 4.
The mobster situation isn't settled either, so you'll have to read more about that again in book 4.
Yep, nothing really happened except her sister finds a girlfriend, maybe, and Finlay and the cop resolve their "feelings."
Thanks netgalley for my ARC.
NOTE: If you decide to read this, do yourself a favor and read it very close to #2. While #1 could be read as a stand-alone, and #2 probably could be, this one definitely can't and you need to read #2 right before or you will be very lost/confused. The author does sometimes give a little reminder or context, but it is not enough. I had to go looking for spoilers to refresh myself often.