New Release Book Review: Wicked Little Lies by Beth Prentice

Once again Beth Prentice has written a delightfully fun cosy mystery with plenty of suspense and laughs. Wicked little Lies is part of The Westport Mysteries series, but this one focuses on Molly who is Lizzie’s sister, the main character from the first 4 books.

I loved the first three books I read in the Westport Mystery series, I still have book 4 waiting to be read and this one starts off where that one ends (so it’s essentially book 5) so I need to get to reading it and fill in the gaps I know I am missing. It can be read as a standalone but all the characters from the original series are in this newest book too so it was a wonderful chance for me to reconnect with them all.

From the get-go there is chaos, action and intrigue aplenty to draw you in, this family, especially Grandma Mabel all seem to get up to some crazy things or caught in crazy situations. And it seems playing amateur sleuth runs in the family.

I really enjoyed getting to know Molly better and I really liked her boyfriend Matt, despite first impressions. I can’t wait to see how these two go once the baby comes along and what else this family can get caught up in.

Thanks to the author for providing me with a digital copy of this book in return for an honest review.

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Release Day Book Review: Fatal Break by Beth Prentice

I absolutely loved this third murder mystery adventure featuring Samantha Reynolds in Beth Prentice’s new book in the Aloha Lagoon series. #3 in the Samantha Reynolds Mysteries and book #15 in the Aloha Lagoon series, Fatal Break is my favourite read so far. Samantha does a wonderful job of playing at amateur detective and getting herself into all sorts of trouble, this time she’s out to clear her BFF who has been accused of murdering her ex-boyfriend and she is very determined.

Samantha and Casey’s relationship has grown even stronger after the events that occurred in Lethal Tide and it was so lovely to experience this couple all loved up.

Once again poor Detective Ray has to deal with Samantha and her friends as they go about trying to clear Alani’s name. These are some of my giggle moments.

There are some seriously funny moments throughout this novel and I got a great giggle from Samantha’s exploits as well as her internal dialogue. She’s great fun.

There’s plenty of conclusion jumping and her usual ability to make 2+2=7, there are some red herrings and shifty behaviour (thankfully not Casey this time), but ultimately Samantha does a great job of being a magnet for trouble.

If you want a fun read, I recommend you pick up the Samantha Reynolds Mysteries, you’ll want to read them in order to get the whole feel for Samantha and her friends and family. As well as to enjoy life at Aloha Lagoon 😊. I’d still like to visit one day, despite the seemingly high murder rate.

Thanks to Beth Prentice for providing me with a digital copy of this book in return for an honest review.

My reviews for

#1 (#3) Deadly Wipeout

#2 (#10) Lethal Tide

Book Review: Lethal Tide by Beth Prentice

I’ve just finished book #2 in the Samantha Reynolds Mysteries which is book #10 in the Aloha Lagoon series. Samantha decides once again to do some amateur sleuthing to clear her boyfriend’s name this time and ends up putting herself and her friends in danger.

I was determined to read this before book #3 (#15) comes out on the 20/8/19.

Samantha is good fun, she has a tendency to jump to conclusions and 2+2 often equals 7, but her heart is definitely in the right place and she’s extremely passionate. In this case though, I thought some of Samantha’s conclusions were fair enough and I was right there with her jumping to conclusions of my own.

So, after reading Deadly Wipeout, I thought Samantha’s boyfriend Casey was pretty wonderful. I started to have my doubts during this latest adventure; I thought maybe I’d been mistaken. He did some pretty questionable things, and his behaviour with the Lori was disheartening, I felt he should have put her in her place straight away, even though I knew nothing was happening. I have to say, I completely detested Lori from the start and that only got more intense as the story progressed. I have issues with women who make moves on another person’s partner.

This cosy murder mystery sees one of Casey friends from the past turn up at Aloha Lagoon and then subsequently is found murdered by Samantha, her brother Luke and BFF Alani. Soon after, a couple of Casey’s other past friends show up at Aloha Lagoon, this is when the questionable behaviour, secrets and conclusions (2+2=7) start to happen.

This was a great read though and a mystery that had some red herrings. I’ve often wondered if I’d chose to play amateur detective if the opportunity arose, but I think, probably not. I love how Samantha doesn’t have much of a filter and I like how she describes the people she sees; I feel for poor Detective Ray when he is questioning Samantha in his investigations.

I do worry about the number of murders that seem to happen in this small place. I’m not sure I’d want to holiday or live there after all.

Another fun read, I’m looking forward to picking up Beth’s new book Fatal Break tomorrow night since I’m lucky enough to have gotten my hands on an early copy.

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Aloha Lagoon Boxset #6-10

Beth Prentice Website

Book Review: Deadly Wipeout by Beth Prentice

Deadly wipeout is part of the Aloha Lagoon series, a series of books written by different authors but set on the same island. Beth currently has two books in this series, book 3 Deadly Wipeout and book 10 Lethal Tide and book 15 Fatal Break, which will be out next week.

Beth’s Aloha Lagoon stories are focused around the quirky character of Samantha Reynolds who has a tendency for getting herself into trouble. This was a fun read, with some good laughs and a dose of intrigue.

I had to laugh straight up when Samantha goes to a job interview as a surf instructor and has absolutely no idea what she is doing, lol, it’s something like I might do myself, in at the deep end and all that jazz.

On Samantha’s first day, a body washes up in the surf and she is drawn into a murder mystery that sees her putting herself in danger while uncovering secrets and trying to clear the names of those closest to her.

I loved the cast of characters who are part of Aloha Lagoon and who welcome Samantha to the island. There’s hunky British bartender Casey, who I’m totally in love with, what a hunny he is. Then there’s fabulous new best friend Alani who owns the surf shop. Samantha’s brother Luke is a great brother even if he can be moody at times. Alani’s grandmother is good fun and I enjoy the scenes she is in while the girls are gathering information (or is that gossip).

The bad guys are not very nice at all, and really, they aren’t overly smart either. But they can be dangerous. There is plenty of intrigue as the murder is uncovered.

I really enjoyed my first visit to Aloha Lagoon Resort and am going back to visit Samantha and co tonight with Lethal Tide. If I could I’d consider moving there for the perfect weather alone. I am concerned about the murder rate however.

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Aloha Lagoon Boxset books 1-5 Amazon AU

Aloha Lagoon Boxset books 1-3 Amazon US

Beth Prentice Website

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Book Bingo Round 3

It’s time to cross off another square this week, I’m actually going to cross off 2 squares, I was thinking of 3 but I’ll save one for next time.

First up is A book with a red cover, I read A Christmas Gift by Beth Prentice which was fabulous as has been the whole Westport Mysteries series.

Read my review here

The next book is Written by an author I’ve never read, I read a lgbt romance/crime book Valor by Karrie Roman an Australian author I wasn’t aware of before. I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Read my review on Goodreads

So that’s now 4 squares makes off for book bingo so far. How is everyone else going.

Until next fortnight, happy reading.

Claire Louisa x