Book Smart Kate

Book: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Audiobook: 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 

by Karen Rose (March 26, 2024) – Many thanks to @berkleyromance and @prhaudio for the gifted digital and audiobook copies – here is my honest review! After absolutely loving Cold Blooded Liar, my expectations for the second book in this series were extremely high. Although I didn’t love it as much as the first, I did enjoy it a great deal, and I’ll stick with the series because I adore all of the characters Rose has created in this San Diego-set series.

The story picks up six months after Sam and Kit brought down a serial killer. Sam is working as a police consultant, but Kit is giving him, and her attraction to him, a wide berth because she doesn’t believe she’s what someone as kind as Sam needs. Kit is called to the scene of a homicide at a retirement home where a former member of the force has been murdered. He was loved by his friends at the home, the staff, and volunteers – including Sam. As Kit tries to put together the pieces in this homicide, more people connected to the retirement community end up dead, and a more sinister and far-reaching plot begins to take shape. 

I loved how this book gave active roles to the members of the retirement community in resolving the mystery, making them important parts of the found family that Kit has built around her. Unlike the first book, this one didn’t have as much pressure driving the plot forward. About two-thirds of the way through, it became clear who did it, and you were just along for the ride as Kit and Sam figured out how and why. The book is billed as a “romantic suspense,” but I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate. Although there is a relationship being set up between Kit and Sam, it’s not enough of the story to warrant being billed as such. That being said, I really like these characters, and it was a fun read. The audiobook was also great, with the same narrator as the first book.