Psych's Guide to Crime Fighting for the Totally Unqualified - Shawn Spencer with Burton Guster (DTB)

Full disclosure - I started reading this a long time ago and just finished it today.  It's an awkward-sized book, but don't let the amount of time it took to read this fool you - I liked it.  It was just difficult to situate in a comfy position to read.  I think Shawn would understand.

If you don't know anything about Psych, just stop reading.  If you pick up this book and have never seen the show, you won't understand the book at all.  If you love the show and want a bit more of it, this might be a possibility for you.

I love Psych.  It's probably my favorite comedy of all time.  I own all 8 seasons on DVD, and my kids have watched it as well.  We can quote things from different episodes and watch them over and over.  Every time I start re-watching the series, I try to keep an eye out for the pineapple that's supposed to be present in every episode.  By the second one, I've totally forgotten about the pineapple because I'm too busy laughing my butt off at Spelling Bee (one of my favorite episodes).

This book is as scatterbrained as a normal Psych episode.  It's even got a chapter labeled Chapter %.  If you can't imagine reading this in the various voices of the cast, you probably won't like it.  Yeah, some of the humor falls a bit flat at times, but other times I laughed out loud.  I rarely do that when reading, so it's a compliment for the book.  It was a fun read and something I needed right now.

A Search for Refuge (Haven Manor novella) - Kristi Ann Hunter

The books in the series are called A Defense of Honor, A Return of Devotion, and A Pursuit of Home.

Margaretta arrives in Marlborough wanting to find a friend.  She's running out of money, and she's in trouble.  Her husband is dead, but her brother-in-law could be a threat if he discovers she's pregnant.

Nash is intrigued by the newcomer and is determined to make sure she's not there to take advantage of his elderly neighbor.  He discovers that Margaretta isn't a threat, but when he learns the truth about her, his painful past tells him to stay away.

I read this after the first book, so I kinda already knew what happened, but it didn't bother me too much.  I think the main issue was the shortness.  While that's to be expected with a novella, I missed the development of the relationship between the characters.  They interact, but the ending didn't seem earned somehow.  I'm not sure what it was, but it just felt like something was missing.

A Defense of Honor (Haven Manor #1) - Kristi Ann Hunter

This is the first book in the series.  The other two are called A Return of Devotion and A Pursuit of Home.  I don't think I've read anything by this author before, but her name sounds familiar for some reason.  Regardless, I was looking for something to read, and this caught my eye.  I read it through my Amazon Prime membership.

After I started reading this book, I liked the writing style and characters and looked a bit deeper into the series.  There's a novella called A Search for Refuge, which is free.  Normally, I'd read that first, but I'd already started the book.  It's next in line on my read list.

Kit has spent years trying to make up for her past.  She's taking care of children that are the results of aristocratic indiscretions.  It takes money to do that, however, and her methods have earned her the nickname The Governess.  It's not a compliment, but she'll do whatever it takes to care for the children.

Graham is helping search for his friend's missing sister.  While following a lead, he comes upon Haven Manor and Kit's secret.  There's more going on here than Kit is willing to reveal, but Graham is intrigued and wants to find answers.

I think my favorite part of this book was the characters.  They had depth, and I cared about them.  The supporting characters were just as interesting as the main ones.   The remaining books in the series cover the other two women from Haven Manor, and I was a bit bummed to not see Graham's friend, Aaron.  Maybe there's some blurb in one of them about him, but I'm not holding my breath.

I'd like to read the other two, but it doesn't look like the prices drop on them very often.  I'll keep my eyes open, though, and hope for the best.  Good Book!

One Little Lie (Pelican Harbor #1) - Colleen Coble

This is part of a series.  The second installment is due out September 2020.

Jane is the new chief of police, but not everyone is congratulating her on the position.  She also has a journalist following her around filming her for a documentary.  While she isn’t happy about it, she doesn’t have a choice, and she needs to focus on the murders occurring in her tiny town.

Reid isn’t just making a documentary.  He’s there with his son to check into Jane.  He is holding on to some painful secrets, and they’re all going to catch up to him in Pelican Harbor.

What makes this a 3-star review for me is the convolution and the ending.  The plot had too many things going on.  When I read, “I know it seems convoluted,” I almost laughed out loud.  It was like the character was saying what I’d been thinking for so long.  There were multiple times I’d come across an element I’d forgotten, or it took me a moment to remember a certain character.

The other disappointment was the romance.  The ending was such a letdown.  If you want a continuation of Reid and Jane’s romance, you have to get book 2.  I’m not used to this kind of cliffhanger from the author, and I didn’t like it.  Also, it didn’t make sense for Jane to have trust issues for the whole book and not spare a single moment considering someone else having the same issues.  I didn’t expect instant forgiveness, but leaving the relationship on a cliffhanger was just weird and unsatisfying.

A couple things bothered me but didn’t affect my overall review score.  The first is the horn tooting at the beginning.  How much is too much these days?  I feel like 2% of the total book is too much.  For goodness sake, there’s at least 4 quotes FROM THE SAME PERSON!  Does anyone even read those?  I don’t.  I just happened to catch a familiar name more than once and went back to see what the deal was.

The other thing is the attention to detail.  For example, if you’re going to mention Dairy Queen’s Peanut Buster Parfait, at least know what it is.  There isn’t any hot chocolate or caramel in the PBP.  A simple Google search will tell you that there are 3 ingredients: hot fudge, peanuts and soft serve.  That’s it.  Maybe that mistake was caught before the final print, but it was incredibly disappointing after some of the well-researched novels I’ve read recently.

Overall, it’s not a bad book, it just wasn’t what I was expecting.  It seemed unnecessarily complicated while not giving me enough at the same time.  Even the villain’s motivations felt strange.  I’ve enjoyed so many of Coble’s books in the past, but this one was a miss for me.

*I received a copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.