This came through my email yesterday and I thought I'd pass it along to my USA friends who might be interested.  Henery Press produces some great cozy mysteries.  Of this batch I can recommend highly Board Stiff - Kendel Lynn, Swan Dive - Kendel Lynn    and The Semester of Our Discontent - Cynthia Kuhn.  

From the email:

 

I love this series, but I think Nicki and Hannah have got themselves into a real pickle this time. They are having to deal with some real mean guys. Ones who shoot first, ask questions later. The future of Sky Investigations may be changing.

In this book, they are paid to find a girl who's just turned 18 and has been living in foster care. She's ready to get out of there and find her independence. Unfortunately, she ends up with less control than what she had. They get into some pretty bad situations. Some you wonder how they are going to get out of them.

I would say that I definitely found this book to be entertaining and enjoyable. Although there were times when I wanted to slap some sense into that 18 year old. She knew they were looking for her and she just kept hiding.

Huge thanks to Henery Press for approving my request and to Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

Even though this is only the third book in the series it feels like we've come a long way from the first book that I had loved so much. This installment just fell flat for me. Maybe that is because I was so frustrated with Nicki and how she insisted on putting herself and her best friend Kenna in danger (Kenna was a willing participant in the investigation). Towards the end of the book Nicki and Kenna were in way over their heads and instead of letting someone more experienced or able to help take care of things Nicki insisted on putting herself in danger. Nicki just irked me throughout the book. I am happy at what happened between her and Dean at the end but cannot honestly see myself continuing on with this series.

Thanks to Netgalley and Henery Press for the galley.

4 stars  #SkyHigh @HeneryPress  Susan O'Brien

I really enjoyed this book. While the main character is learning to become a PI while raising two children seven and five, alone. She has a lot of struggles in her life. Including the guy she met in PI class who she really, really likes.

Don't worry if you don't get the killer in this story, the PI's didn't either. HA! He wasn't even one of the suspects.

The best part is the unknown package that gets delivered to Nicki's house and the bomb squad has to be called to check it out. You will definitely laugh out loud!

Thanks to Henery Press and Net Galley for providing me with this free e-galley in exchange for an honest review. I found the book quite entertaining and enjoyable. I highly recommend it or any book from Henery Press. You won't go wrong!

Single mom and rookie P.I. Nicki Valentine rarely gets time off, so attending a wedding with her superhot colleague Dean sounds dreamy. But things turn nightmarish when the groom—a soon-to-be transplant donor—disappears, and Nicki and Dean commit to a partnership they never planned..

Together, they examine the groom’s unfulfilled promises, including one to his mom, a psychic medium with an unusual health need. As family secrets emerge, Nicki must face questions about her late husband, whose long-ago betrayal still threatens to cloud her judgment..

With support from her pole-dancing best friend, her always-on-call family, and the loves of her life (her two kids—and possibly Dean), Nicki must uncover the groom’s demons while conquering her own.

While this book sounded promising, the characters didn't intrigue me enough or pull me into the mystery that was being solved.

I also felt like the conclusion was rather random. While the solution to the mystery made a lot of sense, it simply didn't feel like all of the work they had done led to this point. I normally don't mind when I can't solve mysteries with the clues given by the book as I enjoy hearing the detective's progress, but I felt like this was random--I could barely even remember the role the culprit had played.

The novel relied at points on a psychic medium to communicate sentiments from the deceased. This detracted from the work that Nicki and Dean were doing in solving the mystery; although the medium was unrelated, it added a supernatural element that wasn't necessary.

Nicki's kids seemed at points an afterthought or a trope, and though Nicki seemed like she should be very devoted to them, this didn't quite feel real to me. I wanted to enjoy their presence, but instead they kept feeling like a nuisance and an excuse to talk about how Nicki's friends could babysit.

I was a bit confused about Nicki's relationship with Dean. They were supposedly in a relationship but unlike consenting adults they acted like schoolkids who were trying not to show that they had crushes on each other.

Some moments were enjoyable. The pole dancing trope especially caused for some amusing moments.

Overall, there was just nothing about this book that captivated me or drew me in, and I didn't feel compelled to care about the characters at all.

I received a free advance reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.