The Bibliophilic Book Blog

Book Review: Pleasant Lake P.D. by: Kelly Fitzpatrick

Rating: 4/5

Publisher: Medallion Press

Publish Date: September 1, 2012

Origins: From Publisher for Review

Format: E-book

Order From: Medallion Press

Synopsis: Alexandria Moreno, parking enforcement officer for the serene town of Pleasant Lake, has signed on with the FBI to nail a gorgeous suspected criminal, Miguel Diaz, who’s passing himself off as a legitimate businessman. Alex’s assignment is to use her feminine wiles, of which she has few, to infiltrate Diaz’s world and find some evidence for a conviction.

To complicate matters, she’s teamed up with Detective Roman Plow, who is her ex-boyfriend, though the FBI doesn’t know it. As they focus on retaliating for past wrongs, real and imagined, their smoldering love/hate relationship brews. They’re not exactly an ideal team.

With her bumbling nature, a steamer trunk full of emotional baggage, and no investigating skills, Alex spends most of her time reminding herself that the tall, dark, and handsome Miguel Diaz is not her real boyfriend and struggling to keep from falling into his bed. As she tries to dig up dirt on her undercover lover, the steamy investigation leads to a fight for her life. But who is behind the attacks?

Review: Alex Moreno is a meter maid according to some, but her official title is “Parking Enforcement Officer”. She lives and works in the peaceful town of Pleasant Lake, with the same daily routine until the FBI come to town. The FBI wants Alex to team up with her ex-boyfriend Detective Plow and go undercover to help dig up concrete evidence on Miguel Diaz, a suspected human trafficker. As the FBI instructs, she is to use any means necessary to infiltrate his life. What she doesn’t expect is for Diaz to infiltrate her heart. As Alex gets deeper into her relationship with Diaz, she is getting closer to the truth and will be in a fight for her life.

“Pleasant Lake P.D.” is a fun and quirky romantic mystery. I loved the dynamic between Alex and Roman Plow (her ex) – the dialogue, the heat, and the snarkiness. There was extreme sizzle between Alex and Miguel Diaz and it turns into something so beautiful. Both Alex and Miguel have baggage, but they’ll have to work through it as Alex tries to covertly gather evidence on the man she’s starting to fall for fast. However, there are other influences at work and Alex just may not make it through. An entertaining book, “Pleasant Lake P.D.” will keep you laughing and on the edge of your seat. http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/2012/10/book-review-pleasant-lake-pd-by-kelly.html

Romancing The Book

Dodging Cupid by Kelly Fitzpatrick
Release Date: July 21, 2011
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Page Count: 50
Source: ebook provided by the publisher

After a string of disastrous Valentine’s Days, broken hearts and failed relationships, Jenna’s decided to spend this Valentine’s Day in the least romantic spot possible—the coin-op laundry.
No flowers. No candy. No annoying couples or romance of any kind. The only glitch in her plan is the leather-clad biker in heart-print boxer shorts who walks in as her washer starts. This just might turn out to be the best Valentine’s Day Jenna’s ever had.

Review: From the moment Dodging Cupid jumped off I was sympathetic to Jenna. The sweet gal with the Valentine’s Day blues due. It’s been a while since she had a lasting relationship, and the coupled up friends and family giving her sympathetic glances have worn her patience thin. In order to boycott the sickening sweet scene all together Jenna opts to spend her time in the laundry mat. There’s nothing romantic about a spin cycle right?
Wrong, in walks Del, the sexy biker with an unexpected quirky sense of humor and impeccable manners. Del is a tall drink of water (as my Gran would say) with stubble, a Harley and a black leather jacket. Yes, just the yummy eye candy you need when doing your sexy lingerie. (Can you sense the sarcasm?) The attraction between them combined with their easy banter leads Del to participate in her ban of the holiday. The trouble is cupid seems to have it in for them.
This short had me laughing out loud, covering my mouth in disbelief, and smiling. This is a sweet treat filled with wit, and humor. Though Del and Jenna didn’t get down and dirty in the sheets, there was plenty of sizzle and sexual tension.

No Strings Attached Blog Hop!

No Strings Attached! Okay, this is easy. For you and for me. I'm not even going to welcome you to my blog or invite you to read the blurb or excerpt. I might not even respond to your comments. At all. There are no strings attached. As a matter of fact, I copied and pasted most of this post from a previous No Strings Attached Giveaway Hop. I am being that lazy.

 

 

I'm not going to ask you a question. Just leave your email address (you can say something if you want) so I can contact the random winner of an ecopy of This Side of Dead. Don't feel obligated to click on the link to Amazon. But please do check out the other No Strings Attached participants. You know - if you want.  

 

 

This Side of Dead

5 Star Romance Writer's Review

Blurb:

On Memorial Day weekend, Cecilia Denton hopped out of her boyfriend Brad’s car and leapt off a bridge. Far from suicidal herself, she did it to save a jumper, but she had no idea of the chain of events her heroic stunt would set in motion. Because Cecilia cheated the Grim Reaper, Death claimed her boyfriend instead. Now, Cecilia and Malcolm, the stranger whose life she saved, must go on a scavenger hunt of redemption. Either they prove to Death that there’s more to humans than greed and despair, or Death claims both Malcolm and Brad. 

Malcolm Manchester didn’t ask to be saved, and he sure doesn’t want to be Cecilia’s partner in a game of Beat the Clock to restore Death’s faith in humanity. The heat is on Cecilia to give Malcolm a reason to live before time runs out—or send him off with a bang.

Excerpt:

 

In the car on the way home CC held the ring up to the light of the passing street lamps, shop windows and traffic lights. The street lamps were bright. The shop windows with their neon were sparkly. The traffic lights were shiny. The ring—not so much.

She’d dreamed of some day owning a ring that shone like one of those movie premier lights they flash into the night skies. Hold it up to the light and Batman would show up and ask, “What’s the emergency, ma’am?” And then she could ask him to give her away at her wedding…you know…someday…in the future. CC giggled to herself.

She felt the all-too-familiar bump bump bumpity bump of the old Crossroads Bridge. Built in the forties, it had always given CC the willies. As a child, it had reminded her of a dinosaur lumbering across the river to eat her and use her bones as toothpicks. As an adult, she didn’t want to share the bridge with an oncoming bus due to how narrow the bridge became in the midsection.

“Why are you going this way?” she asked.

“Traffic.”

The evenly spaced lights reflected resplendently on her new diamonette ring, distracting her from the morbid notions she had about the bridge.

A pedestrian in the shadows of the bridge’s columns caught her eye, disturbing her joy. The figure peered over the rail and peeled away a coat, letting it drop to the ground. CC tensed. I’ve got a bad feeling about this. The person climbed the safety rail, glanced briefly over his shoulder at their approaching headlights, and then jumped from the bridge and into the swift running river below.

No! Her heart seized. “Stop!”

“What? Why?” Brad asked.

CC reached out and grasped his sleeve. Her other hand clutched at her heart. “Just stop.” No other cars were in sight. Brad hit the brakes. CC’s body lurched forward, stopped only by the safety belt. She unlatched the clasp and flung open the car door.

“Cecelia!” Brad called after her.

She was only vaguely aware he pursued her. Grasping the rail, she leaned and saw a body thrashing in the water. The fall hadn’t killed him. Not this. Not today. Not again. She couldn’t save her parents all those years ago. She’d failed to save her little sister. Without thought for her own safety, CC scaled the rail. Doesn’t look that far, she thought right before she leapt to the icy water. Regret hit her the second the thousand pinpricks of painful freezing water did.

Over the sound of the rushing river, she heard the faint sound of her own name called out. It faded and dissipated like dust scattered in the wind. CC struggled to paddle toward the shadowy shore. Screw the jumper. What was I thinking? Diving into a river of melted mountain snow was not like diving into the city pool on open-swim day. It was lunacy.

The current battered her downriver toward the tree-lined bank. Freezing cold river water slapped her face and splashed into her open mouth instead of the air she sought. Suddenly she rammed into something solid. Correction, someone solid. Determined not to die in vain or die alone, she seized onto him with aching, icy fingers, pulling him toward the shore so she could kill him with her bare hands.

 

 

 

Suspense Romance Writers

This is an Official Review by a Suspense Romance Writer Official Reviewer Review for Pleasant Lake P.D. (ebook)
Author: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Date of Review: 08/14/12
Reviewed by: Leah

Reviewer Comments: What a fun and exciting story! This is the first book by Kelly Fitzpatrick that I have read and it was a delight. I loved every minute of it. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. Alexandria Moreno is a parking enforcement officer (don’t call her a Meter Maid!) in Pleasant Lake. She has always wanted to work for the police department and although parking enforcement isn’t her dream job, it has some perks. When Alex is offered the chance to go undercover and investigate a potential human trafficker, she jumps at the opportunity. Working with the FBI should help her to move up in the police department and she can leave ticket writing behind her. One of the only downfalls to the situation is that she has to work with Roman Plow. Roman is not only an ex-lover, but a real jerk. He has no problem making sexual comments and flirting with Alex despite the fact that he is continuing to sleep with every woman who crosses his path. Roman takes pride in his playboy status. Alex doesn’t know if she can count on him to keep her safe. Another downfall is Alex’s immediate attraction to the man she is supposed to be investigating, Miguel Diaz. As Alex gets to know Miguel, she begins to wonder if he really could be the bad guy that everyone says he is. Is she just fooling herself so that she doesn’t get her heart broken or is he really the awful man that the FBI believes that he is. This book combines great chicklit and romance with the suspense of working undercover. I wasn’t sure where the story was going to go and that kept me reading. There are parts that will make you laugh out loud, but also parts that make you gasp as you eagerly turn the page to find out what happens next. Trying to figure out who Alex is going to end up with also added to the suspense of the story. We know that she has two guys who both have a multitude of faults, but they have some good points as well. Alex isn’t the most heroic heroine. She definitely gets herself into some scrapes and needs rescuing ala Stephanie Plum, but she wants to succeed and find out the truth about Miguel. Alex will do whatever it takes to figure out what is going on even if it means putting herself in danger to do so.

Ratings Overall: 10 Sensuality: 8 Suspense Element: 8

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After a string of disastrous Valentine’s Days, broken hearts and failed relationships, Jenna’s decided to spend this Valentine’s Day in the least romantic spot possible—the coin-op laundry.

No flowers. No candy. No annoying couples or romance of any kind. The only glitch in her plan is the leather-clad biker in heart-print boxer shorts who walks in as her washer starts. This just might turn out to be the best Valentine’s Day Jenna’s ever had.

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On Memorial Day weekend, Cecilia Denton hopped out of her boyfriend Brad’s car and leapt off a bridge. Far from suicidal herself, she did it to save a jumper, but she had no idea of the chain of events her heroic stunt would set in motion. Because Cecilia cheated the Grim Reaper, Death claimed her boyfriend instead. Now, Cecilia and Malcolm, the stranger whose life she saved, must go on a scavenger hunt of redemption. Either they prove to Death that there’s more to humans than greed and despair, or Death claims both Malcolm and Brad. 

Malcolm Manchester didn’t ask to be saved, and he sure doesn’t want to be Cecilia’s partner in a game of Beat the Clock to restore Death’s faith in humanity. The heat is on Cecilia to give Malcolm a reason to live before time runs out—or send him off with a bang.