Release Day Reviews ~ No Tears For Darcy by Vicki Reese
Title: No Tears for Darcy
Author: Vicki Reese
Release Date: April 3, 2018
Category: Mystery/Suspense
Pages: 197
Letting love pass them by would be a crime.
Former forensic accountant Cameron has lost nearly everyone he’s ever loved, and now his vintage clothing shop has been broken into and trashed. When town police chief Will Carson asks an out-of-town cop friend of his for help, Cam takes one look at the dark-haired, blue-eyed detective and knows he’s in real trouble—and it has nothing to do with vandalism or murder.
Pete Minchelli is on leave from his job in Philadelphia due to a gunshot wound, but he figures he can help an academy buddy with some light police work. Plus, he’ll have a chance to experience small-town life. He’s tired of the big city and all its corruption. But he quickly discovers that not all the bad stuff happens in cities. What he doesn’t expect to find is death, treachery—or love.
3 Stars
Argh! This is a hard one. I have absolutely no idea how to rate this book. There are parts I loved, parts I liked and then there are a lot of parts I didn’t like and even a few I hated. I finished it, though, so that’s saying something for sure.
What I Loved: Pete and Cameron were really great together. They had good chemistry and while them falling in Love happens rather fast, over just a matter of weeks, it’s written at a very nice pace. It’s pretty believable.
What I Liked: I actually really enjoyed Cam and I thought he was well written. I would’ve liked a bit more backstory merely because he was an interesting character.
Pete was also well written and I think he was probably my favorite character. I was glad he seemed pretty consistent throughout the entire story because it made him that much more real. I was very happy that he was not some one-dimensional character and I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing more of him.
What I Didn’t Like: I really wasn’t fond of Darcy and the way Cam was about their friendship. He says she’s his best friend one minute then the next makes it clear they don’t get on as well as he wished they would. She annoys him more than anything and at one point he says she was his buddy. It just didn’t gel with being best friends and in turn, just made me wonder why she was even in his life.
What I Hated: I’m not a fan of mystery stories that are super predictable and easy to figure out whodunnit or why they did it. NTFD was unfortunately extremely predictable in the fact that it became glaringly obvious who the bad guy was almost immediately. Soon after, it is pretty much laid out for us what was happening, who was doing it and why. Some actual suspense would’ve been highly entertaining and welcome.
There were also some inconsistencies with the story and the timeline. A few small continuity issues that probably wouldn’t have bothered me or I might’ve overlooked had I found it all more intriguing. One that bugs me a whole bunch (the others I can’t point out without giving spoilers) is the way all these friends are connected with one another. It’s just a bit odd to me.
Overall, I can’t say if I’d recommend this one or not. Some might love it and others might hate it.
***Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.***
**Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by DreamSpinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.**
No Tears for Darcy is the first book by author Vicki Reese that I’ve read and I loved, loved, loved it! Cameron has returned to live in the hometown he grew up in because of his mother’s death. Cameron has a good life but it hasn’t been easy. His father died when he was a boy, then his mother died, and his boyfriend died the week of his mother’s memorial. Cameron continues to live life and try to make it better. Then his store is broken into and trashed. Life is hard. What I loved about Cameron is that he didn’t use any of these events to give up on life. He adjusted, made changes and kept going. Honestly, with everything that happened to Cameron, this book could have been so heavy but it wasn’t.
Cameron meets Pete when he shows up with Will, the police chief and Cameron’s friend to investigate the store's break-in. But, Pete is more than he appears. He’s in town recovering from a bullet on the job, and he’s instantly taken with Cameron. There’s a spark between the two men that jumps off the page and you can feel their connection. Pete is smart and resourceful. He quickly notices patterns in the events in Cameron’s life and begins investigating. He’s able to see the bigger picture, and able to avoid becoming a victim, though not easily.
This story is interestingly told from three perspectives, Cameron, Pete and the “bad guy”. You don’t know who he is, but if you’re paying attention to the story, you do. There were only two things that kept this from being a 5-star rating for me and the mystery part is one of them. I loved having the point of view of the bad guy and not knowing who he is, but it really is written in a way that you know who he is. I would have loved to had the added mystery of trying to figure it out, but that’s just me. Otherwise, I think the bad guy and everything surrounding him was really well done. The characters were terrific and easily likeable, the mystery was really well woven, the supporting characters were terrific and really added to the story. The other reason I didn’t give a 5-star rating, is because I would have liked a little more story, or just an epilogue that let me see the two MC’s living life and still being together once all the action is gone.
Though the relationship happens quickly between the two MC’s, it never felt rushed. I would classify this as a very strong HFN ending that feels like HEA will happen. I would have just loved more of the MC’s relationship outside of the mystery and danger. This is a book I would highly recommend!
Rating: 4.5 stars!
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