Please note I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
So this was a fantastic read in the Bree Taggert series. Maybe because this is the first one where Leigh decided to have us follow the murderer the way we did. I was honestly surprised by the reveal of who it was too (which I always love) and loved the back and forth chapters following Bree and Matt via third person point of view to the first person point of the view of the murderer. It also had me kind of going well they sucked with the victims, but you feel some pity for the people they left behind. I loved that this one took on the world of online dating (did that, have the t-shirt, it’s bad out there) and how love can quickly turn to hate. I gave this a very enthusiastic 5 stars.
“Lie to Her” takes place several months after the events in the last book. Bree has come out in public that she is dating Matt. She’s trying to deal with the fact that her niece and nephew are going to experience their first Christmas without their mother. She’s worried about them and wants to spend some more time with them, but of course murder calls. Bree is called to a scene where a man is found with his head wrapped in plastic with his hands and legs tied. An investigation into the man’s past shows he could have made some of the women he dated angry (he was a three date max person) or it could have been his slightly estranged brother. But when another man is found dead a day or so later, it appears that Bree and Matt may be dealing with a serial killer.
So per usual the main mystery/murder is our focus. We get a few “I love yous” between Bree and Matt. But honestly, is anyone else getting any heat here? We do get a fade to black sex scene, but it just feels a bit like their relationship is not the main draw to things at all. I mean if you are going to do romantic suspense, I would just like to see more of the ‘romance’ if possible. And I hate that we hear things as a reader that they have discussed. For example, it’s brought up they discussed that there would be no displays of affection between them at work. Reasonable right? But I would have liked a scene with them even discussing that. I sometimes forget they are a couple except when Matt frets about their lack of time with Bree. At the end though it seems like their relationship is moving into a new direction, so we will see.
The relationship between Todd and Cady which was welcomed, I felt a bit letdown about. We don’t get to really see them together outside of a quick scene. Am I asking too much? Do I just want hot and heavy sex scenes? I don’t know.
The main mystery though of who is killing these men who are just kind of awful with regards to how they treat other women though was great. I was very curious on how Leigh would wrap this up and I enjoyed the ride. I did not enjoy the snakes though. Yeah if you have a snake phobia, you may want to skip this one.
The writing/dialogue was great and I really loved the flow of this book.
The setting of this one always has me intrigued. I love that this book takes place in the same time/place as Scarlet Falls and the Morgan Dane series. I think I just like books more when they link up to other series that the author writes. You get to see older characters pop up which is always nice. You don’t get a pop up in this one like the last book though.
The ending left things on a hopeful note for the entire Taggert clan as well as Matt and his family too.
