The Sleuth’s Miscalculation (The Librarian Sleuth Book 1) by Kimberly Rose Johnson

My Review

Nancy Daley, in addition to being a librarian, is also the daughter of the county sheriff. Moreover, she has had some success in her avocation as an amateur sleuth. So, you can imagine her indignation at being paired with the new deputy, who recently transferred from LA. She feels eminently qualified to solve a string of license plate robberies in her hometown of Tipton, Oregon. Sheriff Deputy Carter Malone is even more upset to be told he must work with an amateur who is the town’s librarian!

Tipton is a small town, full of all the characters one would expect to find in a small town. There are the gossips, the do-gooders and those who stick their nose into everything whether it helps or not. Throw in a couple of teenagers, an overly strict father, plus other strange townspeople, and you have the makings of an extraordinary whodunnit!

Kimberly Rose Johnson’s first book in the Librarian Sleuth series, The Sleuth’s Miscalculation, is an exciting mystery, suspense story.

I have read and enjoyed many of Kimberly Rose Johnson’s romance short stories and novellas. Thus, it was no surprise to me when I enjoyed her newest endeavor in mystery and suspense, too!

I received this book from the author, Kimberly Rose Johnson. However, I was under no obligation to post a review.

Publisher’s Summary

Two strong-willed sleuths team up to solve a mystery. Can they work together, or will their differences pull them apart?

Librarian Nancy Daley loves a good mystery and enjoys moonlighting as a consultant for the sheriff’s department. When license plates go missing in Tipton County, she’s on the case. This time things are different—she’s been partnered with the new deputy, and he’s not interested in her help. To make matters worse, she’s angered the wrong person and is now being threatened.

Sheriff Deputy Carter Malone expects Tipton, Oregon to be a sleepy small-town, but he miscalculated. He’d come to town for a fresh start with his nephew—one without the issues big cities deal with. Had he made a mistake? To complicate matters, he’s told he must consult with the sheriff’s daughter, who is not in law enforcement. When the minor case they are working morphs into something more, things quickly go from harmless to scary.

Can they solve the mystery before it’s too late, and more importantly, what will they do about their growing attraction?

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The Reluctant Groom (Brides of Seattle Book 1) by Kimberly Rose Johnson

My Review

Kimberly Rose Johnson’s book, The Reluctant Groom, is book one in the Brides of Seattle series, which begins with a curious premise. Ray O’Brien’s grandfather stipulated, in his will, that Ray must be married before his twenty-eighth birthday. If not, he loses ownership of his gym.

Katie Fairchild is losing her apartment because her best friend is getting married. One day, without thinking, she off-handedly comments to Ray that he could marry her.

A marriage of convenience is not something you usually read about in a contemporary novel. However, Johnson has written a believable and plausible story.

When you throw in a snobbish future mother-in-law for Katie, a darling precocious niece for Ray, Katie’s absentee mom and the pressure of having to marry for Ray, you get a myriad of feelings – from confusion and fear to frustration and anger. It all becomes a perfect recipe for disaster. Yet, somehow it all works out when God is first and foremost.

The Reluctant Groom is a sweet story, but not without its sadness, too. Johnson has done a great job of writing likable, relatable characters in a tale typically reserved for historical fiction. I can’t wait to read future books in the series.

I received the book from the author. However, I was under no obligation to write a review.

Publisher’s Summary

When everything goes wrong, can two friends discover true love?

When Ray O’Brien’s world is turned upside down, Katie Fairchild wants to help, but the personal cost is high. Neither desires a marriage of convenience, but when Katie blurts the first thing that comes to her mind Ray can’t dismiss her offer of marriage. It would solve all his problems except for one thing—they aren’t in love.

Can these two friends team up for the greater good and perhaps find love along the way, or are their expectations impossible?

A Love to Treasure by Kimberly Rose Johnson

Publisher’s Summary

School teacher Nicole Davis is on summer break, but this vacation is unlike any other. Her beloved Grandmother’s final wish has landed Nicole smack in the middle of her favorite destination—Sunriver, Oregon, following Grams’s clues on a mysterious scavenger hunt. Unexpectedly, Nicole finds more than just a fellow sleuth in a handsome police officer, Mark Stone. But Mark must return to his job in Portland at summer’s end, and Nicole must guard her heart.

Mark is hoping for a quiet summer in Sunriver as he contemplates his future in law enforcement, but a string of burglaries draws him from his self-imposed break from detective work and thrusts him into the middle of the investigation. To complicate matters, Nicole is in jeopardy, and he knows his growing feelings for her could cloud his judgment. Will their differing career goals be the end of their summer romance—or just the beginning of forever after?

My Review

Nicole Davis is on summer break from her teaching position and vacationing at her favorite place, Sunriver Oregon. However, Nicole is there because of her Grandmother’s scavenger hunt, and not because she really wants to be. Her grandmother set up the hunt, before her death, hoping to curtail Nicole’s workaholic tendencies.

Mark Stone, a Portland police detective, is in Sunriver, Oregon, working as a street cop. Trying to forget what brought him there, he is anticipating an undisturbed summer in a quiet little town. Instead, he finds himself in the middle of an investigation he wants no part of.

I enjoyed how Kimberly Rose Johnson presents a unique twist to her romantic suspense novel. A young, career-focused woman is forced out of her comfort zone by a scavenger hunt. She has few clues, and it seems as if everyone is in on the secrets except her. A career police detective wants to scale back from his duties in a big city and comes to a seemingly idyllic town. All is not as it seems, and when you throw in a troubled teen and his cousin, two self-proclaimed party lovers and a string of burglaries, you have a recipe for mystery, mayhem and magnetism.

I received a copy of this book from the author. However, I was under no obligation to post a review.