Book Review: “Dead in the Water” & “The Devil’s Playground”

About Dead in the Water

Sometimes a life change…
Can toss you into deep water.

Nail salon owner, Lorelei Baker, is more than ready for a change after her divorce. So, when her cousin, Carolina Hart – heroine of the Hart Times Cozy Mysteries series – tells her about a job possibility, she jumps at the chance.

Becoming a kitchen manager on a river cruise boat wasn’t something she’d ever dreamed she’d do, but it couldn’t be much more dramatic than running a nail salon…could it?

Lorelei dives right into the position and gets along with everyone onboard, with one exception. There’s a busybody activities director, who thinks she runs the entire ship, and refuses to see it any other way.

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Water-Cruising-Clues-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0CXJ5RQ5T

My Review of Dead in the Water

I purchased a copy of Dead in the Water, by Emma Ainsley through a KindofBook deal. I’m offering an honest review. All opinions stated here are my own.

I chose this book when I was looking for a cozy mystery to lighten the mood after several dark fiction stories, as a sort of pallet cleanser. I was not disappointed. It is a short story, and it keeps the pages turning, only taking me two sittings to finish it.

Lorelie Baker is headed for a new start after her old life crumbled around her. She becomes a last-minute hire as kitchen manager on a riverboat cruise line, but steps into more than she bargained for. The activities director is downright hostile for no apparent reason, having little kitchen experience, she is unprepared for her position, and who’d have guessed she’d be plagued with sea sickness every time they are anchored. Before she can learn the ropes, the activities director goes overboard, and it feels as if she’s the main suspect. But there is something about the recent events that bothers her, and the other staff is acting strangely, and she just can’t help but search for answers to appease her curiosity.

A light, fun, who dun-it. I give Dead in the Water five quills.

About The Devil’s Playground

In the Devil’s Playground, a Sinner always plays to win.

Nicolette

Back in Springfield for the first time in years, I needed money, and I needed it fast.

When my job as a hostess at the local Italian place wasn’t going to earn me enough to cut it, I did the one thing I promised I would never do: I got involved with one of the syndicates that rule the seedy city.

Considering I’m trying to avoid anyone with ties to the Libellula Family, I head to the West Side, and hope like hell the Sinners Syndicate will give me a chance.

The Devil’s Playground isn’t my first choice, but what else can I do? I make it clear that I’m only interested in serving drinks… until some big shot gambler offers me ten grand for one night.

I take him up on it—only to have him wager his night with me to another guy… and lose.

Now I’m expected to honor my deal with the Syndicate’s underboss, and the charming bastard who hired me for this job in the first place… while also hiding any ties I have to his enemies.

Royce

From the moment Nicolette walked into the Playground, I wanted her—but then I brought her on as one of our girls, and she was suddenly off-limits.

I learned the hard way: work and pleasure don’t mix. If I’d met her anywhere else, I might’ve taken a shot at the waitress, but she needed the job more than she needed a boyfriend, so I backed off.

And, okay, that’s a damn lie. I didn’t pursue her, but hell if I didn’t take a page out of Devil’s book and start watching over Nic from the shadows…

I would have left it at that, though, until one of the Playground’s more well-known wallets set his eyes on my girl.

They don’t call me “Rolls” for nothing. I played him for the night she agreed to, telling myself that I was just saving her from what the sick and twisted customer wanted to do to her.

Then I get my first taste of Nicolette, and I realize that one night will never be enough… and I’ll stop anyone who tries to take her from me.

*The Devil’s Playground is the second book in the Deal with the Devil series, a collection of interconnected standalones set in the fictional crime hotspot of Springfield. It tells the story of “Rolls” Royce and the one woman he’ll do anything to save, Nicolette Williams.

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Playground-Deal-Devil-Book-

My Review of The Devil’s Playground

I purchased a digital copy of The Devil’s Playground, by Carin Hart, through a KindofBookDeal. I’m offering an honest review. All opinions stated here are my own. I chose this book because of its stunning cover.

The Devil’s Playground is Book 2 in the Deal with the Devil series, but it works well as a stand-alone. There are trigger warnings for this book, and the first half of the book is filled with explicit, steamy sex scenes. Once the groundwork has been laid, the story moves forward with action and danger in the second half that keeps readers on the edge of their seats and pages turning.

Nicolette Williams is on the run from a possessive mafia enforcer who thought he owned her. When she comes out of hiding and returns home to care for her mother as she recovers from a freak car accident, she is forced to take a job with the Sinners’ Syndicate to make ends meet, and gets romantically involved with the Sinners’ sexy underboss, ‘Rolls’ Royce. She tries to tell herself she can remain under the radar of the man she needs to avoid and stay safe. After all, the Sinners protect their own, and no matter what she was before, she is now one of them as the love affair between she and Royce heats up and becomes serious.

A steamy, edge-of-your seat thriller with well-developed characters, and a well-crafted plot. I give The Devil’s Playground five quills.

About Kaye Lynne Booth

For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and Book 1 in her Time-Travel Adventure series, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders.

Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press, where she edits and publishes two short fiction anthologies and one poetry anthology every year amidst her many writing projects. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARC digital copies, (she also accepts print copies). Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.