Juliet is a cop who had a son with her best friend. She’s called to a murder in her town. Sienna is a victim’s advocate and the step mother to Juliet’s son. The murder pushes them together. I enjoyed that the main characters had known each other and been in each others lives for quite some time. It was refreshing to have two people notice each other as their true selves, rather than a storyline with two people just meeting.
I liked how Stiling dealt with the breakdown of Sienna’s marriage and the impact it would have on her husband and step son for her to fall for their best friend/mother respectively. I appreciated that Stiling didn’t make either Sienna or Juliet oblivious to the implications of their love on others and that there was no automatic presumption it would all just be ok.
With it being a mystery this book came with a slew of additional characters. I thought this added to the depth of the book, as due to the nature of the MCs knowing each other already, there aren’t a lot of scenes added to allow us to get know the characters as part of the natural process of dating. I liked Juliet’s friends and thought Declan the son/step son was written wonderfully.
The mystery was interesting. I didn’t find it riveting, but it moved along at a pace that kept me somewhat interested in who had committed the crime and why. There were some parts that I felt were missing to explain some of the situation but I think it was mainly because by the time the crime is resolved we’re full into romance mode.
There’s lot about this to enjoy and I think anyone who enjoys wlw romance would enjoy this.
I received an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
LGBTQ+ Reader 