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Review: Detonate by Luna Mason
Detonate
Luna Mason
Beneath the Mask Series, Book 2
460 pages, Kindle Edition
May 27th, 2025 Kensington Publishing
Grayson
Seven years ago, I left the special forces and my home after a tragic betrayal.
I carefully constructed a new life in New York.
I thought I had it all.
A world-famous boxing trainer by day.
A Mafia hitman by night.
Free to live in the darkness to do what I was trained to do.
To kill.
I finally felt free.
But one kiss was all it took to shatter life as I knew it.
The one woman who hated my guts, scaled the walls I built around my black heart.
My ray of sunshine.
Just when I believed I could have it all, life blows it up right before my eyes.
I know how far I’m willing to go to fight for her.
But can she truly love someone who could never give her the fairytale she so desperately craves?
Maddie
I was sick of being the family disappointment.
The one who could never get a man to stick around.
So, I kissed a lot of frogs to try and find my Prince.
Instead, I fell in love with the villain.
The last man on earth I thought I could ever love.
He might call me sunshine, but I crave his darkness.
I wasn’t meant for his world, but he took me anyway, and I never wanted to leave.
Sometimes life doesn’t give you a choice.
Can I give up on my search when I have the monster offering me the world?
Even if loving me puts us both in danger.
3 Stars
Detonate by Luna Mason is sports/dark mafia romance that follows Grayson and Maddie. Grayson is emotionally guarded, former military, and was portrayed by people he trusted the most in life. He is a boxing trainer, and mafia hitman. The only place for women in his world is for a physical release, nothing more. No strings whatsoever. Maddie is a disappointment to her family. She doesn’t want to have someone else dictating her life. She wants to be her own woman, believing in fairytales and happily ever afters.
Both of our main characters have their issues and things in the past that have made them the way they are. However, from their first meeting things were explosive. They had chemistry, but yet come from two completely different worlds. Detonate is an entertaining read, and for most part of the book is fast paced. I do feel it had a lot of potential and could have been a little bit more. Not saying that I disliked it because I did enjoy the read but it just felt like there was something missing or fell short, just a bit.I do look forward to looking into this Author’s catalog because her storyline was good and she kept me entertained.
Review: Death by French Roast by Alex Erickson
Death by French Roast
Alex Erickson
Bookstore Café Mystery Series, Book 8
Krissy Hancock runs a bookstore-caf� in Pine Hills, Ohio, but she’ll be setting up shop as a sleuth when she discovers a long-unsolved murder . . .
Krissy’s helping a friend clean out her late mother’s house when she learns that although the deceased died peacefully at an advanced age, her brother did not. In fact, Wade was killed more than thirty years ago, and the case was never closed. What surprises Krissy even more is that she has a personal connection to the story–her friend Rita was seeing Wade at the time, scandalizing the town with the couple’s large age difference.
With an older Rita now part of Krissy’s writing group–and another member with police experience–she starts digging up gossip, talking to the victim’s local coffee klatsch, and trying to find real clues amid the old rumors. But things just seem to grow muddier as she fights to identify whodunit . . .
4 Stars
Death By French Roast is my first visit with the Bookstore Cafe gang and will not be my last.
When Krisy’s neighbor passes on she realizes there was much more to the crabbiness of her noisy neighbor than what she realized. Krissy learns of a thirty year old murder that’s never been solved. Maybe even pushed a bit under the rug. Krissy decides with determination to start digging into this mystery for her neighbor, Eleanor, who’s brother was the victim. Digging into this small town cold case has the natives in a twist and a bit on edge. As the clues start to piece themselves together, Krissy is getting close to the big reveal when the suspect strikes yet again.
I very much enjoyed Death by French Roast. A cozy cold case mix with a touch of romance. That a winner right there. I liked how Krissy showed such concern and wanted a sense of justice for a neighbor who she thought was nosy. I loved Krissy. She’s an amazing character. Likable and smart yet tenacious and determined. It was almost like she had an extra sense when it came to put in close together. Even the people that didn’t particularly care for her or what she was doing she was able to get them to talk to her. She’s a character that looked outside the box and she loves coffee. What was not to like about her. LOL. In all seriousness coming into the eighth book in a series a lot of times a reader will feel that they are missing something. However that is not the case with Death by French Roast. I got to know this entire cast of characters well within one book, it didn’t feel like there were chapters upon chapters of backstory just so you can get to know them. The story flowed well, the mystery kept you guessing and the characters truly made the story. Alex Erickson made a new fan with Death by French Roast.
Coffee Books Life 