Review: Say You're Sorry (Morgan Dane #1) by Melinda Leigh
Print Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Montlake Romance (May 16, 2017)
From Goodreads.com: After the devastating loss of her husband in Iraq, Morgan Dane returns to Scarlet Falls, seeking the comfort of her hometown. Now, surrounded by family, she’s finally found peace and a promising career opportunity—until her babysitter is killed and her neighbor asks her to defend his son, Nick, who stands accused of the murder.
Tessa was the ultimate girl next door, and the community is outraged by her death. But Morgan has known Nick for years and can’t believe he’s guilty, despite the damning evidence stacked against him. She asks her friend Lance Kruger, an ex-cop turned private eye, for help. Taking on the town, the police, and a zealous DA, Morgan, and Lance plunge into the investigation, determined to find the real killer. But as they uncover secrets that rock the community, they become targets for the madman hiding in plain sight.
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My Rating: 2 stars out of 5
I was a little surprised to see this was published via a Romance company as there was little to no romance to be had through most of this. Lance had a crush on Morgan, Morgan liked Lance (but was also still grieving the loss of her husband). Throughout the book we get to hear their inner thoughts (although seriously Morgan if your ovaries are "swelling" when you see Lance, you might want to go get that looked at just saying).
A strong premise, but unfortunately it just fell completely flat. The characters were either underdeveloped (in the case of the two main characters), utterly incompetent (the entire police force), or (in the case of Lance's mother) nothing like we are lead to believe. From almost the start we are told that part of the reason Lance doesn't date is that his mother has a mental illness and he can't bring people around her, yet not only does he bring Morgan around and his mother instantly is overcome by her charms, but she never has an "episode" that lends any credence to his claims. In fact, she's more than eager to help with their investigation.
Speaking strictly to the "investigation", it was hard to stay invested (and harder still to believe that this bumbling police force has ever accurately solved a crime in their lives). Despite moving at a snail's pace, there was entirely way too much "convenience". Morgan needs to speak to someone, so they call her almost immediately. Morgan wishes something would happen, and it does. Even when the author attempts to distract the reader from what is going on, it doesn't work - in fact I'm still not entirely certain what the purpose was of having introduced us to an entire family only to have them disappear when they hadn't done anything against the law. Or the sickening way she took a former soldier with PTSD and turned him into a psychotic mess barely capable of stringing two words together (but was still in possession of enough of his faculties to booby trap the front steps of his home despite getting packages delivered there frequently).
I will say that the ending was wrapped up tight with a bow, and with a suspect that didn't make sense. I'm sure the author was going for shock value with the reveal, but unfortunately, that just didn't work either. By that point, I was just glad it meant the book was almost over.
Should this author come across my radar with another book in the future, I might give them another chance as I do believe there is potential in their writing, this book just wasn't for me.
I was a little surprised to see this was published via a Romance company as there was little to no romance to be had through most of this. Lance had a crush on Morgan, Morgan liked Lance (but was also still grieving the loss of her husband). Throughout the book we get to hear their inner thoughts (although seriously Morgan if your ovaries are "swelling" when you see Lance, you might want to go get that looked at just saying).
A strong premise, but unfortunately it just fell completely flat. The characters were either underdeveloped (in the case of the two main characters), utterly incompetent (the entire police force), or (in the case of Lance's mother) nothing like we are lead to believe. From almost the start we are told that part of the reason Lance doesn't date is that his mother has a mental illness and he can't bring people around her, yet not only does he bring Morgan around and his mother instantly is overcome by her charms, but she never has an "episode" that lends any credence to his claims. In fact, she's more than eager to help with their investigation.
Speaking strictly to the "investigation", it was hard to stay invested (and harder still to believe that this bumbling police force has ever accurately solved a crime in their lives). Despite moving at a snail's pace, there was entirely way too much "convenience". Morgan needs to speak to someone, so they call her almost immediately. Morgan wishes something would happen, and it does. Even when the author attempts to distract the reader from what is going on, it doesn't work - in fact I'm still not entirely certain what the purpose was of having introduced us to an entire family only to have them disappear when they hadn't done anything against the law. Or the sickening way she took a former soldier with PTSD and turned him into a psychotic mess barely capable of stringing two words together (but was still in possession of enough of his faculties to booby trap the front steps of his home despite getting packages delivered there frequently).
I will say that the ending was wrapped up tight with a bow, and with a suspect that didn't make sense. I'm sure the author was going for shock value with the reveal, but unfortunately, that just didn't work either. By that point, I was just glad it meant the book was almost over.
Should this author come across my radar with another book in the future, I might give them another chance as I do believe there is potential in their writing, this book just wasn't for me.
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Say You're Sorry is available from Amazon.com
 by Melinda Leigh){kind=link}
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