"Juliette Winters is used to taking care of business alone. She has no time for petty things like romance, friendships, or emotional commitments. Love is for people who believe in reality TV dating and holding hands in public. She's too busy dominating the publishing world by single-handedly saving her company from financial ruin with the book deal of the century.
Business magnate Warren Ellingham has guaranteed Juliette exclusive rights to his explosive memoir that promises to expose the secrets of his ultra-exclusive country club, Pacific Pines. But when Warren drops dead of an apparent heart attack and the memoir is stolen, Juliette suspects that someone was willing to resort to murder to keep their secrets from being exposed.
Enlisting the help of Charlie Hawkins, a doctor with a heart of gold and abs of steel, Juliette dives into the glamorous and messy world of Pacific Pines Country Club. As the investigation heats up, so does the tension between Juliette and Charlie. But Juliette can't afford any distractions because the bodies keep dropping, and Juliette is tee-d up to take the blame. If she doesn't uncover Warren's killer soon, the thing that was supposed to secure her future might just be the thing that ends it."
What Worked for Me:
The first book in the series was marketed as a hybrid romance/mystery and in my review, my main gripe was that I felt like it was just okay at both of those genres but would have been stronger if it had picked a lane. This book read much more as a cozy mystery with a romance sub-plot and I think it was more successful because of those choices.
The investigation elements were really well done and I enjoyed how many different twists and turns we went down. I loved the inclusion of a good ol' fashioned murder board to make sure motives and alibis were all accounted for. I also found Juliette to be the right mix of competency so we were rooting for her but she still felt like a normal person getting caught up in some murder.
I enjoyed Juliette as a character overall and thought her background and childhood really came through her personality as an adult. I very much enjoyed seeing her interact with her friends who, at times, needed to force their love upon her. I think some readers might find her a bit abrasive, but I think we see through that tough facade pretty early on in the book.
What Didn't Work for Me:
I wanted more stakes to solving this mystery. We are told that there will be consequences to these events but it felt like Juliette was the only one who was concerned about those consequences. Of course, this pushed her to continue her own investigation and to push the police further. But since it was just her that seemed to be worried, it make the stakes feel smaller and like maybe she was overreacting.
Overall, this was a fun read. I enjoyed that it was more of a true cozy mystery rather than trying to be half mystery/half romance like book 1 in the series. A lot of fun investigation threads and locations for the reader to follow.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. Publication date was January 20, 2026
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