Book: Once Upon a Lie by Max Monroe
Reviewed by Anonymous
Rating: 4/5
Shane's a Nashville Metro PD detective that's forced to go undercover to investigate whether Valentina, a local bagel shop/bookstore owner is a part of her father's crime empire. As part of his assignment, he is moved into her condo building directly upstairs from her unit.
Anyway, as part of his investigation, Shane has to go through her trash and gets her in trouble with the HOA and leaves him feeling a little guilty and tries to make amends without her even knowing he was behind her fine. When an unfortunate accident literally pushes them together, Shane and Valentina start building a friendship that quickly turns to... more, and that certainly was NOT part of the assignment. The closer they get, the more guilty Shane feels about why he's in her orbit, even if their relationship feels like anything but work.
As someone who lived in a high rise condo with an overbearing HOA board president, that portion of the book really spoke to me in the best/funniest way. Rita is the absolute WORST, and we would've thrown hands if I was in Valentina's spot, espcially with what happens to her unit. Rita, girl, get a LIFE.
I also absolutely loved Alfred. He was the sweetest addition to the story and the ending was so bittersweet for me. I'm really hoping there's a third book in this series and fingers crossed Nico gets a redemption arc!
Audiobook:
I immersive read this one and though Teddy Hamilton can be a bit hit or mis for me, I was so happy with how he portrayed Shane. Being a cop, he was a little foul mouthed, but it was done so well. The audiobook is a definite thumbs up for anyone who prefers that over eyeball reading.
Story: 4/5
Narrators: 5/5