Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Review: Counterfeit Conspiracies by Ritter Ames

Counterfeit Conspiracies Counterfeit Conspiracies by Ritter Ames
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Genres: Mysteries, action, suspense

Summary: Laurel Beacham may have been born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but she has long since lost it digging herself out of trouble. Her father gambled and womanized his way through the family fortune before skiing off an Alp, leaving her with more tarnish than trust fund. Quick wits and connections have gained her a reputation as one of the world’s premier art recovery experts. The police may catch the thief, but she reclaims the missing masterpieces.

The latest assignment, however, may be her undoing. Using every ounce of luck and larceny she possesses, Laurel must locate a priceless art icon and rescue a co-worker (and ex-lover) from a master criminal, all the while matching wits with a charming new nemesis. Unfortunately, he seems to know where the bodies are buried—and she prefers hers isn’t next.


Review: Oh, this was fun!

If you like mysteries mixed with action and a hint of James Bond glamour, then this book is for you.

Mysteries are touch and go, with me. Too slow, and I lose interest or end up flipping to the end to try and figure out what's going on. But action scenes also need to be well written, or else you're just left trying to figure out what's going on. Plus you need a bit of lightness and humour to balance everything out, otherwise things can get a bit heavy and bogged down.

Counterfeit Conspiracies is a book that manages balance these things pretty well. Our main heroine is stubborn, quick thinking and independent - but she's also very real, with vulnerabilities, mistakes and emotions that shine throughout the course of the novel.

Now, our main male character - he's an interesting one. Utterly infuriating at times, and pretty much the main reason I ended up lowering the star count a little bit. I get the urge to have a hero who is charming but prickly, a mystery and a bit infuriating - but he crossed the line into being a bit too controlling a couple of times, which rubbed me the wrong way.

Still, this book is fast paced and flew by, and the banter and balance between Laurel and Jack mostly offset the moments where I had to grit my teeth a bit. This is the sort of book that is perfect to pick up on a weekend when you want to be spirited away and imagine yourself living a wild and intriguing life - minus the danger, of course!

A copy of this book was provided for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

View all my reviews

3 comments:

  1. This does sound fun! What a synopsis! Sorry you took issue with the hero though - I'm a romance junkie, so a wrong step there can really annoy me too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's funny, because it's not as though I just don't enjoy controlling men - if it's done right I totally do. But if that balance isn't there it just bugs me.

      Delete
  2. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing my novel. I truly appreciate you taking the time! :)

    ReplyDelete