4.5 stars - Excellent Debut Novel

This was a unexpected but very pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed this book. Overall, this is light read - not a hard core or bloody mystery/crime drama or an angst-ridden romance - but Stiling manages to balance the mystery and the romance quite well to make it a great book to while away (wile away) a dreary afternoon.

The mystery was plausible without going over the top - there's something just inherently creepy about stalkers and Stiling used it well to stir up the suspense. She also managed to include a decent set of suspects, alibis and red herrings to keep me guessing. Best of all, she didn't include the big bad's POV - I hate it when a book includes the bad guy/gal's POV in the narration - it ruins the flow and, honestly, it always seems cheesy to try to explain or demonstrate how batshit crazy they are.

The dynamic between Micki and Savannah worked particularly well - gotta love the ice queen melts trope - with a great chemistry and some amusing dialogue. The love/hate dynamic works well in place of the "instalove" you sometimes find in lesfic novels - the idea that the attraction was there, but masked by the sniping/one-upmanship of the MCs. Both characters were engaging and believable and the evolution of their relationship worked. Even the secondary characters seemed three dimensional.

I'm surprised this is Stiling's first novel and I will be looking for her next one.

By the way - I do agree with the stalker, asparagus is better when it's steamed.