Before I begin the review I think I need to put in a short disclaimer. I chose this book because I liked the title and the cover. I hadn’t realised it was the third in the series and it is not a romance. It’s a mystery and suspense with lesbian leads. Right, now that that’s out of the way: I enjoyed it.
Private investigator, Kera, gets a call from her girlfriend, Mandy, to say her twin sister is in hospital from an apparent suicide attempt while working on a cruise ship in southern Alaska. When Kera gets there her sister is in a coma and she devises a plan to find out what happened to her. Mandy was supposed to join Dee on the ship for part of the cruise so they use that to their advantage. Or is it disadvantage?

I’m a fan of stories where the perpetrator comes from a limited pool of suspects because they’re trapped on a train or ship or in a house. I like the constantly moving focus of who it could be and the guessing game one gets to play throughout. The mystery unfolded at a nicely balanced pace with numerous suspense-filled moments. Some things were obvious but others came right out of the blue.

It’s written in third person with both Kera and Mandy’s voices but we also get diary entries from Dee. Kera is an interesting character, suffering from PTSD from Iraq, but I’m sorry there wasn’t more of her service dog in the story. Even though there are lots of chapters from Mandy’s point of view, I didn’t get a full picture of her. Even though this is not a romance, Kera and Mandy’s relationship didn’t have enough of a dynamic for me. They may as well have just been friends. There are probably aspects in the first two books that would have clarified the portrayal of the characters. Three and a half stars rounded up.

Book received from Netgalley and Bella Books for an honest review.
Before I begin the review I think I need to put in a short disclaimer. I chose this book because I liked the title and the cover. I hadn’t realised it was the third in the series and it is not a romance. It’s a mystery and suspense with lesbian leads. Right, now that that’s out of the way: I enjoyed it.
Private investigator, Kera, gets a call from her girlfriend, Mandy, to say her twin sister is in hospital from an apparent suicide attempt while working on a cruise ship in southern Alaska. When Kera gets there her sister is in a coma and she devises a plan to find out what happened to her. Mandy was supposed to join Dee on the ship for part of the cruise so they use that to their advantage. Or is it disadvantage?

I’m a fan of stories where the perpetrator comes from a limited pool of suspects because they’re trapped on a train or ship or in a house. I like the constantly moving focus of who it could be and the guessing game one gets to play throughout. The mystery unfolded at a nicely balanced pace with numerous suspense-filled moments. Some things were obvious but others came right out of the blue.

It’s written in third person with both Kera and Mandy’s voices but we also get diary entries from Dee. Kera is an interesting character, suffering from PTSD from Iraq, but I’m sorry there wasn’t more of her service dog in the story. Even though there are lots of chapters from Mandy’s point of view, I didn’t get a full picture of her. Even though this is not a romance, Kera and Mandy’s relationship didn’t have enough of a dynamic for me. They may as well have just been friends. There are probably aspects in the first two books that would have clarified the portrayal of the characters. Three and a half stars rounded up.

Book received from Netgalley and Bella Books for an honest review.

I'm a sucker for mysteries, so despite having not read the previous two books in this series, I still grabbed this one. Yes, I may have missed out on some of the background by skipping the first two, but I had no problems following along with the characters or the story since Valley made it easy to bridge any gaps.

The main character in this one is Kera. She's now a private investigator, but she was previously in the military and struggles daily to cope with PTSD. When Kera finds out that her twin sister Dee was injured while working on a cruise ship in Alaska, Kera and her girlfriend Mandy rush to help solve the issue. The only problem, Kera realizes that she has to impersonate her sister in order to get to the bottom of the mystery.

This one was definitely a good read, but I personally felt like it suffered from pacing problems. The first half unfolded fairly slowly, but the second half felt rushed. The actual ending could have been a bit longer too, just a chapter extra maybe for a bit more explanation.

In addition to the pacing issues, it was also pretty hard for me to like Kera, and that detracted from my enjoyment much more. It bothered me how Kera felt that her twin was hiding behind her bisexuality only to avoid admitting that she's truly a lesbian. That's not how bisexuality works, and honestly bothered me quite a bit.

Overall, this was enjoyable and I will definitely be picking up more from Valley in the future, but this one came in at 3.25 for me.

**Many thanks to Bella for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.**

Kera Van Brocklin is struggling to cope with her mental illness with the help of her service dog, Lakota, her girlfriend, and her mentor. But when she learns that her twin sister, Dee, was hurt while working on a cruise in Alaska, Dee is determined to find out what happened to her sister. With her girlfriend, Mandy along, Kera realizes that she has to impersonate her sister in order to get to the bottom of the mystery on board the luxury liner. What she and Mandy stumble into is something far more sinister than either of them imagined.

So, this was a mystery that was really hard to get into, mostly because I didn't really like the lead character too much. It probably had to do with her parts of the book being in first person, while Mandy, her girlfriend, had a third person perspective. Kera seemed stiff and robotic at times, so it was really tough to get into her character. That, and the people around her seemed too cookie cutter. That is until the mystery really gets going, and we finally realize what might have actually happened to Dee, Kera's sister. At that point, I enjoyed the mystery because it really wasn't about Kera or even Dee, it was more to do with the people on board. For better or worse, there are some interesting and not so interesting characters on the cruise.

I wish that the first half of the book wasn't so boring, because the second half was fantastic. If you're a fan of the series or this author I'd recommend it, but I am hard pressed to recommend it for any other fans. Some hard core mystery fans will enjoy the topic, and the setting, but casual fans will be frustrated with the slower burn.

Review of ‘The Bartender’s Secret: A Cruise of Deception’ by Jody Valley

I requested this one on a whim since I don’t read much beside straight (ha ha) romance anymore. It sounded interesting so I went with it! (Look at me being spontaneous). Well, this went in a direction I didn’t even considered but I’m glad I read it anyway. For smarter people out there, refer to Lex Kent’s review since she, unlike me, read the other two books in the series before this one. Something I would have done if I had known, yes, I can be brilliant like that, as I also tend to be compulsive about reading things in order.

Private investigator Kera Van Brocklin’s twin sister, Dee, enlists as a bartender on an adventure cruise company in Alaska while depressed and trying to figure things out. Kera’s girlfriend, Mandy, was due to meet with Dee but instead finds out Dee has been in a terrible accident that has left her unconscious in a hospital. When Kera arrives to Alaska, she’s told Dee tried to take her own life when she fell off a cliff. Knowing Dee would never do that, Kera devises a plan to get on the ship and try to find out what really happened to her sister.

This novel can absolutely be read by itself. However, I will always advise to read the series first. I feel I would have been better connected to Kera and her past, which includes the military and PTSD. Still, the author gave us enough to understand why Kera is how she is in the present.

This book is narrated from Kera and Dee’s (journal) first person point of view (POV). But wait! Then, it is also narrated from Mandy’s POV, but in third person. I’m not sure I have ever read something with mixed POVs. I really enjoy first person POV, so I rolled with it and enjoyed it (after the initial confusion that is). It definitely made you feel more connected to Kera (as she is the main character in the story) while still offering information from her girlfriend Mandy. Those readers that are anal about POVs may have more to say about it.

This felt a little like my beloved board game Clue (note to self, play it again!). Everyone is a suspect as Kera has no previous knowledge about any of them. The twins switch place so Kera can go to the ship to investigate. My wife is an identical twin, so the path was obvious to me. I liked the constant reminder of how hard it was to pull the switch, or how a little detail was just off between the sisters. Cool to know the twins were very different regarding certain things like butch vs more femme or pool player vs not. The pep talk Kera gives herself about cursing was very funny. I will say, it got a little repetitive after the switch was established. Thankfully the story picked up in an entirely foreign path, and got exciting halfway to the end.

Overall a solid mystery read. I will look forward to more from this author. 4 stars

ARC generously provided to me by BB via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was given this Arc via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
I have to say I really liked this book and it’s author. Now I have to say that I’ve never read one from her before nor any of the series.
Usually I’m not big into mystery but the writing kept me engaged till the end.
Highly recommend and look forward to more from this author.
4 stars

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Deidre who feels she needs a change of scenery decides to work a company cruise in Alaska.

Everything going great until Diedre gets hurts and when Kera goes to Alaska she realize it's more serious then she thought and when everyone say it was a accident or suicide attempt. Knowing who het sister is knows that not the truth especially when they are trying hard to convince her.

Kera and her girlfriend Mandy decided to go undercover to find out if her sister accident was just that or something more going on. Kera realize that every person she counter has something to hide and may have kept her sister from learning theirs secret or she did and wanted her out the way.

This was good read I always wonder will there be a third book it was nice to read about these characters again.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bella Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book after reading the intriguing blurb. So thank you to Bella Books for the ARC of “Bartenders Secret”, which more than exceeded my expectations. In Kera Van Brocklin, Jody Valley has created a multi-dimensional, complex character, in the vein of J.M, Redmann’s glorious lesbian PI Mickey Knight. But great protagonists are empty vessels without a gripping, expertly constructed narrative, and Jody hits the mark here, too. In her latest adventure, Kera, along with girlfriend Mandy go undercover on an Alaskan cruise to find out the truth of Kera’s twin sister Deidre’s near- death ‘accident’/‘suicide’. Well suffice to say Deidre’s mishap was neither an accident nor a suicide attempt, but something more insidious. Cue a lot of dubious characters in a locked-room - well - locked-room-cruise ship mystery, that could all have had a hand in Deidre’s attempted murder. Shall I say more? Well, better not. I don’t want to spoil the enjoyment for other readers, and trust me you will enjoy “Bartender’s Secret”. I blew through this novel in one afternoon, not even bothering to take a break to make a cup of tea. The inevitable dehydration was worth it, because this is a taut mystery/thriller that shows off the best of lesfic and the wonderful talents of Jody Valley.