Review: Up a Dry Creek by Avery Flynn

Up a Dry Creek by Avery Flynn

Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb

Claire Layton expects the usual busy Saturday night at Harvest Bistro to be killer on her stiletto shoed feet. She never imagines there’d be an actual murderer on the loose at her restaurant in rural Dry Creek, Nebraska. But when she discovers a customer dead in a dumpster, the killer demands she find the victim’s phone and flash drive or face fatal consequences.

Jake Warrick, a cocky and mind-numbingly hot private investigator, becomes Claire’s unlikely ally in the search. Jake just wants to solve the case and get out of this hick town, but the diminutive and curvaceous Claire turns his plan upside down as they uncover a more complex crime than they ever imagined. The two bicker and banter like Tracy and Hepburn caught in a whirlwind of intense sexual attraction as they try to find the killer before it’s too late.



Lia's Review

The instant I started to read Up a Dry Creek I was thrown into a suspenseful adventure with entertaining characters and a great plot. It’s a fast moving novella and before I knew it, I was on the last page.

When restaurant owner Clair Layton finds a body in her dumpster, she is shocked and terrified, yet that’s only the beginning. The killer thinks she has something that she doesn’t and he’s not going to stop until she turns over the item or dies. Clair was a very entertaining character. A spitfire redhead, she was temperamental, feisty, and smart. Her dog, Onion, stole the show at times and I was absolutely entertained by those characters. Jake, the hero, was modeled after many women’s hearts. He was strong and brave and oh so sexy. The romance was hot and steamy and at times I was afraid my ereader will melt.

The plot itself was very entertaining. Although the mystery part was very predictable, I still enjoyed the story in itself. The villains were evil and scary even if as a reader you know who they were a mile away.

In the middle of the book it seemed like the mystery dried up and was replaced with hot romance. Although I didn’t mind that, I felt like the author was about to leave us with a bunch of unanswered questions. Luckily, near the end of the story she continued writing the mystery storyline again until the end. I did hope that the middle would have had some mystery in it too, to balance out the suspense and the romance. It felt a bit scattered. Besides that, however, the book was perfect.

The ending was great. I will not spoil it for anyone but I can say that Ms Flynn broke a big rule by ending the book with a question. Now, us poor readers will have to wait for book two to come out just to get that answer. Oh, and believe me, I’m waiting for the next book to come.

If you’re a fan of suspense with hot romance, give this a try. It’s one of my favorite books that I’ve read this year and I couldn’t wait until book two in this series.

4 1/2 Tea Cups!