Okay, so, yeah, now the whole cliffhanger ending in the first book in this series, "Lay Down the Law", makes total sense. Actually, Taite doesn't leave the reader hanging long before resolving that part of the book. Although by the end the reader gets all sorts of new cliffhangers. I'm sensing a pattern here somewhere...

This is the second book in the Lone Star Law series. And while Peyton/Lily and a good number of the characters from the first book are back, this story focuses on DEA Agent Dale, and a reported named Lindsey. She's assigned to do a puff piece on the DEA and a take back drugs community event that they're doing.

Dale is on a different case though. While Gantry is going on trial, and Arturo is in jail, his brother Sergio is still out there and causing a whole heap of trouble.

Both their stories are complicated. Dale's wife was killed by drug dealer's the year before, and she's still dealing with it. Lindsey is quite the bulldog reporter who values the truth over everything, but she has some hangups too. Not to mention the producer she gets stuck with is her ex-girlfriend who is the very opposite of Lindsey when it comes to listening to the TV bigwigs and what they're supposed to report on.

Just like the previous book in this series this novel had a lot going on at the same time. And I will say that I wish that the book had been more about the big mystery and less about Dale and Lindsey dancing around each other.

I look forward to the next book in the series. Seeing the characters again and where and how they twist will be interesting.

I got this advanced galley through Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books. ( )

received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

This is the sixth work that I have read by Carsen Taite, and the fifth novel length work.

I had not realized it a the time I requested this book, but everything I've read by Taite has been series work. Including this book here. Which was a problem because I hadn't realized that going in - and this is the second in the series. I had some idea that this was actually the first book in a new series, not a sequel. That seems to be a pattern for me, though, with Taite work. heh. mmphs.

The first work I read was a short story - turned out that it was a new story in a trilogy Taite had worked on at some point. So I had read the end of that series before I'd ever read the first. Then I read the three books in that Luca Bennett series. And now I've read the two books in the Lone Star Law series.

Though I again almost read backwards - like I had done with the Luca Bennett series. This time, though, I caught myself - when I got to 1he 12% mark of this specific book here and was confused by what was going on - I stopped and looked closer at everything. Realized that I was in book two of a series and stopped. I did not immediately get book one and read it but shortly thereafter I did.

This is not a book that should be read by itself, or first. This book starts a week after the end of the last book's events, and continues the mystery threads that had been running throughout that first book.

There is a slight problem, though, and one of the reasons I didn't immediately realize I was reading a sequel. The main characters were changed. Which, in and of itself, is confusing. Because Peyton, the main character of the first book, is deeply involved in working on the mysteries, and, separately, 'suffers' a form of personality change detectable in this here book. As in, her personality changed. Well, enough to be noticable for me, maybe not that big of a deal. The problem is that there is some good reasons and or 'excuses' for this change, but we, the reader, are now on the outside looking in, and do not have access to these reasons.

The main character in this book here, well one of the two, is Dale Nelson. DEA Agent. She was in the first book, though something of a side character. An important side character, but still a side character. She's matched up in this book with a new character taking the role of co-book lead - one Lindsey Ryan, super reporter.

So: The characters: As noted, the main characters are DEA Agent Dale Nelson, and reporter Lindsey Ryan. The side characters are Peyton Davis, Lily Gantry, Lily's mother Sophia, Sophia's drug cartel brothers, and several other side characters from the first book.

Dale had meet the love of her life while in the military, she was working as an MP, and Maria had been working as a lawyer. They shared a deep love. Then Dale's wife was gunned down about a year before the start of this book. Dale is still mourning the loss. Somewhat to the point of somewhat impacting her job.

Lindsey is a high profile television reporter who has spent a career diving into danger (like being embedded in military units in war zones) and following her gut and not what the network wants her to do. This time Lindsey goes along with the network wishes, because of several reasons - partly because she 'ambushed' two high profile interviewees, and partly because if she 'gives in' she'll have . . . um, free . . um . . more control of her career. The network wishes involve going on assignment to Dallas to do a puff piece on the DEA and their drug program in which people can turn in their drugs.

Lindsey's devoted to her career and pursues it somewhat single-mindedly - which I mention because she doesn't exactly have any one else in her life.

So, as is somewhat normal, when the Romance part came around, the two leads - the two people with POV, bounced against each other. Which seemed . . .. Well, let me come at it another way. Dale is still mourning the loss of her wife, and somewhat plans to spend the rest of her life doing so (or, at the very least, not getting into another relationship). Lindsey is still having 'issues' with adjusting back to the first world, and has never been that good with relationships. Though she's had several. Including with the producer on to her current assignment. Neither one of them, Dale and Lindsey that is, seem to be in a good place to have any kind of relationship.

To be fair, their vague feelings of lust, and their attempts to wrap their brains around the issue seemed somewhat realistic. There were elements that I had issues with, including parts I can't mention without being spoilery, but for the most part, I just simply didn't care about either of them being in a relationship with the other. Quite frankly I didn't particularly care about either character. I neither liked nor disliked them. They weren't bland, they weren't meh, they weren't thin - they were just people I didn't particularly care that much about.

Falling back on the mystery and . . . .. There's a lot of conspiracy and weirdness going on. It's all mysterious and stuff. There's even a bit of danger and death. But, for the most part, the mystery threads just kind of bumbled along, bubbled along, with some of the mystery energy diverted to basically Dale and Lindsey investigating each other.

Hmm. This was a rather bumbling review. Sorry about that. There was just nothing that tackled my interest - not the romance, not the mystery, not the emotional troubles both of the leads face(d).

May 30 2016 ( )