Rating: 3 stars out of 5
As a fan of Amy Lane, I was excited to read this book. I’ve enjoyed her more “fluffy” work as well as her more angsty work. This was neither. It was hard to even classify it as a romance for me. It’s a murder mystery with police corruption and some sex thrown in.
Jackson is a former cop turned PI with a chip on his shoulder the size of Montana. He always wanted to be a cop to right the wrongs in the world. Or at least in his neighborhood. But after getting burned and nearly killed, he walks around like the world owes him. For a guy who wanted to help, I don’t see him helping anyone but himself and his brother-like best friend.
Ellery is an attorney at a big shot firm where Jackson is a PI. Apparently he has always crushed on Jackson, but was put off by his whoring ways. They are thrown together to help Jackson’s friend Kaden clear his name.
Jackson and Ellery are so antagonistic toward each other from the start. And yet, they pretty much fall into bed together. Even though Jackson swore he wouldn’t until Kaden was safe. That lasted for about 10 pages. For a guy on a moral high horse, he doesn’t really stick to his own.
I didn’t feel any chemistry between the two. In fact, I felt a lot more chemistry between Jackson and his best friend’s sister at the beginning of the story. It just felt like both guys wanted to get their rocks off. There was no feeling.
So while this certainly won’t put me off of Ms. Lane’s work, this book really didn’t do it for me. Even the title didn’t work. There was no tie in whatsoever. So a cover with a gold fish and handcuffs wouldn’t draw me to this book and even if it did, it doesn’t hint at the grittiness of the story.
Cover art by Reese Dante.
Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | ARe | Amazon
Book Details:
ebook, 270 pages
Expected publication: July 29th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
Original TitleFish Out of Water
ISBN 1634773799 (ISBN13: 9781634773799)
Edition LanguageEnglish
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 