Reviewed by Anna Lynn
TITLE: Pretty Poison
SERIES: Sinister in Savannah #3
AUTHOR: Aimee Nicole Walker
PUBLISHER: Chasing Rainbows Press LLC
LENGTH: 283 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 20, 2021
BLURB:
Redemption seeker. Chameleon. Damaged heart.
By day, Rocky Jacobs is a private investigator. By night, he produces Sinister in Savannah, a true-crime podcast, with his two best friends. Rocky’s life revolves around three principles: possessing skill is better than having luck, a man’s reputation is everything, and there’s no sacrifice too great for those you love.
Is Tess Hamilton pretty poison or just unlucky in love?
That’s the question the trio of trouble will try to uncover. This investigation strikes a little too close to home for one of them. Tess, a woman accused of killing her three husbands, has been tried and convicted in the media, something Rocky knows all too well. When their investigation turns up nothing but dead ends, Rocky will keep digging. Is it because he believes in her innocence? Or does Rocky hope to find redemption for himself by achieving it for Tess?
A stagnant case turns out to be the least of his problems.
What happens in Vegas never truly stays stay there. For fifteen months, Rocky has been running from a tragedy that shattered his life and countless others. The most painful casualty was the destruction of his marriage to Asher Dunleavy. When the sexy federal marshal turns up in Savannah, Rocky is reminded of his greatest love and deepest regret. Every minute spent in Asher’s presence makes him yearn for the life they lost. Will Rocky drown in the sorrows of what might’ve been or fight for what could be?
Sinister in Savannah series is a fictional podcast exploring the city’s most nefarious crimes with Southern-fried snark. The books explore friendship, love, loss, and the irrepressible human spirit. Pretty Poison is book three of three. While each novel is written about a different couple, the series should be read in order due to continuing storylines. Sinister in Savannah is an LGBT romantic suspense series with mature language and sexual content intended for adults eighteen and older.
REVIEW:
This is the third book of the Sinister in Savannah series by Ms. Aimee Nicole Walker. For those of you who have not read any of the previous books, Sinister in Savannah is the name of a fictional podcast exploring the city’s most nefarious crimes. Rocky, one of our main characters here, together with his two best friends, Jonah St. John (a Criminal Analyst for the Georgia Bureau of Investigations) and Felix Franklin (an Investigative Journalist), produces the said podcast.
In Ride the Lightning, Sinister in Savannah Book One, we had Jonah and Avery. Mr. Perfect, book two, had Felix and Jude. Now in this installment, we have Rocky and Asher.
Rocky Jacobs is a private investigator and his relentless pursuit of the truth has partnered him with his two best friends to produce a weekly podcast to tackle crimes, solve or unsolved, on air. The group is known for causing trouble for tackling sensational issues within their community, like a wrongful conviction, or a corrupt rich person who has the backing of local politicians. Fortunately, because of their jobs, they have the opportunity to do something about these cases. Now, they want to delve into the case of a woman who is accused for murdering her husbands. She has been married a few times and all her husbands have died. Although the three of them do not agree with each other when it comes to her guilt, they do agree that they need to look into it.
Fifteen months ago a traumatic experience in Vegas resulted to Rocky fleeing it and his husband. He has anxiety and he thinks that because of what happened, his involvement in what happened, and what his husband’s best friend said, that he is destroying his husband’s chances of being promoted in the United States Marshal Service. Thus the fleeing and deciding to stay in Savannah, where he bought his Nana’s house which was his childhood house as well.
But alas, US Marshal Asher Dunleavy decided to follow Rocky into Savannah. It took him a while to follow because there was no open position for him in the local branch until now. And it comes with a promotion as well. He told Rocky all these, amidst the fact that Rocky has filed for divorce.
With his business partner on paternal leave (his wife just gave birth to their first child), tackling a new (not really new) crime on their podcast, increase workload in their booming investigation agency (for which reason they decided to offer Avery, Jonah’s boyfriend, a position for their cyber-related cases), and the arrival of his husband, Rocky has been battling his anxiety more and more. Luckily, he has taken his husband’s and friends’ suggestion to talk to someone regarding it. It is a slow process (trust issues) but he will get there, he promised. It is just difficult for him to forget what happened in Vegas and the resulting fallout so easily, he knows that he should, for his mental health and to save his marriage. He loves his husband so much but he believed what someone told him, that he will only bring down his husband with him in his spiral.
I love the fact that Asher hasn’t given up, although he doesn’t want to pressure Rocky as well because of his anxiety. And the fact that he really waited for a position to open in the city’s Marshal Service before he transfers tells us his intention of staying and living there, with Rocky, for good. He knows that he loves his husband and all these months he has also been giving Rocky time to heal himself the best way Rocky thought possible. But now that he is in town with his new team, he has every intention of getting his husband back.
I love all the three books because it tackles a lot of topics, friendships (the good and the bad kind), day jobs (and keeping them), facing challenges due to one’s conviction, chosen family, marriage and love. It also tells us the struggles that people go through when they have anxiety issues, and how they cope with it. These are the qualities I always look for when I choose a book to read. And Ms. Aimee Nicole Walker’s characters are perfect! She made them really human, just like you and me, with all their imperfections!
RATING: 
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