Reviewed by Lesley
TITLE: Steal My Heart
AUTHOR: Andrew Grey
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 236 Pages
RELEASE DATE: November 19, 2024
BLURB:
Hilliard Bauman’s life and his law practice are in Ohio, so when he inherits a home in California, his first instinct is to sell. Then again, his law partner is also his ex-partner, so maybe starting over wouldn’t be so bad. Either way, he needs someone to fix up the house first. That’s where Brian Mayer comes in.
Brian Mayer will do whatever work he can get, whether that means dog walking or painting fences. But in a small town where everyone knows everything about everyone, finding jobs can be difficult—especially if you’ve been wrongly convicted of theft. When Hilliard hires him to fix up his great-aunt’s place, it’s a relief on Brian’s strained bank account… but tests Brian’s heart to its limits.
As Hilliard digs into Brian’s case and the botched investigation of the original crime, things really start heating up—both between him and Brian and in what should’ve been a cold case. This time when cops try to lay the blame at Brian’s feet, he has Hilliard in his corner. Can they solve the mystery, put Brian’s past to rest, and find a new beginning together?
REVIEW:
I do like a good mystery and this was one. It was a good balance between mystery, romance and a little bit of sexy times. It features two main characters that have both been negatively impacted by their life experiences in different ways.
Hilliard is a lawyer, from Ohio , who has inherited his Great Aunts house in California, much to the consternation of his uncle. The timing is good for Hilliard as he has just split up with his ex life and business partner Alan who has been cheating on him. Moving to a new state could be just the restart he needs,.
Hilliard needs a handy man to fix up his new house and Brian is the one is available.
Brian has not had it easy. He lives with his grandmother and has been wrongly convicted and has served time for a burglary he did not commit. This has negatively impacted his ability to get enough work to look after himself and his grandmother. He was framed at the time of the crime and now they have found the evidence to prove his innocence someone is trying to frame him again.
As Hilliard, Brian and his grandmother work together prove Brian’s innocence can they also learn how to trust and love again?
One of the things that Andrew Grey is good at is writing good secondary characters as well as good main characters. I enjoyed getting to know the good / and not so good people of Mendo. People such as Ruth (the old lady who seems to be everyone’s friend) , Grant the new police officer in town and Violet – the lady who was robbed and her family.
This book had a major twist towards the end that really through my suspicion of who had done it into complete uncertainty and that for me made this a good read. I don’t want a crime book where it’s really obvious who has done it and by the same token and I don’t want it to be someone we haven’t met or heard of before either.
RATING: 
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