Beachcomber Investigations

I’ve always been a sucker for a great crime read. Combine crime and sizzling romance together, though, and CHA-CHING, I’m yours for life.

Being said, BEACHCOMBER INVESTIGATIONS, Book One in the Romantic Detective Series, and written by the talented author Stephanie Queen, hooked me the moment the hot sexual tension between Dane and Shana was revealed early in the story.

Dane, referred to as a ‘Fixer of Things’ has recruited the luscious Shana (who is on the books as a Scotland Yard operator), and a surfer and shooter, on a mission to capture a sniper when Acer, a cyber security consultant and Dane’s old unit buddy, is almost assassinated. Dane and Shana’s ‘Sea-Saw’ sparring as professional partners is amusing, while their potent, sexual attraction simmers, hits medium heat, and then goes beyond the boiling point…in spite of their No Intimacy Rule.

Add to the cast of characters – an up-to-no good FBI agent snooping around, a dopey delivery boy interested in getting involved with the folks at Dane’s Beach Shack (fortified with security precautions), and their mainstay “Cap”, creates more mysterious elements of this story as their investigation is underway.

What moved me further were the couple’s chaotic, mixed emotions – their caring about each other’s safety, the things they’d like to say, but can’t or won’t. That Dane is a ‘danger magnet’ and he knows. He’s trying like heck to keep everyone safe and away from danger, especially Shana. They, as a whole, are fearless about everything – except love.

On a personal note, the majority of the setting occurs in one of my favorite places, Martha’s Vineyard, and I loved the mention of The Black Dog, where I lunched each time I visited the island.

I’m not a reviewer to smooch and reveal spoilers, but I will say this: I found myself rooting for the good guys in BEACHCOMBER INVESTIGATIONS. They’re engaging, thought provoking, and at times, irritating – plus the sex scenes are titillating and well done, a combination for an extremely satisfying read. I’m now a fan of Ms. Queen, the series, and can’t wait to move on to the next installment.

What a page-turner!

Surprisingly enough, Dane Blaise and Shana George made it through their last mission. Shana is staying at Dana’s beach shack but has her own bedroom. In spite of all the sexual tension between them, their living arrangement is working because they made “the Rule”. No real caring, no sex; stay away from anything that sets off the fireworks between them and takes away the focus on their missions. However, their new mission just made it harder to stick to “the Rule”. Someone is targeting a member of Dane’s old team. Dana and Shana need to find out the who and why before Acer dies. In the meantime, Acer will stay in Shana’s bedroom and she will move in with Dane; a situation designed to drive them both crazy.

Their research points in a surprising direction and they find themselves mired in an old case that could ruin their careers or worse.

This is a good series with non-stop action and some good surprises. I received a free copy, but my review is honest and voluntary.

This first book in the Beachcomber Investigations series by Stephanie Queen had good suspense and action adventure to it. The characters, Dane and Shana, are still trying to decide if they are going to be friends or friends with benefits, which of course, violates their unwritten golden rule: no sex between partners working cases. The story-line moves along very smoothly and quickly. In fact, the only negative I have is that this book seemed to beat up their golden rule way too much with repeats of it over and over. I understand it was intended to show the difficulties the two characters were having emotionally, but it still seemed a little too much. Of course, I am planning on adding further books in this series to my TBR. This is a voluntary review of an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Hidden Gems Books.

Dane is a charming genius and utterly ruthless – to the detriment of his own best interests sometimes. Shana shares these same traits. As investigators it makes them unstoppable. In matters of the heart it makes them downright tragic. There’s something about this book that makes me flash back to The Finder. There’s also something so very Remington Steele about it, with a splash of Agatha Christie. These two brilliant, slightly broken, minds head up a cast of quirky characters with A-Team-like special abilities. I think I might have liked the supporting cast just a bit better than our leads. I’m pretty sure I was able to decipher most of the interpersonal connections, but I know this story would have made more sense if I’d read the Scotland Yard Exchange series first. There are a lot of previous events that are mentioned in this book that feel like they need that additional context. The bottom line is that in spite of how frustrating I found our leading couple and the non-answer to their relationship status, I’m intrigued to know more and will be looking into other books in this and the related series in the future.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through Hidden Gems Books.

Beachcomber Investigations is the first in a new series from Stephanie Queen. It features Dane Blaine who is ex-special ops and Shana George, a Scotland Yard detective who is on an exchange programme with the Boston Police Department. Dane has asked Shana to become his partner at Beachcomber Investigations based on Martha’s Vineyard where their first case is to find out who’s trying to assassinate Dane’s old team mate Acer.

This story had everything I look for in a book. An intriguing, well written plot, fast-paced action, witty banter and engaging main characters with a sexual tension between them that sets the pages on fire with the whole will they/won’t they scenario that runs throughout the book, although I would’ve expected a Scotland Yard detective to be British not Australian. In fact I’d give it five stars if not for the confusion I felt both at the beginning of the book when it starts in a hospital room with an injured police chief & the periodic mentioning of a previous case they’d both worked on which I’m assuming is how they met. I had to check that this was indeed the first book in the series and that I hadn’t skipped one as I felt I was missing something. This won’t however stop me from reading the rest of the series if only to find out if Dane and Shana get their happy ending.