Truth, Lies, and Second Dates is a sweet and sassy contemporary romance from New York Times bestselling author MaryJanice Davidson. Captain Ava Capp has been flying from her past for a decade. She’d much rather leave it, and her home state, behind forever. But when she finds herself back in Minnesota, against her better judgment, everything goes sideways in a way she never expected it to. M.E. … she never expected it to.
M.E. Dr. Tom Baker has never forgotten Ava and the cold case she ran away from. When she shows up unexpectedly in town, in spite of himself, sparks fly. Which is terrible because he can’t stop his growing attraction to her. Can these two Type-A’s let their guards down and work together to put Ava’s tragic past behind her for good? And keep their hands off each other at the same time?
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Truth Lies and Second Dates was hilarious! I really loved how the author took book tropes and turned them on their head! You have pilot, Ava Capp, with a man in every port. Her life changed when her best friend was murdered. She is back in Minnesota on the 10 year anniversary of her death and goes to her memorial. She ends up meeting Medical Examiner, Dr. Tom Baker and the two of them work together to solve this cold case. This was a cute book. It was super funny and also suspenseful. You won’t want to put it down. I absolutely recommend this book!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
TRUTH, LIES AND SECOND DATES is what you get when you mix in a little bit of everything – mystery, hilarious witticisms, ironic twists, and romance. I’ve never read a book where it pokes fun at itself and its characters so much, making me laugh during the most inappropriate times. When a gun is being pointed at you, I should not be giggling!
Ten years ago, Ava’s best friend was brutally murdered. After tragedy struck twice, she became dependent on pills, checked herself into rehab, and took to the skies. She’s now a famous airline pilot with a nutty batch of close friends. Honestly, she fits right in. So when it comes to the memorial, she tries to escape it. What happens when circumstances seem to align out of nowhere, forcing her to come face to face with everything she left behind?
It was impossible to pick a favorite part or character. I chuckled, wheezed, cackled, and guffawed my way through this read. I loved how this story and its people didn’t take themselves too seriously. From Ava’s irreverence to Tom’s literal sensibilities to the extras that were so much more than filler, I was beyond entertained. I did want more from the romance portion, but I was easily swayed by the mystery and the comedy that will make this book a popular pick. I was pleasantly surprised by all of the wonder I was blessed with by this new-to-me author and I will definitely be on the lookout for whatever she creates next.
This was a pleasant goody for me. The characters in this one are just that quite the characters. Ava and Tom each have their careers but now they are faced with each other once again. The chemistry is also still there. The banter is needed that also has these guys coming to life. I did not miss the humor that is laced in this in between the mystery suspense. This is so very well rounded. If wanting a cozy mystery you got it right here.
I loved the story about Captain Ava Capp and her life. Not many ladies can fly one of those big airplanes. Thank goodness most ladies have not lost their best friend in a horrible murder. Would you be able to attend a memorial for her? Join Ava and Dr. Tom Baker, Medical Examiner, as they work through the hints and obstacles to solve whatever problems are thrown their way. I enjoyed both the story and the characters. Hannah, Sherry, G.B. and India add some humor into the story. I received this book from NetGalley, but my opinion is my own.
I’m a fan of this writer because I enjoy the humor in her books so i looked forward to reading this.
Per the author’s note, this was supposed to be a spoof of a typical book in the Romance/Horror category. I don’t read Horror so I didn’t get that nor did I realize that was a subgenre. It was more of a Suspense-Romance in my opinion. I also didn’t get the whole sarcastic spoof trope thing.
A third of the way thru, I thought ” I have no idea what this story is about…” but i kept reading. I liked the Ava character. It had Davidson’s razor-sharp wit that i enjoy. As the story progresses and more characters (ie.Tom) are introduced, it gets better.
I’ve come up w/my thought on the plot summary:
Ava is a commercial pilot who avoids commitment and her hometown in MN. A little after she graduated high school her best friend was murdered. It’s unsolved. Due to unforseen circumstances, Ava becomes stranded in her hometown on the 10 yr anniversary of the unsolved murder. She meets Tom, the ME, and he convinces her to help him solve the cold case.
Ava had great chemistry w/Tom and his family. The dialogue between them was hysterical.
I have no idea how realistic it was but the scene w/the belly-flop plane landing was thrilling.
And i’m not sure if the writer had experience w/pilots making similar announcements on her flights but i have to say that I would enjoy a flight w/a similar Captain.
Also because i was so engrossed in the absurdity of the story, i didn’t guess the killer.
FYI: Per Goodreads, this book is a stand-alone but in the author’s note she mentions this is part of the trilogy (the Danger series) of her “trope spoof” books.
This is the first time I’ve read MaryJanice Davidson and I’m sure it won’t be the last time. You have an airline pilot that avoids commitments, and a teenage past she really doesn’t want to face so she avoids going back to her hometown. To say that’s all that happens is a lie, but you have to read it to find out the craziness this girl gets into! Thank you for writing such a great book!
Truth, Lies, and Second Dates was one of those books that just hits the right spot, especially when you have been on a reading slump. This book is FUN. As always Ms. Davidson brings to life sassy, hilarious characters that make you want to read about them over and over again. Captain Ava Capp is a commercial pilot, slightly famous for a belly emergency landing, who is overly blunt with no apparent social skills. Ten years ago, she came home and found her best friend murdered. A flight back to Minnesota just finds her in town for the ten year memorial for her best friend which turns into another disaster in its self. Dr. Tom Baker, medical examiner, wants to solve the case and is also lacking in the usual social graces. What follows is a wild ride of awkward flirting and hilarious interactions as a murderer comes out of the past to try and take Ava out for once and all. Funny, lovable, and unconventional characters become the driving force in this entertaining, decimator of tropes that is unputdownable and easily one of my favorites reads this year! My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.
Truth, Lies, and Second Dates was the first book I’ve read by author MaryJanice Davidson. I had no idea what to expect other than this author’s website is a little unconventional so I was hoping for something fresh and new. I was not disappointed. What a treat this story was! Yes, it felt fresh and new, and In some ways so unique as to almost defy description, but at heart it’s a sweet, sexy, funny and totally satisfying contemporary romance.
Airline pilot Captain Capp – yep, that’s her name – is bold, brash, bossy – and brilliant. Also brilliant – if just a bit to the side of normal – is Medical Examiner Dr. Tom Baker. Competent, sweet, intense . . . and odd. The attraction between them is steamy hot, but there’s something else going on there, some kind of softness and care each feels for the other.
This is not a conventional mystery with a trail of clues, but reading it is like peeling the proverbial onion. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, because it was just so much fun to take the ride as details are revealed a little at a time. The story is well developed, a terrific mix of dealing with the past while figuring out the future, with murder, intrigue, danger, suspense and lots and lots of humor and a captivating cast of supporting characters thrown in. I would think I knew where the story was going and then something totally unexpected that actually made perfect sense would pop up.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for providing an advance copy of this delightful story via NetGalley. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it without hesitation. All opinions are my own.
Little bit of intrigue, little bit of good old fashioned like-at-first-sight, and two people who are just trying to stay in the day to day and do their jobs – for their work, for their friends, for their families. But life isn’t always so cut and dry…
I really liked Ava! She has a lot of good things (about herself) that others see that she does not. She doesn’t want to go back to her hometown but she finds herself…let’s call it stranded…there for a bit while she works through some trouble and issues that come into her life. Along the way, she meets Tom but doesn’t know he will play a big part in that life. As does his family… Don’t want to give any spoilers but how he interacts with the folks around him tells a lot about this man. And he and Ava are good together, no matter what the two of THEM think.
It’s not a very heavy storyline so no worries. As a matter of fact, I enjoyed it and loved how I could read it and just be carried along. Just enough background on the intrigue-side to keep me reading and loved all the characters and how they dealt with what life threw at them. Really enjoyed it!
Captain Ava Capp is a pilot with the Northeastern Southwest airline. She would prefer to stay out of Minnesota as her dear friend, Danielle, was murdered there ten years ago, a murder that has never been solved. When a faulty drug test puts her on a 72-hour delay from flying and an act of vandalism involving her friends’ ashes makes her a suspect, she needs to find out who would do such a thing…and why. She is pleased when her initial meeting with Dr. Tom Baker, a member of the Ramsay County medical examiner’s office, leads to a chance at romance. He is helping raise his very intelligent niece Heather along with Heather’s grandfather Abe. What will happen when Danielle’s killer finally makes a move to eliminate Ava as well? I have always enjoyed Ms. Davidson’s writing style as her story is laced with humor and friendly sarcasm that makes the words speed by. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)
This book made me giggle with all of the tropes and kept me enthralled with the mystery of who killed Danielle ten years ago and why was it resurfacing?
I had read a previous book in this “series” that was ok, not horrible but not great. So I was a little hesitant to read this book but am glad since I was pleasantly surprised. I loved Hannah, the precocious niece of Dr. Tom Baker, the ME for the town in Minnesota. She is just a little too smart for her own good, but she helps keep Tom grounded…most of the time. I loved the nerdy talk from Tom and Hannah and even Ava.
The tropes are what kept me in stitches – yes everything was expected when it came to the characters, but it all worked in my mind. G.B. and India are two hoots on top of everything else.
The romance between Ava and Tom took time to grow but when they finally came together, sparks galore. They had some missteps but it worked well into the storyline. It was interesting that they were both interested in the macabre of Minnesota.
“Who knew the capital of Minnesota was such a hotbed of exotic/weird murders?”
There are remnants of the previous book at the beginning and the end involving Blake from the 2nd book. I like how it was tied together to create a flow from one story to the next even though they were not intertwined.
We give this book 4 1/2 paws up.
Overall I found Truth, Lies, and Second Dates to be a pretty easy read, at times it was funny at times it had a serious side to it. I enjoyed the Ava character, but found Tom to be a little to ditzy for my liking. This was my first book by this author, and I will try more of her books. I would recommend this book to others.
I received a ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and was under no obligation to leave a favorable review, all opinions expressed here are my own
Oh my gosh! This was the best book and I adore these two characters. I think they’re best two in a book I’ve read this year. Captain Ava Capp (lots of jokes here) doesn’t like strings and ends a semi-regular booty call with Blake (you know Blake from his own book or his twin’s book). She ends up flying to Minnesota, a place she’s avoided for ten years because of the horrible memories of her childhood friend’s murder. It just so happens the friend’s twin brother (yes, a different set of twins) is on her flight and invites her to the 10-year memorial. Things go downhill from there. It turns out the family blames her and that’s just the beginning of her problems. Dr. Tom Baker remembers the case from when he was young and carries the cold case around with him and is trying to raise a genius niece. They are thrown together and sparks fly ultimately they work together on the case. Tom was such a strange character that I loved and it was clear Ava was the only woman for him. But he lives in the hated Minnesota, so what will they do?
Ava lives her passion as she captains’ flights all over the world. The one place she hates to visit is Minnesota. She grew up there which wasn’t an easy road so with all the bad memories, she prefers to stay away. Running into a friend from childhood on her flight has her attending a 10 year memorial for her best friend. From there, well everything gets really crazy. The one bright spot is meeting Tom and he ends up helping her unravel all the craziness. Tom is the county medical examiner and is not sure what to make of Ava but knows he enjoys spending time with her. Now, this story was funny, unexpected and a pleasure to read. I had fun with Ava and Tom as they navigated all the pitfalls happening to Ava. Hannah, Tom’s niece, is a joy with her intelligence and straightforward honesty. This is a new author for me and I loved the writing style and pace of the story. I was pulled in and excited to figure out what would happen next. I voluntarily read an ARC of this book and this is my honest review.
Although a romantic crime drama, I found this book difficult to get into. I started reading it three times before I was finally able to get to the meat of the story. Even then, despite the humour and really good plot, I found it difficult to follow the storyline, which was continually interrupted by the characters’ inner dialogue. The characters for the most part are interesting and complicated and I did not see the end coming. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I was not so distracted by the inner chatter. I received a copy of this novel as a gift through NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.
Snarky, Action-Adventure, Rom-Com, Mystery
This is such a funny book! It is irreverent, snarky, witty, and fun. It has some bad language, some graphic sex, and some blood and guts. The humor is such that it steals the negativity away from everything else. I enjoyed it so much that I am going to read more of this author’s work. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.
3.5 Stars
Captain Ava Capp has been flying from her past for a decade forging a new life for herself after her best friend was murdered & she became dependent on pills. Now she finds herself back in her home state of Minnesota. M.E. Dr. Tom Baker has never forgotten Ava and the cold case she ran away from. When she shows up unexpectedly in town, in spite of himself, sparks fly. Which is terrible because he can’t stop his growing attraction to her.
A different type of romance to my normal but once I got into the book I enjoyed it more for the quirky characters who made this cosy mystery / rom com a fun entertaining read. The characters were frothy & the plot had holes in it but I found myself overlooking these & just liking the book
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
I was very excited to read this book by this new to me author and while I can’t say I’m mad at it and can’t say I loved it either. In the end I’d guess I’d say that I was stuck somewhere in the middle with my personal opinion of it. There were some things I can honestly say really appealed to me and a couple things that simply didn’t work for me. As for the things that really worked for me: The main and secondary characters, the clever banter, a good amount of humor and a solid mystery to try to sleuth out. So, what didn’t work for me? The actual time given to this couple’s romance. I found it not only slow-burning but too much confined to the backseat of pretty much everything else featured in this book. For me that is a big issue because I read books for the romance and while I felt there was a ton of potential here; it never got the chance to step into the spotlight and shine. I am freely posting a frank review.
Truth, Lies and Second Dates is one of those books that you get a little of everything with. You have humor, mystery, thriller and a love story all wrapped up in one. You follow along with Ava as she gets stuck in the middle of an old friends memorial. This book will keep you on your toes as Ava faces off on who and why her friend was murdered. This is a ride worth taking.
Reading this book was like watching a comedic tennis game. There is a lot of snarky back and forth dialogue between the main character Captain Ava Capp and all those she encounters. Ava is an airline pilot for Northeast-Southwest and she is fixing to pilot a flight back to her hometown and she recognizes one of the passengers as the twin brother of her murdered best friend. It has been 10 years since Dani was murdered and the family is having a 10 year memorial which Dennis, the twin brother, and his cousin Xenia back Ava into a corner and she has to go. After the memorial, Dennis and Ava go drinking and he gets rip-roaring drunk. A hunky guy helps Ava pour Dennis into her rental car and then helps her get Dennis up to his hotel room. Ava and the new guy then go down to the hotel bar and share a drink, conversation and a few kisses. The next morning Ava and Dennis are summoned back to the funeral home by Dennis’ mom. Ava is then accused of vandalizing the memorial area and her mystery man from the night before steps up to offer an alibi and Ava learns that he is the county medical examiner, Dr. Tom Baker. Dr. Baker can’t decide if Ava is the murderer or another victim or knows more than she is telling and he asks if he can hang out and talk with her. Things get crazy when you throw in the actual killer, the creepy flight attendant, the over-the-top niece and the other airline employees. Hang on for a wild ride on your way to solving a 10 year old murder.
My thanks to Netgalley, MaryJanice Davidson and St. Martin’s for allowing me access to an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book. The above is my freely given review of this title. All thoughts and opinions are strictly my own.