I think Emelle Gamble has some great covers and the one for The Second Man did not let me down. It is a cover that grabs my attention, and I love that the girl is dominant, yet it hints at the romance inside.

Cover by Tammy Seidik

Amazon  /  Goodreads

MY REVIEW

The deadly mystery of The Second Man by Emelle Gamble begins in the opening pages. I love when the author puts their hooks in me right out of the gate. I have read a couple other books by Emelle Gamble and I think each book I read keeps getting better and better.

Jill’s school reunion is coming up and her bestie, Carly, is coming home from Europe with her husband and child. There will be two more men who will arrive and create all kinds of havoc for her, a triangle…of sorts.

I have an inkling of what’s coming, but Emelle Gamble does a great job of twisting and turning things, keeping me guessing. One minute I think it’s too obvious for this guy, then I’m sure it’s him. I never really thought it was the other guy, but who then?

All the time I’m reading, the suspense builds…slowly. I know something will be happening, yet I have more to learn about the characters and their motivations before I will find out.

I like that Jill didn’t immediately climb into bed with her old love, even though she wanted to jump his bones. She gives her ex the benefit of the doubt when he comes knocking on her door, even though she wants nothing more to do with him.

I am often accused of being cynical, but I think I am a realist. Why throw your trust out there willy nilly, especially after having been burned. What’s wrong with waiting for someone to prove their trustworthiness?

I can relate to her decision making process – slow and methodical. I mull it over and anticipate all the options, just like she does.

The characters are more complex than I anticipated and it kept me guessing what their actions would be. I love when I start out thinking people and events are so predictable and the author jerks me around, hopping from suspect to suspect, unable to be sure who the guilty party is until the end. Her writing misdirected me and when I found out, it was so obvious, all I could think was, good job Emelle.

I look at the very pretty cover and think this will be more of a cozy, but as I read along, I had to change my mind. The villain will bump off anyone that gets in his way or may discover his secret.

If you are looking for a great mystery that’s heavier than a cozy, yet doesn’t have blood and guts flying off every page, The Second man by Emelle Gamble is for you.

I received an advanced reading copy of The Second Man by Emelle Gamble in exchange for my honest review.

4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB:  Jill Farrell’s college reunion is coming up, but she wants no part of it. The man she once loved, Swedish exchange student Max Kallstrom, is rumored to be attending, but that doesn’t tempt her as Max disappeared from her life the night before the graduation, and has never been heard from since.

When her ex-husband, Andrew Denton, knocks on her door and announces he wants to make nice, and, “oh, by the way, one of their class alumni might be a murderer”, Jill’s resolve to avoid the event hardens.

Jill shuts Andrew’s efforts to reconnect down, and tries to put Max out of her mind.

And that’s that, until a second man knocks on her door, and the emotions of a time long ago overtakes her. Max Kallstrom tells Jill she’s the reason he has come to California. He asks her to please let him explain why she hasn’t heard from him for fifteen long years.

She’s willing to listen to what he has to say, but immediately realizes that her memories must guide her through a wrenching and dangerous few days. While her heart remembers a handsome young lover, she and her classmates are all different people now, and the reality of a murdered friend proves she can’t trust everyone.

What’s not so clear is if she should trust anyone . . . especially Max Kallstrom.

ABOUT EMELLE GAMBLE

From Goodreads:  Emelle Gamble was a writer at an early age, bursting with the requisite childhood stories of introspection which evolved into bad teen poetry and attempts at ‘real literature’ all copies of which she has since, very sensibly, shredded. She took her first stab at romantic fiction in an adult education writing class when her kids were in bed, taught by fellow writer Carolyn Haines, in Mobile, Alabama. As M.L. Gamble, she published several romantic suspense novels with Harlequin. She is now contracted with Soul Mate Publishing for Secret Sister, summer of 2013, and Dating Cary Grant, an early 2014 release.

Always intrigued by the words ‘what if’, Emelle’s books feature an ordinary woman confronted with an extraordinary situation. She most enjoys reading stories that surprise and amaze her, and hopes her readers will enjoy the challenging and exciting journeys her characters take.

Emelle lives in suburban Washington D.C. with her husband, Phil, her hero of thirty years, and two orange cats, Lucy and Bella. Her daughter, Olivia, and son, Allen, are happily launched on their own and contributing great things to society, which has always been their mother’s fondest wish.

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MY REVIEWS FOR EMELLE GAMBLE

• When Murder Calls by Emelle Gamble
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