Customer Reviews

Carefree (Arabesque)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I couldn't wait to read Jackie and Clay's story and belive me I was not disappointed. This story had it all and if you have been following the series(Table for Two, Gaining Intrest) you get an update of what family and friends are up to. Carefree is a romance, comedy and suspense roll into one story. Jackie and Clay both have family issues they must deal with on top of dealing with their budding relationship and with the case Jackie has hired Clay to investigate. I couldn't put it down. Dara Girard has a magic way of weaving a story that makes you feel like these are your friends. Hopefully Kevin will have a story soon.

Social worker, Jackie Henson thinks she has the world on a string until her boyfriend cuts the cord and weds another. Yet, she doesn't have time to wallow in self-pity, because her clients are committing suicide without reason.

She hires PI Clay Graham, her sister-in-law's brother to help her get to the bottom of these killings. However, when Jackie's ex sends her an invitation to his wedding, she propositions Clay for another job that does not involve detective work, but is just as deceptive and provocative.

Girard establishes a romantic premise. But the hook vanishes after the fifth chapter, as she tries to create a world filled with cults, British Jamaican ethnic enclaves, and the next great American detective--all of which fail, because she doesn't find a suitable balance of both romance and suspense. There are too many subplots between Jackie's and Clay's families, which could have worked if this novel was broken down into a romantic suspense novel series. The minor characters: Eric, Adriana, Drake, Kevin, and so on...keep the reader from finding the clues to solve the mysterious deaths and from witnessing a carefree love between Clay and Jackie turn into something more enduring.

Dara has done it again! I waited one long year for Jackie and Clay's story and it was worth the wait. We met Jackie and Clay in A Table For Two, and I knew their story would be great. I really hope that Dara writes a story for Kevin.