Novel Review: Mad, Bad and Blonde (West Investigations, #1) by Cathie Linz

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance (very light smut, with very little description)

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Penguin (Berkley Sensation)

Spoilers?: No.

Goodreads Synopsis:

 After being jilted at the altar, librarian Faith West goes on her Italian honeymoon solo, but doesn't stay that way too long. And though her sexy rebound man has ulterior motives, feelings surface that neither of them are prepared for.

When a man's too good to be true...

Jilted on her wedding day for being the queen of dullsville, librarian Faith West goes on her Italian honeymoon solo, hoping to leave her pain behind. That could take a miracle, but she's about to discover miracles do happen. His name is Caine Hunter. Smart, spontaneous, hot, and sexy, he has her feeling like a real woman for the first time ever--until the truth surfaces...

A former Force Recon Marine turned PI, Caine was doing what he does best: spying. And his new target was Faith. But falling for the enemy's daughter was never part of his plan. Caine is a man used to winning, but this time his mission is much more personal--and now that he and Faith are both back in Chicago, the rewards could be, too...

Available on Amazon.

Something Specific:
That I liked:

•  "Yes, but I'm a former librarian, and you know one of our mottos: If we don't know the answer, we know where to find it. So don't worry. I'll find the answer." (Paperback, pg. 152) This was something that was repeated several times, and I'd never heard it before. I thought it was interesting. 

Review:

There were a couple of things that seemed to happen too quickly, that were a bit rushed, at the beginning, but that seemed to smooth out later on in the book, and overall this one was just pretty good.

Faith West, the daughter of the owner of West Investigations, gets left at the altar on her wedding day, and decides to go on her planned honeymoon to Italy alone. Where she meets Caine, who works for her father’s rival, and who also has a personal vendetta against her father. Her father worked on a case involving Caine’s father, and Caine doesn’t think the case was handled very well at all, which he is trying to prove. At the same time, he and Faith are trying to ignore the attraction between them, which isn’t working as well as they’d like.

I liked Faith enough, and I liked Caine enough. I liked them together, and enjoyed reading their scenes during the investigation. I liked the scenes with Faith and her family; all of their interactions were entertaining.

I did really like that Faith knew Caine's intentions pretty early on, that it wasn't kept a secret for over half the book, and instead that she took part of it. I also enjoyed reading about Faith's journey to finding herself. I liked that she was a librarian (if only because that's a career I've thought about pursuing and because I love books), but enjoyed her involvement with West Investigations, and liked how she started taking charge of her life.

I don’t really have much to say. This was a very light, nice read, and I enjoyed it. It doesn’t leave as big an impression as I’d like, but it was fun while I was reading it.

I’m looking forward to reading more by Linz, when I can get my hands on another of her books. I want to read the next in this series, about Megan, Faith's best friend and cousin, and there's also some books in a different series that I want to read.