A great book by a fantastic author. The writing is excellent and the mystery keeps you turning the pages. Characters are well developed. Highly recommend.

I enjoyed this novel featuring a private investigator, and I especially liked the setting--the back streets of Washington, DC. As a former cop, Willa Pennington knows what she's doing--but as a PI, she's out of the line of fire. Or so she thinks. Missing persons, familial relationships, murder, friendship, lies--the plot is twisty and there was enough suspense to keep me engaged all the way through. This was a competent freshman outing and I'd look for more by this author in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during that 2nd attempt, I have only managed to make it halfway through so I'd rather stop here and state that this book just wasn't for me.

A good well-plotted mystery! I like giving debut authors a chance and Aimee Hix didn't disappoint! I will add her to my watch list! Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.

Thank you to Netgalley, the Publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

This is a debut novel, but you would not know that from reading it. It was very enjoyable. Willa Pennington, ex-cop, Private Investigator in training, is asked to assist a granddaughter of a neighbour leave an abusive boyfriend, an easy thing to do becomes difficult when the boyfriend is found dead and the girl missing, it sets Willa off on a quest to get to the bottom of this mystery. I really liked Willa, she is no-nonsense gal with a good heart. I did find the story dragged a few times, but as a first novel this was great. Great story with great potential; I will definitely be in the lookout for the next book in this series.

This was beyond boring. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.

I got to the 50-percent mark and finally had to stop. The marketing materials would have you believe that this is a high-paced thriller. It's actually a former cop-turned PI who has the hots for her childhood friend who happens to be a studly ATF agent. Her case "accidentally" crosses with his (more like it got forced by editing and a plot that had nowhere else to go.) Willa is supposed to be investigating a murder and finding a missing girl, but instead she spends most of her time tailing her wanna-be boyfriend and trying to figure out with, and without, him whether they should actually get together.

I had to stop. This one hit my DNF list pretty hard.

Fantastic story!! What Doesn't Kill You is one of those rare books that I just couldn't put down- read way late into the night (or early morning).

I thought the author did a great job on combining a great mystery with a heartfelt romance. I loved the characters the author created.

I can't wait to read more by Aimee Hix & look forward to more stories in the Willa Pennington series.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Ex-cop Willa Pennington is messed up emotionally after the death of her best friend Michael but she is able to watch her younger computer-nerd brother Ben while their parents are away on vacation. Then neighbours David and Susan Horowitz ask Willa to help their granddaughter Violet move out of the house she shares with her abusive boyfriend Joe Reagan, and she agrees. But Willa’s good deed turns sour when she finds Reagan shot dead in the empty house. With Reagan dead and Violet gone, Willa wants to find his killer even though she isn't even a licensed PI. But things get complicated when Michael's brother Seth Anderson gets involved in the case and discourages Willa from investigating on her own. Is Seth trying to protect her, or does he have an ulterior motive?

Willa refuses to back down and gets herself involved in a case involving an ATF investigation and a Neo-Nazi who is determined to stop her. This is a strong debut mystery with an intriguing, wounded protagonist.

I received an eARC via Netgalley and Midnight Ink with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and provided this review.

Willa Pennington left the police force to become a PI, but when she stumbles on a body, she realizes it might actually be harder than what she anticipated.

The cover doesn’t tell it but this actually an amazing mystery that was also filled with a great romance.

I was captivated from beginning to end.

Willa was all kinds of great and I really liked the characters.
The mystery also had me of the edge of my seat the entire time.

This was a really good debut novel and I will be waiting for more from this author.

This book was an excellent thriller and mystery! I found myself immediately sucked into the mystery of it all. My only critique was the pacing at times could have been better but overall this book was very impressive. Willa was a perfect imperfect heroine and I enjoyed the character development. I love a book where I don't see the ending coming and love a good twist. Thanks for the ARC to net galley, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. This is definitely the perfect book for anyone who enjoys a good thriller!

I really liked this book. The book suffers a little bit by having problems finishing ideas it introduced. Only small thing a reader would not notice by it self, but when added up something felt like it was missing. The timeline of the book also felt off, to much happened in one day. The only was to follow the timeline is in the wait for a phone call.

The book started off a little slow, but takes its time to build the suspense. When things start to unrail, I hoped the author would have spend more time ending the different clues given in the book. But overall this is just small stuff and the book holds it self still. The suspense is real and you feel for the characters. The relationship was strange for me in the beginning, but by the end I was like; "kiss, kiss, kiss..... oh just kiss her!" which is not something I think often when it comes to books.

It was a strong debut for the author., and I am looking forward to more books from her.

I wanted to love this book as it sounded like a great PI story with a lady as the MC. I just couldn't get into it and felt like I was missing something, like the author wasn't telling me things I should know. It took me forever to figure out who Michael was and then I wasn't sure if they were just friends or something more. I know it says she lost her best friend but I felt it danced all around coming right out and telling me. I just lost interest and quit at about 25%. It just wasn't a book for me.

What a knock out debut for Ms. Hix, I can't wait to see what else she has in store for us regarding the headstrong ex-cop, Willa Pennington, and her sexy childhood crush, Seth Anderson.
Willa left the local police department after a tragic event left her re-evaluating her career path. She had all the makings of being a great cop, but her heart wasn’t in it anymore. She decides she’ll go for her P.I. license and apprentice for her father until she can strike out on her own.
Her parents are away on an extended vacation, so she's holding down her father's agency as well as keeping her eye on her 17-year-old brother, Ben. Willa once introduced him as the only "forty-year-old newborn." He's a child genius, responsible and mindful of the family rules. Willa and Ben just pretend that since she’s the oldest therefore that makes her the wisest.
Willa agrees to do a simple favor for her elderly next-door neighbors, which turns out to be anything but simple. She's not one to back away from trouble and boy does she ever find it. She finds herself slipping back into "cop mode," but that works both ways for her, she finds it helpful in some areas and others not so much.
While she’s up to her eyeballs in trying to help her neighbors, she receives a mysterious call from her old friend, Seth Anderson, who wants to see her that evening. Willa’s not sure where their relationship stands because when they were last together they left a lot of loose ends. She’s not looking forward to the extremely awkward evening out with Seth, especially after the day she’s had. Could Seth mysterious appearance while she’s working on this case simply a coincidence or something much more menacing?
This is a fast-paced mystery with believable characters and witty dialogue. I liked the witty Willa; she's a strong woman who can hold her own and then some. As I stated earlier, I'm already looking forward to the next installment in the series.
DISCLOSURE: I received this e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. The opinions I've expressed above are my own.

I highly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to other mystery lovers! The only issue I had with this book was that it was a bit slow in places. In this book the MC is asked to help a girl leave her abusive boyfriend. I have been in this situation on both sides of it and in both situations it was scary. The characterisation in this book was great. This was definitely a good start to the series and I’m curious to see what the author has in store for us next.

This is the author's first book, a crime/suspense book and I must say it's hard to describe it. Nothing of the book was for my liking, for the premise you thought it would be a good cop/PI story with a character super badass who would get you inside the story and you would just finish in two days. I love cops books and I was very excited for this one.

Unfortunately it was a big disappointment, Willa is the main character and everything about her, about the back story, about the storyline is rushy. Not a single time it made with time and thought it was like the author wanted to be done with this novel as soon as possible. Everything was so rushed and lack in back story that it took me a really long time to finally get the hang of the book actually.

Willa is not a character that I had bonded with, she was always needing to show herself off and she wouldn't listen to anyone for her she was the freaking superhero and no one would take that from her and it's just borderline annoying how she and apparently her parents treat a seventeen year old boy like a baby and he lets it. Benjamin is her younger brother and he's a teenager who just lets everyone treat him like a child, I want to see any real teenage at seventeen letting someone do that even geek ones and I was a huge geek back at my teen years. I couldn't stand their parts on the book together, I thought I would scream in frustration waiting for the moment of rebellion (Does someone want to guess if it happened?!)

For someone who's not even a real PI she had some serious luck which annoyed me because in real life or even other crime books that wouldn't have happened to quickly or smoothly. The suspense about her best friend was another loose string I hated that was left that way, he dies and we learn how but she and her best friend's older brother made a promise where we only can guess what it was but never was spoken about it or how it changed everything and everyone. Excuse me give me some answers! Valid and good ones!

Seth the other main character is just machist for me, everything he needed to be the one doing it, Willa couldn't think of doing something he wanted to haul her into a safe house and do everything herself. At the end she attributed everything to "love" which killed me so hard I was glad the book ended right there or I would have dropped this book dead at that precise moment. Ridiculous. I've never been so disappointed with a book in my life, usually you don't like a book but you can find some strong points on the story where you liked or could have been better approached. With this book I'm find harder and harder to just connect to something remotely good.

I didn't really enjoyed the author's writing style and I think she could have opened the book with a better introduction. All of the character are thrown at us so suddenly and with no back story that you have to swim hard to get with the flow. I think the author can do better with a next novel, not rushing into anything, giving the character better back stories and more answers about their past that justify how they are in the present. Not rushing the crime, the development of the whole story and less annoying characters please.

Next time for a better made suspense which doesn't trick you with the summary and it makes more sense. I'm trying to understand how the killer at the end was fixated on her since the poor explanation we have is just ridiculous. Completely and utterly ridiculous.

Overall I just hope a next book will be better, not really sure I'd give another go but you never know when it comes down to it.

Posted on Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read Blog on January 6, 2018.
I'm always on the lookout for a good mystery or thriller and the blurb for this one sounded quite promising. Unfortunately, the reality didn't quite live up to that promise. The story starts out mysterious enough with our main character finding a dead body, but it quickly becomes more about Willa and Seth's relationship than anything else. I like romance and may have been okay with that part had I cared enough about these characters to want to see them together. Willa turned me off from the beginning when she views finding the body as more inconvenience than anything else and seemed to only use the I'm sorry, this is my first time finding a dead body and I'm upset reasoning when it suited her. I can appreciate sarcasm and even gallows humor. In fact, I often like it in a story, but it just didn't work here. Willa comes off more crass and uncaring than anything else. I also realize that this is fiction and a certain amount of leeway can be given, but the idea that an ex-police officer would be allowed to walk through a crime scene and be that involved in an active investigation was a bit much for me. We do get a decent bit of action toward the end, but it just wasn't enough to save this one for me. The author does show some potential, but in the end, this character and story just wasn't for me and I don't think I'll explore the series further.

Willa is an ex-cop, turned PI, and still reeling from the death of her best friend, Michael. She was asked to keep an eye on the granddaughter, Violet, of family friend as she moves out from her abusive boyfriend, only to discover him dead and the girl missing. As she tries to figure out how to keep Violet out on jail, she uncovers a much larger crime ring behind it all. Will is smart and fearless, with an attitude.. The book is fast paced and well plotted.. Quite enjoyable. Hope to see a second book In the near future

A fun quirky fast-paced mystery-thriller. Penna Willington agrees to do a favor. Mayhem ensues. The book is full of twists and turns and doesn't let up for a second. First rate debut novel.

After doing a favour for a family friend, ex cop Willa Pennington stumbles spin a dead body. She uses all her training, risks her apprentice PI status and her friendship with her oldest friend trying to solve the case. Great read and will definitely be watching out for more stories from this author