Lilah is one of the most complex and traumatized characters I have read in a while. She has one secret she shares with Kane Mendez and it is so damaging they would both end up in jail.

She is the top profiler for the FBI assigned to catch a serial killer who has a particular method of killing. Little did she know when she was given this assignment she would end up back in New York after years of avoiding anything to do with her family and her ex Kane. This killer is sending her messages and everything she holds dearly is in danger.

I was caught up in this story from the first chapter. I love complex characters who are strong enough to understand their dark psyche and yet continue to function while hiding their secrets. I can hardly wait to read the next installment of this story. Lilah has a puzzle to put together if she is to catch her killer... her life is in danger as well as Kane's and perhaps even her family. What a ride!

I am voluntarily reviewing this book. I thank the author for sharing a copy with me.

Lilah Love is a twenty-eight year-old FBI profiler working on a murder investigation in California when she’s entrusted by her boss to travel to New York to draw parallels to a case being investigated there. Upon her arrival, she receives word that another body has been found and she makes a beeline to the crime scene. At first it’s unclear if and how the cases are related but it’s up to Lilah to connect the dots. New York is her old stomping ground and a place where she left one big secret buried two years ago. Within hours of her arrival she receives the first of several notes from an unidentified stalker. Lila analyzes the first murder note for clues about the sender but the subsequent notes are not handled with care or closely examined.

Loved
First time reading this author’s work and I loved Lilah’s humor! The snack size bites of catty female foolery also made me smirk a lot.

Issues
This was not a spine-chilling or highly thrilling read. Lilah spent endless pages trying to figure out who she could trust and this story was devoid of action, despite all fifteen of the references to Lilah’s shotgun, Cujo. Basically, Lilah spent the entire story chasing her tail, creating more unanswered questions, and not quite having a sense of direction. As a result, my interest in the story began declining around the 59% mark when Lila’s thoughts became repetitive and the story seemed to fizzle. Lilah’s every thought was fed to the reader so any surprises on her part was nonexistent. She wasn’t the wild card she was supposed to be around all of the other characters because there was more telling than showing of her expertise. Essentially, she proclaimed to the reader that she was an expert profiler and the other characters regurgitated that back to her, but demonstration was weak. Bits of Lilah’s thoughts?

I was Lilah Love then, but now, damn it, I am Murder Girl. I’m her because dead bodies have a way of talking to me, and if they didn’t, there would be more dead bodies, more murders I didn’t stop. So yes. I’m Murder-f*cking-Girl. I can hunt a killer and catch them. I can find a way out of this.

Not to mention how joke-worthy Lilah’s full name is...

Other issues?
The one steamy scene was so vague that I had to reread it several times to make sense of it. All of that sexual tension, self-denial, and lust built up to a peek-a-boo intimacy scene that didn’t seem necessary to include.

Caught in the crosshairs of Lilah’s profiling gig is her ex-lover, Kane Mendez. All of the references to Kane being “the devil” and “Satan” lacked that gripping intensity and the other secondary characters were mostly superficial. I wanted to love-to-hate Kane, but the character depth wasn’t enough for me all around. There was also a half-hearted attempt to create a strong romantic push-and-pull between Lilah and Detective Rich, but I didn’t understand why he pursued her so strongly. The connection between the two felt forced in order to create some more drama-rich tension.

◈ The gist of this story?

No one is shooting straight with me. Everyone is talking in circles.
-Lilah

It felt like nothing much happened in this story and I grew bored over time. This book has a light tone and is perfect for a reader who won’t be frustrated by the lack of resolution behind the mysterious deaths for which the entire plot is centered around. I was expecting more investigative details and didn’t realize this story wasn’t a stand-alone book until the end. I guess that explains all of the six feet tall and good-looking men sprinkled throughout the text...

I love suspense, and I haven’t read it a lot in the past few years so I was excited when the opportunity to review Murder Notes by Lisa Renee Jones came up. I was in dire need of a change of pace, especially because the book I read before this took me 3 weeks to finish! PLUS, she was scheduled to come to Wicked Book Weekend, so I could kill 2 birds with one stone. (What a horrible expression! Why would I kill any birds?)

“Death simply becomes me. In fact, some might say I’m so fucked up that I do death better than I do life. And while death is attracted to me, my own is not appealing.”

Lilah Love is an FBI profiler, one of the best in the country, earning her the nickname of “Murder Girl”. Originally from a wealthy family in the Hamptons, she has been gone for two years with secrets, demons and regrets chasing her. She is investigating some related cases that are either an assassin or a serial killer, and one of her clues leads her back to her hometown, where she arrives just in time for another murder.

“This is where you belong, Lilah Love. You’ve been gone too long.”

I got into the story at first, but I never really liked Lilah that much, which held me back from loving the story the way I wanted to. I just wasn’t that invested. She left her lover, Kane Mendez, son of the crime lord, behind in the Hamptons when she left, but their feelings are still there, simmering at the surface. Though this wasn’t a romance book, the push and pull between Lilah and Kane was my favorite part.

“He is the devil, but then, I am no angel. He made sure of that. He touched my life forever, and I can never undo the way he changed me. And in some of those nightmares he talks about, I imagine what I would become if I ever tasted his version of temptation again. They were—are—the bloodiest of them all.”

The mystery of what happened to make Lilah leave is carried almost throughout the whole book, but luckily we do find out in this book, if we didn’t I would have been so mad!

We are introduced to a LOT of characters, and there is a lot to keep straight in this story. So much so that I started to lose interest. Not a lot actually HAPPENED. There was more internal thoughts and her investigation than anything else and knowing that nothing would be resolved until the next book in July made me really lose interest a bit towards the end, taking 10 days to read this book (I read my next book in a day, so it wasn’t my mood).

The story itself is very complex. It seems this killer is killing people because of Lilah and secrets she keeps. Despite my not loving the heroine, I still am dying to know how this will end, but I am not sure I will remember enough to care in July.

Likes:
•A very complex, detailed story.
•You can see her writing talent in every word.
•The chemistry between her and Kane.
•It’s nice to read more of a mystery than a romance for a change.
Dislikes:
•I never fell for Lilah. She is a total alpha female. I liked her OK, but she was just a little too brash for me.
•Knowing that it ended in a cliffy made me not really care to rush to see how it ends.
•Waited a bit too long for the big reveal of the secret they harbor.

The Down & Dirty:
There is no doubt about it, Lisa Renee Jones is a great writer, on a different level than some of the books I have been reading. Lilah Love is a badass FBI profiler that just never fully grew on me, and I need to love the heroine to love the book. It’s an exciting, complex story that I am having trouble straightening out and figuring out what’s going on, but I think that’s intended. If the next book was coming out in a month, I’d grab it, but by July, when the next installment comes out, I’m not sure I will still care enough to pick up the next.

Rating 3.5 Stars, 2.5 Heat

DNF… for now, at least

The premise had such promise and was right up my alley-- FBI profilers are my literary crack-- but Lisa Renee Jones’s MURDER NOTES had two fatal flaws for me that resulted in a DNF-for-now: (1) the first-person narrative (a perhaps-irrational dislike, but I have a really hard time getting into it across the board) and, more importantly, (2) heroine FBI profiler Lilah Love was thoroughly unlikeable. If I’m ~40% of the way through a novel and I can’t be arsed to care about the protagonist(s) and/or uncover the big, bad secret they’re hiding, it’s time to move on. My TBR pile is too massive to keep plodding through things that don’t capture my full interest.

**ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Murder Notes #1

I'm an so confused this story keeps getting deeper and deeper it starts off we meet FBI agent Lilah Love who is a crime profiler on a case that she believes might be a serial killer, this case leads her to her hometown and right back into her ex Kane's waiting clutches. Kane is a wild card he's a son of a dead drug cartel leader and supposedly hasn't taken over his fathers business but that's still under question. Lilah is also the daughter and sister of the mayor and the cheif of her hometown. And this is just the beginning she feels there's, much more to this case then just a few murders, which she herself and Kane have a few skeletons and secrets they share that she feels may be connected in this case as well. This story keeps getting more and more twisted as new leads arise new bodies pile up and the plot just keeps getting thicker. And by the end of book one I'm confused and just pissed off lol...

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2218923146

This is the first book I have read by Lisa. This book is a thriller/mystery. Lilah Love is an FBI profiler. The case she is currently working is going to take her on one hell of a ride. Some she is a serial killer but Lilah thinks its an assassin. Lilah’s past and present are about to collide. Her case takes her to her hometown. This case is tied to her some how and she must figure out how. Preferably before more people die. There are too many things that connect together to narrow it down. Lilah is forced to face the fact that her own family maybe involved somehow. She is being left little murder notes by someone. Maybe the same someone who is killing, maybe someone who knows about her secret. Lilah is forced to face all the reasons she left her hometown and the people. Will Lilah figure out who is after her. Will she find the person responsible for the murders in her case? I really liked this book. It was a bit slow at spots but that is as to be expected. The book is setting up the series. Lilah is forced to relive the night that changed her life over and over. Trying to figure out how it connects to what is currently happening around her. Lilah faces her ex, Kane. Who she doesn’t want to love or even like but you can’t control who you fall for. Kane and Lilah understand each other better than anyone else ever will. So many of the people Liliah once knew or are her family are connected to either her case or her secret. She isn’t sure who she can trust. She is also dealing with a current love interest who just doesn’t listen when Lilah says she is done with him. Lilah is also known as Murder Girl. I look forward to reading the next book in the series. I can’t wait to see where this story goes next.
I was given this book in return for an honest review.

This story captivated me. Lilah Love is an FBI agent that finds herself investigating murders on both coasts. There is only one problem her family and her ex is on the east coast which she left and never looked back and now they all are in the middle of her investigation. Lilah has a dry and no holds bar sense of humor. She will tell you like it is and does not care how you take it. Lilah is a very strong woman with her owe past. I loved this story.

Lilah Love ran away from her home in the Hamptons. Leaving behind a life of privilege and position after a blood soaked night on a dark beach. Kane, her hot as hell ex-boyfriend has taken over as head of his family. Problem is - it’s a crime syndicate with a very long reach.



Lilah Love sounds like a stripper name. Right?! Nope. As a matter of fact Lilah is an expert FBI Profiler with quite a successful record to her credit. Despite her protest, she is sent back home to solve a murder which may be related to a string of killings in her jurisdiction. The last thing Lilah wants to do is come back and face her ghost though it haunts her dreams every night. Or confront Kane, who let her leave but has never let her go. Or her Daddy, the mayor, who has lofty aspirations for higher office. Her brother who is dating Kane’s side piece Samantha. Nevermind her ex-best friend who is now the District Attorney.



Murder Notes is more suspense/mystery than it is hot sexy romance. If you’re looking for lots of sexy time, you won’t find it here. If you’re looking for an entertaining, funny, badass heroine - then jackpot! There were times when I was confused as to how Lilah connected points, I never lost interest. The twist, the turns, whose lying, who can I trust, you’re trying to scare me away but I’m STAYING til I catch you, no matter what you do - kept me invested. I drank in every single word until the end. Lisa Renee Jones’ Murder Notes is page turning good time. More please!

Where do I begin reviewing this book? From the very first page, Lisa Renee Jones reels you in with the story of Lilah Love and her trials, tribulations, and skeletons. At times the story moves along at a slower pace, but this just increases the anticipation of what is to come. I found myself wanting to skip to the end to speed up the process of discovering the answer to the twists and turns in the book. However, I did not and ultimately did not want to because I did not want the story to end.

Lisa Renee Jones does an excellent job of building anticipation and suspense. You will definitely not want to put this book down!

"My secrets have secrets"- Lilah

Lisa Renee Jones has written a wonderfully mind-bending, twisty-turny maze of secrets and lies with a side of sizzling forbidden attraction in Murder Notes!

Lilah Love's family is part of the Hamptons elite, but she managed to escape all of that madness after her beloved movie star mother's death. Now she is a successful FBI profiler on the west coast, but she is constantly fighting an uphill battle to earn her place in a man's world. Dead bodies seem to have a way of speaking to her though earning her the nickname Murder Girl for her ability to successfully profile killers and solve murders. No one knows that she makes solving those cases her personal atonement for the sins of the past... or do they? Secrets from her old life have followed her to LA and are threatening to surface, leading to an welcome trip down memory lane and back to the place she once called home.

From the moment she sets foot back in NY, it becomes clear the string of killings she has been assigned to investigate are tied to her past. She is being baited with assassinations being made to look like a serial killer's work, but as she searches for the common thread that ties them all together, the only factor she finds is herself. There is only one person who knows what happened that fateful night all those years ago, and there is no way he would betray her... but someone is taunting her with both a trail of bodies and creepy notes.

Questions beget more questions, and a web of secrets and lies is starting to unravel little by little. Lilah is dismayed to discover that her father and brother may just be part of a conspiracy or cover-up, and her former best friend may have been involved in setting up the events that led to Lilah's flight from the Hamptons all those years ago. Everyone's motives and intentions are being questioned, and the one person who is supposedly the "worst" one for her to associate with may just be the only person she can trust right now.

Kane Mendez swears he is not his father, but he is without question the most powerful force in the Hamptons. Nothing happens in his town without his knowledge, but he is the one who has protected her secret and still looks out for her all these years later. No matter how much she wants to deny it, the attraction between Lilah and Kane is still as potent as ever and his love has not faded despite the distance. As much as she wants to trust him entirely, Kane doesn’t share full details about anything, sharing only what he thinks she needs to know which may actually put her in more danger. Considering she isn't sharing the whole story with him either, they make quite a pair!

This story is only just getting started, and I already cannot wait to see what comes next! We get a taste of the heat that Kane and Lilah generate when they are together, and I am betting the best is yet to come. That web of secrets I mentioned has only just begun to unravel, and I have no doubt LRJ is going to blow our mind with more twists and turns before it is all said and done!

I don’t know what to say about this book. I was really interested in reading it from the blurb description but was disappointed by the time I got to the end. The book was a bit of a mess, it was all over the place.
First of all, I couldn’t deal with the Heroine’s name: Lilah Love. It sounds like a porn star or stripper name, I couldn’t take her seriously as an FBI agent with that name. I giggled every time I read it.
Secondly, her behaviour. I don’t know how she got into the NYPD let alone passed the tests to get into the FBI. I’ve read a lot of books with FBI agents/profilers and Lilah is by far the worst I have ever read. Nothing she did seemed like the behaviour of an FBI agent. I don’t know if the author did any research as to what being a law enforcement officer entails, but if she did it didn’t come through in the story. I could be a better FBI agent than her.
Thirdly, the plot. I began the book understanding that Lilah was investigating a potential assassin/serial killer but as the book went on, instead of narrowing down the focus of the storyline it just kept expanding. Police corruption, mob associations, stalkers were all added to the mix. And nearly everybody and their dog was becoming a suspect. The plot was changing so fast I was getting whiplash from all the new information that was being thrown at me.
And finally, the ending. Or lack thereof. The book ends on a cliffhanger. After struggling to finish reading this book, to get nothing resolved by the end of it was so annoying.
I’ve given this book 3 stars. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either.

There was nothing that I didn't absolutely love about this book. Starting from the first chapter I was captivated. Lilah is a GREAT character and Kane sounds oh so sexy. Loved the chemistry between the two. You didn't know along with Lilah if you could trust Kane or not. Lilah goes back to her hometown to find a serial killer or assassin who is leaving her calling cards. Who knew about that night and what is with all the sketchy characters even her own family. You don't know who is doing the killing! I loved this book. Suspense, great characters and a different story line. I am anxiously awaiting the sequel. Highly recommend. I loved this book!!!

*4.5 Stars*

Holy crap this book kept me on my toes! I need the next book now!

This book is full of mystery and suspense. With multiple murders, a possible serial killer on the loose, and a bunch of other crazy twists, turns, and secrets, I couldn’t put this book down. I read as quickly as I could so I could get answers to many questions. I am very impatiently waiting for book 2, Murder Girl!

Lila Love is a demanding profiler who is sassy and stubborn. She has no qualms about working in what a lot of people see as a “man’s world.” I love her character! She is on top of everything, always. She refuses to give up and isn’t scared of anything. I can’t wait to see where she goes in the second half of this duet.

Kane Mendez, is a typical alpha bad boy with a long, unfinished, history with Lila. He also happens to be one, of many, on Lila’s list of murder suspects. He’s hiding something that is sure to be a shocking secret!

This book would play out wonderfully on TV! The plot was engaging, fast paced, and kept me on the edge of my seat. The groundwork is laid out very well, and I can’t wait for what is sure to be an absolutely epic finale.

Grateful to have received a complimentary ARC copy to honestly review.

This book was utterly fantastic. While it is a departure from Ms. Jones' regular romance, this book offered every bit of stunning writing I've come to expect from her and so much more. Lilah Love is a character that had me in stitches from laughing, holding my breath in suspense, and emotional from the ups and downs she experiences upon her return home to the Hamptons. This is the beginning of what is sure to be a killer series. I am waiting with bated breath for the second book!

A real roller coaster the plot moves along nicely and the characters are well developed a stay up all night read

I received an arc from Netgalley. Kane and Lilah are two characters you will not forget. Both seeming to come from crime families of sorts their past seems to come back to haunt them.

Sit back, relax and enjoy the roller coaster ride this book will take you on. Murder, mystery and romance will keep you on the edge of your seat.

At the end I was like “no” it can’t end on a cliffhanger! Can’t wait to read the next book.

Great first book in a new series by Lisa Renee Jones! Lilah Love is a great main character. She is not your typical female lead in a book...she is bad-ass in more ways than one. And her chemistry with Kane is sizzling. This murder mystery will keep you on your toes. It does end in a cliffie, which makes you become a drooling fool waiting for the next one!

Loved this book! Five-stars!

***I received an ebook copy from the author at no charge***

I have no idea where to even begin with this review.

Let' start with the basics: Lilah Love is an FBI profiler, whose job takes her back to her home turf in the Hamptons. Busy investigating not one, but two New York murders, Love finds herself at odds with her family, having to face old friends who have become foes, and continually crossing paths with the man who was once her world.

I'm so bummed that I finished this book as quick as I did, because it's going to be months before the next one in the series is out, and I'm sitting on some serious pins and needles over here now. The author did an insanely amazing job with this story. It's honestly my favorite book of 2018 thus far. There's action, suspense, a small taste of some forbidden romance, drama, and lots and lots of angst. The book drew me in right away and moved at a perfect pace. Jones threw all kinds of curve balls my way, and every time I'd have a hunch or think I may have figured something out, I'd get tossed out into left field and set on an entirely new path.

I immediately felt a connection to Lilah as a character. She's insanely smart, kicks butt at her job, and doesn't take crap from anybody, whether they're her superior or not. She's also super emotionally detached and private and has worked very hard to put distance between herself and her past. She comes off as kind of pissy at first, but the more I got to know about her, and the further along I got in the book, I started to understand why she has a wall up and why she keeps it impenetrable. I liked that Jones let us see her get a bit more vulnerable as the story went on, and I hope that continues in the next book in the series.

I loved Kane too. He's got money, power, good looks, everything that a man could wish for, and he's definitely let all that go to his head. He loves being in control and hates when people push back against him. But man, he loves Lilah, and although he doesn't say the words out loud, it shows through his attitude towards her and his actions whenever she's around.

There was so much UST between Lilah and Kane. Every time the two were in a room together, sparks started flying, and it felt like two magnets circling one another, resisting the attraction like it might kill them if they succumb to it. I wanted nothing more than to see these two come together, for good this time. I get chills just thinking about their relationship.

This book was written in such a vivid fashion that I felt like I was literally there with the characters. I loved that Jones kept me guessing and crafted a plot that was unique and suspenseful. Also, for those who are curious, this book ends with a huge cliffhanger. Hence my reason for being on pins and needles.

I want more. I'm craving more, and it hasn't even been a full 24 hours since I finished reading.

Five suspense-filled stars to this story!

Murder Notes is completely different from Lisa Renee Jones' other books. This mystery thriller has secrets, suspense, murder, twists and turns, a whole lot of questions but very few answers, intense chemistry, passion, and so much more. It does end in a cliffhanger and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

I volunteered to review an advance reader copy of this book.