This is a great read. I’ve never read anything by Duff before & really enjoyed this. It’s able to be read as a stand-alone.

Thank you, Avery Duff, Thomas & Mercer & Netgalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.

Boardwalk Trust
By Avery Duff

3 stars.

The book starts well, engaging and interesting, but becomes bogged down with details setting up the plot and developing characters.

This makes the middle of the book hard work to plough through.

This is the second book in the Beach Lawyer series. Where some series you can pick up the second or third book and start reading, this one leaves you feeling I am missing something. Is it worth investing the time to read the first book to make this one come alive? I feel not.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a review copy in return for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

#TheBoardwalkTrust #NetGalley

Reviewed by Heath Henwood
www.books-reviewed.weebly.com

Absorbing legal drama, the second in a series featuring "beach lawyer", Robert Worth.

In this case, Worth helps out a troubled and homeless father and daughter who received information that indicates they are the beneficiaries of a family trust. Teo and Delfina Famosa have been living in a box truck and hope that receiving this money will lift them out of the life they've been living. Worth soon finds more than he ever imagined when he shows up to a court hearing only to hear that the trustee, the now deceased Carlos (Teo's brother) has completely spent all the assets leaving nothing. So why is the Dragnov crime syndicate interested? Worth and his girlfriend, Gia, and his friends Erik and Reyes, go to great lengths to figure out what happened to the trust and to help the Famosas.

Lots of action and legal detail with complex characters that have layers and depth. Worth is a good guy, trying to do his lawyerly best for his clients, but the case becomes very personal to him as well.
I enjoyed this and the first book in the developing series, and though this could be read as a standalone, it's best if the reader has the background from the debut. I'm definitely going to want to read #3. I'm a fan of legal thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the e-book ARC to read and review.

I feel like I am on my own here but I liked this a lot less than the first book. It starts very slow and then starts building up. It is a fine book but maybe not my style. I had high hopes for this book after how much I enjoyed the first one.
I was given an ARC of this book from the publisher and NetGalley for my honest opinion.

Robert's working on the beach doing good deeds, which can get one into trouble. Looking for missing money can get one into even deeper hot water but he's up to the task. I honestly don't know why I opened this given how much I disliked the first book but I am glad that I did because this is a much improved novel with potential for followup. Duff has added a heart to his characters- most of all Robert- and created some good clients for him in Delfina and Teo. There's a well done mystery here are well as legal maneuvering for those looking for a legal thriller. Kudos to Duff for taking criticism on board and keeping at it! Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

The Boardwalk Trust
The Beach Lawyer #2
Avery Duff


MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️▫️
PUBLISHER Thomas and Mercer
PUBLISHED April 17, 2018

The Boardwalk Trust is a clever and complex legal thriller with a diverse assortment of interesting characters.


SUMMARY
What could be better than an office on the boardwalk of Venice Beach, with blue skies directly overhead and an unobstructed beautiful ocean view. Sitting at his faux bamboo conference table in a beach chair and wearing board shorts, Robert Worth has it made, and is not regretting his decision to hang his shingle on the boardwalk. A Venice publication even named him the hottest lawyer in LA , of course that was during a recent heatwave. One of his first clients is Delfina Famosa, a bright, nine-year-old homeless girl, who needs his help. She and her father, Teo, claim to be the beneficiaries of a family trust, that had been run by Teo’s recently deceased brother, but they have to appear in court to claim it, and Delfina needs Robert to help them. Teo is reluctant to claim the trust because of his past issues with alcohol and bad blood between he and his brother. Once Robert, Teo and Delfina show up on the assigned court date, they find there is very little even left in the Famosa Trust. Despite the small amount, Robert who is smitten with the adorable, book-reading Delfina, wants to find out what happened and make sure he can get her everything that she deserves. She calls Robert her Magna Carta Man, but Robert finds being a super hero is not an easy role, and then it gets a whole lot harder. As Robert peels back the layers of the trust, he discovers nothing and no one are quite what they seem.

REVIEW
The Boardwalk Trust is a gripping sequel to Beach Lawyer (Beach Lawyer #1). Robert Worth is joined by a wide assortment of interesting and diverse characters, some we fondly remember from Beach Lawyer #1. Avery Duff has added to the cast, many colorful and diverse new characters, some good, some not so good and some pure evil. Best of all, smart little Delfina Famosa steals the show by providing the motivation for the narrative and adding touching moments to the plot. Robert has gotten himself involved in a high stakes, complex, and fast moving case. The story is riveting, and clever and the writing flows effortlessly. Suspense and thriller fans and fans of the Beach Lawyer will not be disappointed. Thanks to Netgalley, Thomas and Mercer, and Avery Duff for advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

This novel is the second in the author’s Beach Lawyer series. Regular readers of my blog will recall that I was quite critical of the first novel in the series, Beach Lawyer which was also the author’s debut. I am really pleased to say that I enjoyed this latest book much more. The majority of the issues I had with the first book do not recur in this one, and you can see how much the authors has developed in his writing.

The second novel still focuses on Robert Worth, who has left his slick law firm and set up practice on a table on the Venice Beach boardwalk, helping the needy of the neighbourhood. Not the most lucrative of business, but after his big success at the end of the previous novel, he is currently solvent and able to take on the seemingly simple case of a query into a family trust for a troubled dad and his daughter currently living in their van. Obviously, things turn out to be more complicated than they first seem, and this is the meat of the story.

There were a few things for me which made this a better story this time around. Firstly, there was none of the minutiae of legal practice discussed in this book, which dragged the first book to a crawl in the early chapters. Duff has managed to fold the legal explanation necessary for the plot much more smoothly and succinctly into the narrative this time around, so it doesn’t interrupt the momentum and flow of the story.

Secondly, the plot itself is a lot more straightforward, easier to follow and far less convoluted than the last time. I wasn’t lost in the twists of turns of who was who and was was what and having to go back and try and catch up on the constant switching as in the last book, which again broke up the momentum and stopped me getting engrossed in the last book.

The third, and most major improvement, was in the warmth of the characters in this book. Last time, none of the characters had my sympathy and I just really did not care what happened. This is a major failing in any novel. This time, both the main characters of Robert and Gina were much more likeable and just, human, in a way they weren’t before and I was far more invested in their success this time around. In addition, his new clients, Delfina and Teo Famaosa were appealing from the start and I was immediately rooting for them in a way that was impossible with the characters from the last instalment, who were mostly unpleasant. I really wanted things to turn out well for all the main players here, and their plight kept me turning the pages until the end.

There is plenty of action and devilment to liven up the plot throughout and keep you on the edge of your seat, much more so than in the first book where it was all shoe-horned in at the end, a vast improvement.

This novel still has its issues. The first chapter could have done with some serious editing. It contained too many cliches and practically the whole list of ‘Things You Should Never Do When Writing’. I feared that I was going to be disappointed again, but once I pushed on through the opening pages, it improved quickly and hugely, so this was obviously an anomaly. The other main problem comes at the end, where I fear the main plot twist comes too late, and then there is a mad rush to get everything explained before he runs out of chapters. It is a pacing problem that still needs looking at. However, these problems did not hugely detract from my enjoyment of the book and I would recommend it to friends who enjoy legal thrillers. Plus, I will definitely read the next in the series, and there cannot be a better endorsement than that.

The second in the “Beach Lawyer” series, “Boardwalk Trust” has the beach lawyer, Robert Wirth, taking on a nine year old girl as a client. Delfina, a homeless girl who lives in a camper truck with her father, had found s notice in the paper that says a hearing will be held regarding a trust of which she and her father are beneficiaries, and she wants Robert to represent them.. Her father, Teo, had a falling out with his family long ago, and not even the prospect of a seven figure inheritance makes him want to face them in court. But he does it for his daughter, From there, events spiral out of control and Robert,, against his better judgement, finds himself being led by his heart rather than his head.

“The Boardwalk Trust” is the sequel to Avery Duff’s excellent debut novel, “The Beach Lawyer,” and a worthy successor it is. The third book in the series, “The Boardwalk Option,” is due out in May 2019, and you can pre-order it on Kindle today.

The Beach Lawyer is Robert Worth, formerly an attorney in an established firm, now striking out on his own by running his practice at the beach. Surrounded by an interesting group of secondary characters, this engaging, and by turns scary and violent book is a real page-turner, you won’t want to put it down. Full of twists and turns you won’t see coming, (at least I didn’t see them), there is a lot of heart in this book as well.

I don’t like spoilers, so I am not going to give any. Suffice it to say, the Beach Lawyer takes on a new client, someone who really needs him, and he goes above and beyond the usual attorney practice for that client. And yet it never feels forced or over-the-top; the pacing of the book is excellent, and it is altogether an exciting and masterful read.

I highly recommend “The Boardwalk Trust,” and if you have not read “The Beach Lawyer,” I recommend that one as well.

I was given an ARC of this book from the publisher and NetGalley for my honest opinion.

This book is a nice read. The author sets up the scene, leads into the mystery, builds the plot, and keeps you guessing. You really should read the books in the series in order, but you can read this one as a stand alone. Who'd ever think of an attorney setting up shop on the beach? solving crimes?