A romantic mystery that is well written but not the sort of story I enjoy. I recommend this for people who enjoy their romance with their action

Watch Over is a quick and pleasant read. There is sweet romance and little bit of mystery – just enough to be interesting but not overpower the story. I loved the “meet cute” of Finn and Melanie, using the cat to send notes to each other. It made for a nice setup. There isn’t a lot of character development or deep thinking. It is just a simple story that moves along at a steady pace. Of course, there are the usual pitfalls (an ex-girlfriend who won’t go away) along with a mystery stalker. But the course of true love never does run smoothly. The climactic scene is a bit drawn out, but I liked how it allowed Mel to find a strength she didn’t know she had. Overall, it was a good read, and I would recommend it. It is my understanding that this is the first of a series (the DeLuca family) and I will be looking for subsequent books.

I will try to keep this review short, because I don’t really enjoy talking about books I didn’t like. And Watch Over was a total miss. I’ve been trying to find something positive about it that would save it from the 1 star rating, but I really can’t.

From the synopsis I thought Melanie would be an independent and strong willed woman, since “she doesn’t need no man” and all that. Well, that was a lie.

Melanie is an overly insecure and gullible person whose personality revolves around these characteristics. As with every character in the story, she is painfully one dimensional. There is nothing to remember about her other than she is insecure, closed off and plain good. You know like those characters who feed stray animals, help poor people, donate, give time and effort for things that don’t concern them and NEVER feel annoyed or overwhelmed? Yeah, she’s like that. And that’s not bad per se, but for me, I like my characters to be more on the realistic side and less on the idealistic side.

Finn is grumpy and strong. And a cop. That’s all I can recall about him, and I finished the book two days ago. He has a huge family, who of course is present throughout the whole novel, and who of course, become instant fans of Melanie. And that leads me to another point that irked me; Melanie’s relationships or better yet lack of them, She doesn’t have ANYONE. Not a single person she can call friend, or even a casual acquaintance. No-thing. That is unbelievable to begin with, but then she becomes best friends with her boyfriend’s sisters and that is a whole other side of wrong. Why? Because her only friends, the only people she surrounds herself with, are her boyfriend’s family. She has noone outside his circle, I don’t think I need to explain why this is problematic. So there’s an issue of world building in here as well. It is stated that she works but we never see her work; we never see her do anything that doesn’t involve Finn. But we do see Finn doing things apart from Melanie. Let me raise my eyebrows real quick.

Anyway, to close up this review, let me talk a little about the plot twists. Talk about underwhelming. There is this thin mystery subplot going on throughout the novel, and the author makes it so obvious who the culprit is from the very beginning. There was no suspense, and the revelation of the reason driving this person is, in my humble opinion very misogynistic and sexist, as are the majority of themes of the whole novel.

There was also a very passive aggressive comment about mentally ill people in there but I’m already tired and won’t concern myself with it further.

This was my first book by this author but definitely not my last. Finn and Melanie had great chemistry and I loved how they were brought together by a stray cat. The story had lots of suspense and the other characters have made me want to continue reading this series.

Fans of both romance and mystery will enjoy Watch Me. It had a real “sweet-tart” quality to it; the romance between Melanie and Finn was light-hearted and quite sweet, while the mystery of who was stalking them was menacingly scary.

"Watch Over" is an overall okay mystery novel. It's an okay read but tends to be predictable. I liked the writing style though.

The anticipation brings you in closer with each word as you anxiously await to find out why everything happened. Great read!

This is the first book I have read of Amy Reece’s, so it was a discovering of a new-to-me author and since it’s just the start of a series, I’m curious to know what else is going to happen next in this world and with the characters that are going to follow.

Nevertheless, this novel was quite entertaining. I read it during my trip to France, and it was a fun book and story to read while passing my time at the airport and the flight. It made me curious, sometimes laugh even, other times I was like “Hum, what is going on?” or “Why is this happening?”, as in, I wanted to know more about the story and the characters, and I wanted to know the storyline process and even if I was right or wrong in my thoughts.

I loved Finn more than I loved Mel. Still I could understand her and relate a bit with her, which was good because that made me keep my attention on what was going on and trying to uncover the secrets and being more open to keep learning about the characters life, past and aspirations and wishes.

Anyway, Finn was amazing with is patience and kindness, and I want to keep him, unfortunately he’s taken, by Mel… Oh well… There still is more to come. Speaking of “more to come”, I’m curious about the DeLuca family, because this introduction was good and made me interested in keep reading more of the series, when a get to read the next book. Their interaction reminded me of my family, because it felt real.

Overall, I enjoyed the plot and that it had that suspense as well as the romance, because that makes me think and I feel that adds an element of drama and unknowing that is fun for me when I’m reading a book, especially one that is the start of a new-to-me series. Although, I had many suspicions and ideas about the mystery, it was still fun to see if I was right and where the author would take the story.

That been said, I’ll be waiting to see what more is Amy Reece going to write about and I have added the other books to my TBR because I need to know what will happen next with the DeLuca family.

[I received a complimentary copy of this book thanks to Amy Reece, via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.]

Absolutely loved! This story is a definite must read, I devoured it.

Melanie Blythe, just lost her great Aunt to cancer. Coming from very little family, when she got the call that her Aunt was sick, she left Illinois a year ago to move to Albuquerque, to take care of her. She works from home, during the day as a graphic designer and at night she's a romance novelist. This makes her an introvert, having had only her Aunt as her only friend in the past year. Her Aunt left everything to her, the house, a car, and all her assets. That includes a cute little dog and a cat that wormed herself into her life and well as her sexy neighbor's life too.

Finn DeLucca is a detective in the police force currently on medical leave. When he was jogging one morning he was run over by a car, left to linger in a coma for 10 days. The cops never found the driver. It's now been three months since the accident and surgery but he's still wheelchair bound due to both his broken femur and ankle. When a cat shows up one morning and spends the day with him only to return home at the end of the day, Finn gets curious about the owner. He starts spying on her with his binoculars and likes what he sees. So he sends the cat home one day with a note attached to her collar. From then on Mel and Finn communicate via the cat with funny letters getting to know each other.

Mel can't understand why someone would be interested in her. Ever since a bad relationship in college, she's stayed away from relationships on purpose. One day when Finn tells her about his reason for not being able to leave his house due to the accident, the caretaker in Mel steps in. She runs over there bringing fresh banana bread to introduce herself formally. The minute she sees him, she's tongue tied; he's no better. After spending the day with each other, they start becoming inseparable. She starts working out of his home with her laptop while he works on some cold cases.

When strange things start happening at her house, starting with feeling like someone is watching her, dishes leaving the sink and ending up in the dishwasher she never uses, and her front door being unlocked and left open, Mel tells Finn. He then starts walking her home every night to make sure that her house is secure. He thinks that she might have a stalker.

When the couple have a fight, she spends the night getting drunk with his sister, Cara. When Cara leaves to crash at Finn's for the night, something terrible happens to Mel while she's sleeping.

Her cat wakes up Finn, which is a first since she sleeps with Mel but spends the day with him. He immediately knows that something's wrong. He follows the cat outside only to see that Mel's house is on fire. He lets himself inside only to find her unconscious and unresponsive. At the hospital, the doctor informs them that she had drugs in her system and if not for the fire, she would have been dead by the morning.

Finn and his partner start looking into this determined more than ever when they find a message poured in gasoline on her burnt grass. Only time will tell that she's not the one being stalked, he's the intended target.

I definitely recommend reading this book, it's a must read!

I just realized i totally forgot to review this! I've been soo busy it just slipped my mind!

This was such a cute romance story between Melanie, an artist and Finn, a detective. This is the first book in the DeLuca Family series. And from this first book I KNOW this series is going to be amazing and I can't wait!
This story has it all romance, suspense, and forgiveness. The ending wasss omg and there were twists and turns I did not see coming.

I'm really looking froward to reading more from this author!

Honestly this book didn't grab my attention. The plot was a bit slow for my taste. Not sure Id read more books by this author.

I found this to be a very enjoyable read. It had me under its spell from beginning to end.
An entertaining story-line and great characters keep your interest extremely well.
The chemistry, sweetness, and twists in plot kept things very interesting. Add in drama and steamy passion and you have a good read.

Danger and intrigue with a core of romance. This book is a well written literary ride into romantic fiction. Written in a way that hooks you from page one, the storyline is fast paced and believable. With great characters and superior interactions, this is easily worth the four star recommendation I give.

Good suspense adventure romance story, it is compelling with twists and turns. This was such a cute and romantic story. I fell in love with Mel and Finn,who were strong, engaging characters. The way that they met was so adorable and funny. I love the chemistry between the two main characters and the mystery and suspense made it a fantastic book. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

Melanie finds herself adopted by a stray cat that wanders in her place and one day after the cat has been outside for a while it comes back with a note attached to its collar. It's from Finn who lives down the street and had no idea that he and Melanie were sharing the stray cat. They share notes back and forth for a while, neither one of them really wanting to meet face to face. Melanie is shy and works from home as a writer. Finn is a cop who is recuperating after being hit by a car. He's in a wheel chair and trying to get used to doing things himself even though his family comes over to help all the time.

Things start out so incredibly cute between these two. I thought it was a really sweet way to introduce yourself to your neighbor.

Right as Finn and Melanie are getting to know one another better and get closer, small bizarre things start happening. Things in her home start getting moved around. At first she thinks she is just imagining it and then it happens more frequently. When the danger really ratchets up, Finn and his family step up to help find out who's stalking her and why.

I was liking this story quite a bit until the nosy neighbor shows up and just sorta barges into their lives. The fact that neither of them tell her off amazed me because there's no way I would be letting this weirdo in my home. But maybe that's just me. The romance was sweet, the stalker was creepy and Finn's family are great. I really enjoyed this story.

It's a testament to the writing the I managed to become engrossed despite the awkward formatting of the uncorrected proof. Intriguing premise.

"Melanie Blythe has a house, a career, and a cat. She doesn’t need a man. 

But she isn’t the only one who’s noticed the gorgeous cop down the street. When her faithless cat prances home from the cop’s house with a note tucked in his collar, it might be the beginning of something beautiful…or it might be Melanie’s death warrant.

Detective Finn DeLuca is stuck at home recovering from a hit-and-run accident, and has plenty of time to wonder about the woman two doors down. There’s something mysterious about the beautiful brunette, and he’s determined to get to know her. 

But someone else has other plans."

Worth reading.

This was an okay book. I figured out immediately who was stalking Mel. And the reasons behind this was just beyond stupid. Especially when the medicine was put in Melanie's drink. Then, in the end, it was hurriedly wrapped up. I was also annoyed that most of the book was spent dealing with Melanie's relationship insecurities. So a college boyfriend cheated on her, that is not that serious where it stunted her emotional growth to that effect where she was suspicious of everyone's motives. I felt no real connection between her and Finn. It was like he was doing most of the emotional work. The writing could have been a little better. I voluntarily read this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Before we even get to the review I must see I nearly dropped this more a dozen times before I even finish reading the first chapter. I know it hasn't been released yet but the format for the ARC was driving me crazy and it was so distracting. Double spaced and the some of the sentences weren't even on the same line.

Overall “Watch Over” was not what I was expecting when I requested to read this. By the time I got to chapter 2 I already knew this was a goner. The blurb was a lot more interesting than the actual story itself. I was disappointed in the lackluster content, characters, storyline and how unengaging everything was. Unfortunately I did not finish the series and it was dopped by chapter 6 at 22%.

Watch Over is a fun and engaging romance. It's typical of the genre. The addition of the cat gives it a little something extra. Fast read. If you like romance, you'll like it. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

A cute romance story between Melanie, an artist and Finn, a detective. They are becoming friends when the same cat is visiting both at the same time.
Thank you Netgalley for this nice book.