I love the blending of romance and mystery, so this one sounded promising. The setting is lovely, and the second half of the story really picks up, but I didn't enjoy the writing style. The characters feel bland on the page, and I found the story difficult to follow in places. The set up sounds like it's going to be great, but I struggled with the pacing and the development here. It wasn't one that I would recommend to a reader.

I wished to read this one because of the amazing synopsis and it seemed like it was going to be an exciting read. But I felt let down by this book as both lead characters Rake and Delaney were weird and a bit off-putting. Also the writing style did not really help as it was more distracting for me. The settings of Venice, a rich American, Rake waking up to discover he has lost all his money, identification but ending up with a kid of his, seemed like hilarious concept but as we keep reading, I didn't find Rake relate-able at any point. I so wish it was better as it has a great skeletal concept to develop around.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing the ARC in exchange for a review.

The Love Scam by Mary Janice Davidson takes place in Venice and is the story of a rich twin who has lost all of his money, his ID and his cell phone and winds up hungover in a canal. He is rescued by a young woman who is much more than he bargained for. I had a difficult time getting interested in this novel because it's part of a series and it doesn't work well as a stand alone novel. The author is constantly referencing previous novels and is fond of putting an asterisk after a sentence, then putting the reference for the asterisk at the end of the chapter rather than at the bottom of the page, which I found very distracting. I either had to go find the end of the chapter to understand the reference which was often just a remark saying you could find out more by reading a previous novel) or wait until the end of the chapter, at which time I had to go find where the asterisk was to see what she was talking about. I found the only character that I really liked was Lillith, the possible daughter of the main character Rake, who was an obnoxious playboy who had no idea that he might have a child. All in all, I found the book tedious, the characters flat and the storyline a bit ridiculous.

I was provided with an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC. It was a funny mystery romp in Venice where spoiled rich boy/man Rake wakes up from a lost weekend finding his whole life has changed, his money and wallet gone, a possible daughter he knew nothing about and bad guys chasing them.I didn’t realize that this was a second book in a series. Maybe would have been less confusing if I had read the first. Also, it contains footnotes, mostly funny, some translations, that do not work well in Kindle. The story jumps back and forth in timeline a bit too. So, those were my negatives. The positives were a good mystery concept, a great setting in Venice Italy, interesting characters and some laugh out loud funny moments. The positives far outweigh any negative. In all I liked it a lot and will look for the first in the series to catch up.

The synopsis of this book sounded really good and I was excited to read it! Unfortunately I found myself unable to get into the story. The writing style for me was a distraction and at times felt there was too much going on.

Gosh - where to start. I did finish this book, even though I was very tempted to put it down several times. The premise of this story is interesting and the story was good, but the execution left so much to be desired. The best way I can describe this book is like reading an episode of Gilmore Girls - there are so many asides, so much overtalking, etc. and it proved to be very distracting and difficult to follow. While there were some laugh-out-loud funny parts, the writing style ultimately proved too distracting for me to enjoy this book.

Rake wakes up in Venice and soon after meets Delaney and Lillith who might be his daughter. The story evolves as they get to know each other and try to figure out what has happened to Rake's identity, money, etc. Every so often you would get a glimpse at the backstories for these characters and those were promising. But I felt like I was grasping to get more and there just wasn't anything there.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing the ARC in exchange for a review.

I am unsure how to rate this one. I usually like this author. But the first part of this book was totally odd and needs a rewrite. The story did turn out to be a good one. Though the idea of a grandmother that butts in so much really makes me want to step back from all my family. That just isn't my idea of love. If only we could give half stars it would be 3.5.

The blurb of this book sounded so good and promising, but I didn’t like the style of writing, it jumped about all over the place and was hard to follow at times. Such a shame as it sounded so good

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review the ARC.
I have to admit this was hard for me to finish this book .. but with that being said I did. I'm also glad that I did cause I did find the story to pick up and have a nice little ending. I just found it hard to follow at times and didn't quite know how the narration of the story was going. But I am very grateful to be given the chance to read this and I do say it would make a excellent movie.

I requested to read and review this book The Love Scam by author Mary Janice Davidson. From the publishing company of St. Martin 's Griffin. The plot line is a mystery based with action suspense and some romance throw in for a fun twist. This is the first book I have written by author Mary Janice Davidson. She did a great job setting the scene. I could see myself in the United States and in Italy, Even though I have never been to Italy. I could honestly see this mystery being something that could be done very easily in real life. You will meet the crazy Tarbell Family and all that entails. Delaney and her crew. You want to read this book to find about the nuclear option, falling in the canal, who the A, B, C teams are. What the Pipe Dream is and how it all comes together. And how what happens to Donna. This book does have some language in it so wouldn't recommend for a young reader. But if you like, adventure, mystery, a European setting, and romance this book is for you!

The Love Scam, MaryJanice Davidson

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Romance

I really wanted to like this, sounded like a fun and quirky read but sadly I just couldn't get on with it, gave up eventually and DNF.
Rake is a barely functioning alcoholic, what Delaney saw in him I've no idea. When thwarted he acted like a petulant spoiled child, he rambled incessantly about unimportant things, and seemed to feel the answer to everything was to throw money at it. Not a nice man, and that was a real disappointment for me. Maybe he gets better as the book progresses, I struggled to 30% and gave up.
I've no idea what was going on with Delaney other than she had the patience of a saint with Rake, I'd have pushed him back in the lake...and Lilith is 11 ( I think) going on 111 in her speech and actions. Its clear she's been through a lot and to have this self obsessed, spoilt man child as her possible father gave me shivers, heaven knows how she really felt.
I felt everything was so pushed, so full on, so more, more, more that it became confusing, the more I read the less I understood. I've enjoyed MaryJanice books before but this one just didn't work for me. As always though it'll be perfect for others, we all want different things and though I don't like this you may love it.

Stars: Two, an OTT manic read, with a dislikable lead that just didn't work for me

Arc via Netgalley and publishers

I received an advance reader copy from Net galley in exchange for my honest review. I love all of her writings but this one was not as enjoyable to read. As others mentions, the footnotes were too much as was the jumping around. I do like the story line and the characters but the other issues distracted from that .

I didn't care for this book. I struggled to finish it though much of the craziness gets wrapped up at the end. It just took too long and too much confusion to get there. The footnotes make no sense on a Kindle app as they end up many page swipes past whatever they are referencing. The italics and parentheses were too distracting also. There are some humorous spots and Lillith was devine as Rake's daughter (or neice). I really didn't care about the others or what would happen to them.
I received an advance reader copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest reveiw.

I'm not really sure what to think of this book. I liked Lilith, but had difficulty feeling invested in Clare, Rake, or any of the others. At best, the book is confusing as it jumps all over the place, from a prior book, to backstories, recent past, and the present. Add in all the footnotes (which don't work well on a kindle), and it's a bit overwhelming. I seriously considered not finishing this one, but had given my word that I would read it. I really hate saying that, because the kernel of the story is good and I wanted to love this one.

The Love Scam by MaryJanice Davidson is a contemporary romance. Ms. Davidson has provided readers with an entertaining, but sometimes aggravating read. I think the author went a little overboard with the parentheses, italicized words and footnote translations. I liked the story and loved the characters but the above-mentioned items detracted from the book for me. Claire has been hired to "guide" Rake. Rake is a rich playboy that drinks too much. My favorite part of the book was Lillith. Claire and Rake's story is loaded with drama, humor, spice and a little mystery. I enjoyed this story. The Love Scam is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wasn’t my absolute favorite book but was cute. Perfect if you want a corny feel good romance story. This was a second book in the series but I felt like I still understood what was happening even though I hadn’t read it.

Shame - there's some funny writing, but the novel is too difficult to get into. The moving timelines and confusing characters were a lot to overcome. While parts of the book were clever, I did not finish the novel.

Thank you, NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.

The Love Scam has a whacky slapstick comedy feel to it. It's fun and original, but there's also a lot going on so it's a bit hard to follow. So far I am enjoying it (5 chapters read), but will come back to it when I can dedicated more mind space to it.

I have read many of MaryJanice Davidson's book, and loved them, particularly the Undead series. However, I wasn't able to stay interested in this title. So I DNF. I may come back around to try is again but for now, thank you for the chance to read and review.

This was so confusing that I could barely keep up. Couldn’t get into it, didn’t feel the romance or characters and the writing was not for me.