3.5 Stars

Boiling Over is a good, suspenseful novel.
I enjoyed it, but I definitely would have preferred reading the previous book first.
I liked the men, the girl, and the suspense, but I would have enjoyed knowing their background first.

In this second book in the Caro Mysteries series, Alex and Sev have fled to rural Vermont to lay low after the murderous events of the first book. But they leap from the frying pan right into the fire when there's a murder in Chickadee, Vermont just as they arrive in town. Sev's mob boss / cousin Bella arrives in town, gets promptly tossed in jail, and Alex has to find the killer in order to clean Bella's name. The only problem is the bodies start to pile up, as well as the suspects.

The author does a good job of slowly unfolding Chickadee - where everyone knows everyone AND all their secrets. McAlistair gives us vignettes of secondary characters that are nicely fleshed out and the murder / mystery plot really holds my interest throughout.

Against this backdrop, Alex finds himself more confused and conflicted about his relationship with Sev. After all, they've only been together a matter of weeks and there are years (and years of experiences) separating them. At times Alex spends far too much time pouting in his room, avoiding Sev and as there is no on-page intimacy, I miss not having a better sense of the full dynamics of their relationship.

However, by the end of the book, Sev and Alex are on firmer ground, and solve the murders .... except for a cliffhanger that leaves us wondering if there is a larger game being played, and if so, who is the ultimate target?

All in all, I liked the mystery, liked the characters and the setting, and definitely like the way this book develops the series. After the first book in the series, No Good Men, I was on the fence about this series, but I am definitely looking to read more Caro Mysteries! 4 stars.

An engrossing and enjoyable mystery, well written and entertaining.
I liked the description of the small town and its people, the well thought cast of characters, and the solid mystery that kept me guessing.
It's the first book I read in this series and I look forward to reading other.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Well, dear readers, I've done it again. I've picked up the second book in a series without reading the first. The thing is, I could have sworn that I double checked before I requested an ARC of Boiling Over. *sigh* Looks like I've added another book to my ever growing TBR pile, because now I HAVE to know exactly where Alex and Sev's story began. Actually, I've added a couple of books to that ever growing pile because the ending of Boiling Over is most definitely not the end of Alex and Sev's story. Not by a long shot...

I like a good mystery and Boiling Over definitely fell into that category. I don't read a lot of historical books. It's not because I don't enjoy them. It's mainly because it takes me a while to get myself into the time frame. I can't really pinpoint why, but I didn't have that issue with this book. I wasn't even particularly lost having not read the first book, but I wouldn't recommend it. It's obvious that a lot happened in No Good Men. Those events in the first book in the Caro Mysteries sent Alex and Sev on the run with new identities and a lot to hide.

It didn't take Sev and Alex long to find out that trouble can find you just as easily in a small town as it can in the big city. It seems that everyone has something to hide, which makes it pretty hard to figure out who the good guys are among the not so good guys and the really bad ones. While trying to figure that out by playing amateur sluth, Alex finds himself trying to see exactly where he fit in- if anywhere - including Sev's world.

A few interesting twists at the end of Boiling Over left readers wondering where Alex and Sev will end up next. Now to figure out if I'm going to back-track or wait patiently for the next book in the Caro Mysteries series.

I'm a fan of this series already! Book one: No Good Men, was a great start to the Caro series. Alex and Sev met in the first book. This series is set in the 1930s so it's not a world in which gay men can live openly. By a twist of fate, they find one another and become involved. The first book ends with the two men and their young neighbor Pearl ... on the run.

When they arrive in Chickadee, everyone already knows their name and it's not long before they're on the radar of the local police. Why? Because there's been a murder. Crime follows these two! Again, they find themselves attempting to solve a crime while not getting in any deeper. Bella shows up and things get even more complex when she is arrested for the murder!

While the "case" is being worked, Alex is losing his mind a little bit. He's in a relationship for the first time in his life and he's still learning so much about being in love. Sev is a bit older than Alex and his temperament is slightly more laid back so he seems to be taking it all in stride. He is out of his element and finding that raising a child is a constant reminder of his behavior and the fact that there are always eyes on him.

As Alex struggles with the events that are going on around him reminding him of his own losses and the danger they have so recently fled, his mood sours and he begins to feel some distance between himself and Sev. Because Alex is spiraling out of a control a little bit, he begins to be jealous of Sev's friendship with a local woman... manifest destiny!!!

Much of this book is about secrets. When Alex and Sev arrived in town it was with their own secret...they have fake names and identities and must continue to hide who they are to one another. Alex is also bottling up his emotions instead of talking to Sev about them, and that is making them both unhappy. Secrets take their toll! The town itself seems to be mired down in secrets as well. There are women who have been treated foully by their spouses, there are people having affairs, secret children and disintegrating family relationships.

McAlistairdoes a great job of creating the small-town feel of Chickadee. There are always people gossiping about everyone else and there's no such thing as privacy. I grew up in a small town so I know of what I write!

You should definitely read the first book before reading this one! This is a great series and I'm glad that this novel ends with a teasing cliff hanger !!! That means there will be more coming!

3* Fairly accurate to the era this is set in, but rather too low key to make it engrossing.

Despite not having read the first book in the series, it wasn't hard to get into this tale, as there were sufficient mentions of why the leads were on the run and who had assisted them and why they'd ended up where they were. The tale was low key and mostly (I'm pretty sure 'lover' would have been used instead of the 'boyfriend' that appeared) in keeping with the era in which it was set, and despite acknowledging that, for me, it lacked the emotion and romance and interesting stuff needed to draw me in.

Adam had more than one pretty big chip on his shoulder and Sev seemed a little too non-alpha, and the town in which they ended up had its own secrets and people who weren't initially as they seemed. But at the same time, everything was all a little... mundane. I didn't get to know or like anyone enough to be interested in them, unfortunately. The bad guy didn't feel like a credible bad guy and I didn't get his motivation or believe in him. And, the ending left the tale open for betrayal of a friend by a friend, in retaliation for betrayal of a friend by a friend - that part, I believed in, as to use a cliche, a woman scorned, etc., and Italians and the dish called revenge. But, that, too, felt too low key, though no doubt it'll be picked up in the next book. Unfortunately, I don't think it'll be for me.

ARC courtesy of Ninestar Press and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.