It will be posted on the review site soon: http://romrevtoday.com/
Can also post on Amazon when able to since the book doesn't release until 12/15.

TRUTH, LIES, AND SECOND DATES –MaryJanice Davidson
St. Martin’s
ISBN: 978-1-250-5317-6
December 15, 2020
Contemporary Romance

Minneapolis, Minnesota & Boston, Massachusetts – Present Day

Airline pilot Ava Capp loves her job despite all the dysfunctional people she works with. When she finds herself back home in Minnesota, it brings her back to something she’d rather forget: the murder of her best friend ten years ago. The case has never been solved and her late friend’s mother acts like Ava is responsible for the death of her daughter. Ava is convinced by the dead woman’s twin brother to attend a ten-year memorial service and hoped to go without anyone knowing she is there, but alas, it causes a commotion and the mother freaks out. That night Ava goes out to drink and tries to forget what happened and runs into medical examiner Dr. Tom Baker. He, too, hasn’t forgotten that cold case. But is their encounter just a blip in the night, despite the mutual attraction that causes sparks between them?

Things begin to go weirdly downhill for Ava. First, the funeral home is vandalized, and fingers seem to point to Ava’s involvement. Then she learns from her union representative that her mandatory drug test came back dirty—really dirty—and Ava is grounded until she can get a clean one. Tom invites her to go with him to attend a conference in Boston, so they head there. Meanwhile, it begins to look like Ava is being set up for a hard downfall. The big questions are why…and who? It appears related to the murder ten years ago.

If you’ve never read MaryJanice Davidson before, then you should understand that her books are usually a bit quirky. In TRUTH, LIES, AND SECOND DATES, that trend continues. Ava is smart and tough, but she has to contend with people around her that tend to get on her nerves. She’s dated off and on, but her work schedule is not exactly conducive to a love life. Rarely do dates lead to a second one. That’s okay with her, but will it change with the entrance of Tom into her life? He’s proven to be helpful and he’s there for her. He’s currently helping to raise his orphan niece and shares a home with her and the girl’s grandfather. Will Ava find herself melding seamlessly into their blended family?

Along the way, readers get involved in trying to figure out who is trying to wreak havoc into Ava’s life. It all comes back to the murder ten years ago. It was Ava who found the body. The two women lived together. Is it possible that the real intended victim was supposed to be Ava? If so, why has it taken so long for the murderer to act again? There are plenty of questions raised in TRUTH, LIES, AND SECOND DATES, but rest assured that the answers will come by the end.

An intriguing and compelling tale, don’t miss TRUTH, LIES, AND SECOND DATES.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

Humor, love, and murder.... just the type of book I needed right now. I enjoyed this book for the escape it provided. An easy read that made me LOL on many occasions.

Unfortunately, this book really didn't work for me. I think the biggest issue was the heroine's voice. It felt almost too forced and I didn't feel Ava was relatable or likable. She almost seemed like a robot to me. This made it really hard for me to root for Ava and more difficult to understand why she anyone is interested in her.
The premise was interesting and I really wanted to like this book. I think I'm not the right person for this style of writing and this take on romance. I wanted to meet the love interest earlier, too.

Reader’s Note
As a reader I hate being condescended to. Condescension is when someone assumes you couldn’t possibly understand or have knowledge of whatever they are discussing. I will now list many other things I hate. And at the end of the review I will list every example of it I can think of because you still don’t get it.
Beyond this I kinda enjoyed the rest of the book.

Title: Truth, Lies, and Second Dates
Author: MaryJanice Davidson
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.0 out of 5

Captain Ava Capp has been flying from her past for a decade. She’d much rather leave it, and her home state, behind forever. But when she finds herself back in Minnesota, against her better judgment, everything goes sideways in a way she never expected it to.

M.E. Dr. Tom Baker has never forgotten Ava and the cold case she ran away from. When she shows up unexpectedly in town, in spite of himself, sparks fly. Which is terrible because he can’t stop his growing attraction to her. Can these two Type-A’s let their guards down and work together to put Ava’s tragic past behind her for good? And keep their hands off each other at the same time?

I’m all for snarky writing and poking fun at tropes, but, while I know that’s what this was, it didn’t feel like that. Instead it felt like a painful slog towards something I didn’t even care about with annoying people in tow. I honestly didn’t like any of the characters, except G.B., her flight attendant buddy, and I was zero percent invested in even finding out what was going on. Just not a good fit for me.

MaryJanice Davidson is a bestselling author. Truth, Lies, and Second Dates is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 12/8.)

As a women is a mostly male profession Ava has to be badass, Tom Baker is sexy and the best thing about Ava’s hated hometown. This book is a rom com with a murder mystery thrown in. Sooo good you won’t want to put it down.

Truth, Lies, and Second Dates somehow combines the seriousness of a cold case, brutal murder, with a humorous tone and a budding romance. Oddly enough, all of these elements come together to produce a fast-paced, entertaining read with just the right amount of suspense, a romance that pilot Captain Capp isn't too thrilled to be caught up in, and a good amount of laughs,.

Romance with a bit of murder mystery isn't generally my thing but this book had it's enjoyable parts.

Although I enjoyed the book, which was well-written with interesting characters, I would not classify this as a romance novel. There was not that much romance in it, but there was a lot of mystery and suspense. Having said that it was a good read, just not enough romance in the story for my tastes. As I said, it had loads of mystery and suspense so it was still a very good read, but I'm not sure that I would read another romance novel from this author unless I was very sure that it had more romance in the story.

Despite reading The Love Scam, I decided to try again and read this book. It definitely reads better than the last book. It has a plot you can follow and is entertaining. I didn’t feel lost or liked I was missing the joke. I think Tom, Hannah, and Abe were my favorites. Our heroine Ava is pretty cool too. I really enjoy the partnership and romance of Tom and Ava.

That said, the timing of this book makes zero sense. Ava has been a pilot for years, but given her best friend was murdered 10 years ago at 18, she has come very far to be only 28. Then we are told Tom is 4-5 years younger than Ava, so he can only be around 23, but he’s the chief medical examiner for Ramsey County? This book is about characters in their twenties who all speak of life and experiences as if they were in their 30s or 40s. Becka should probably only be about 12, but is a flight attendant.

And the footnotes at the end of each chapter. Please just stop with those.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy via NetGalley.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Griffin for an advanced copy of Truth, Lies and Second Dates.

I DNFd this book about 35% in. I wanted to give MaryJanice Davidson a second chance. I was a DNF on one of her -- The Love Scam earlier this year. And unfortunately I was a DNF in this book for the same reasons as the first.

I was so confused from the beginning of the book, wasn't sure who was talking to who and the characters were unlikable and I just don't think I get her humor.

I rarely DNF books, but this is not what I was super expecting it to be. I didn't mesh well with the writing style, and I found the characters to be slightly annoying. Not my cup of tea, but it's possible other people might enjoy it!

3.5*

Hannah saved the day! Or the book, as it were. I honestly don't know that I would have enjoyed it as much if it wasn't for the scenes she was in- she stole the show.

Truth, Lies, and Second Dates was entertaining, but it seemed to want to be too many things all at once- chick-lit, romantic suspense, cozy mystery, although it's promoted as a contemporary romance, which threw me off. And I know (after having read the Author's Note) that this is part of MJD's series on tropes, but too much of something isn't always a good thing.

Ava is still reeling from her best friend's murder and the 10 year anniversary memorial sets off a series of events take her right back to that day. And that's when things kind of got iffy for me. There were some fun parts, but it felt wrong to laugh at them, because ultimately this was a story about trying to find Danielle's killer- which was apparently grisly, but the description of it was so flippant that I almost couldn't believe what I was reading.
This book also didn't fit as a cozy mystery because there was more of a focus on the romance than you usually find in that subgenre.
And then you have the romantic suspense aspect of it- if it wasn't for the sometimes silly things that happened, it would have fit more under this subgenre than any, but it was too silly at times to fit.
There were some parts of this story that I did like, other than Hannah! I appreciated Ava being a strong, independent woman with a pretty kick-ass career. I thought Tom was a sweetheart and I enjoyed his addition to the story- he brought a bit of lightness to Ava. And like I said, I adored little Hannah! She was such a precocious little thing, one of the highlights of the book.
I think ultimately, for me, that Truth, Lies, and Second Dates would have actually worked out better if it had been a true romantic suspense, instead of trying to be too many things.

I'm realizing after having read this, and The Love Scam, that maybe Mary Janice Davidson's recent books and I aren't that compatible. (The whole footnote thing is weird to me in a contemporay novel, among other things.) I loved the books in the Undead series that I read (years and year ago), and the Fred the Mermaid series, but these current books just haven't given me that same enjoyment.



I appreciate St. Martin's Press giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy through Netgalley.

I will admit that I didn't make it very far into this book before realizing that I just couldn't finish. To start, this is book 3 in a series, which I did not know until I got to the author's note in the beginning of the book. However, I don't think that's the reason that I had no idea what was going on. I had a hard time following conversations because it seemed like everyone was speaking like it was either an inside joke or a technical pilot term that I'm not familiar with. There were footnotes to explain what abbreviations were, but I still don't know what those terms mean. I found myself rereading sections frequently to see if I had missed something that would help me understand what was happening.

I'm sure there are a lot of people that love this series and will enjoy this book, but be warned if you're jumping in here that it might be hard to follow.

Truth, Lies, and Second Dates by MaryJanice Davidson is a romantic suspense story including horror elements (which are not evident at all in the back cover copy and you only find out when you read the Author's Note). In her Author's Note at the beginning of the book, Davidson tells the reader that she loves tropes. Then she goes on to explain in many detailed paragraphs what tropes are. This is what she to say about her books: "Romance novels that pay respect to romance novels, where the readers are in on the joke. Unless you skipped my Author's Note, in which case you're not in on the joke and you think I hate romance novels and I cannot help you."

She then proceeds to remind you that there is a list of tropes she's used in her story in the back of the book, "...for those of you in a hurry. This is partly to make it easier for my readers...". So naturally, I went over there to look. She had pages of notes where in excruciating detail she laid out all the tropes she's used or subverted in her book, starting with "tropes are tools" and including things, such as "bald is evil (subverted)," "alibi," "mystery magnet," "they look like everyone else," "breakups are always brutal (subverted)," "motive rant," "clueless mystery subverted (there are clues, but not many; the few there are don't resemble clues; and Ava and Tom don't piece them together until the end)" and so on and so forth.

As you can see, there's not much else you want to know about the story after reading this. No reader wants to be condescended to and have everything explained in triplicate. There is the joy of discovery, which is why readers read.

I'm...disappointed.

Honestly, I really wanted to like this book but it feels like it's a rough draft. Is it a romance? Is it a mystery? I don't think it knows to be honest.

The banter felt forced and confusing and the characters were supposed to be likeable but instead came off as annoying and immature. The main character is snarky...but not in a good way and all the drama of the storyline with the trauma of the heroine just made the tone too confusing.

Afraid this was bit TOO light for me.... I kept trying but finally had to give up. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind, but I found the characters very one dimensional.

I received an advanced reader's copy of Truth, Lies, and Second Dates by MaryJanice Davidson.

Ava Capp is an accomplished pilot. She's a snarky character. Tom Baker is a medical examiner. He's a caring individual and is a protective character. I felt the mystery was stronger in this story than the romance. I was more interested in finding out how the mystery was resolved. It was fun to see how various story tropes were used in this story.

Titles can be deceiving. I went into "Truth, Lies, and Second Dates" thinking this was going to be a light-hearted rom-com. Which is one of my favorite kind of books to get lost in. But while there was great banter and some comedy, I didn't expect a cold case murder or some of the other heavier topics.

A well written and entertaining romance. Good plot and character development. I throughly enjoyed it. I received an advance ebook from the publisher and Netgalley. This is my unbiased review review.