Truth Lies and Second Dates was hilarious! I really loved how the author took book tropes and turned them on their head! You have pilot, Ava Capp, with a man in every port. Her life changed when her best friend was murdered. She is back in Minnesota on the 10 year anniversary of her death and goes to her memorial. She ends up meeting Medical Examiner, Dr. Tom Baker and the two of them work together to solve this cold case. This was a cute book. It was super funny and also suspenseful. You won’t want to put it down. I absolutely recommend this book!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunist to read this book.

I loved the humor in this book, it started to go downhill for me when the humor got too hard to understand, and some chapters appeared a little all over the place, and at times I don’t know who’s speaking in the book. Pretty much it was all over the place. The cold case of her close friends murder was something that was not very clear for me, I love a good mystery, but adding that to this book just made it more confusing. I had to stop reading at times, I love Ava, she’s so funny, and I am LOVING how she’s a pilot and independent, but everything was just very confusing.

I didn't realize Truth, Lies, and Second Dates was part of a series, but I was able to enjoy the book without reading the previous books. I love a good rom-com and this book was wonderful!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Dear MJD, 


This is going to come across a little weird, but hear me out. Will you be my new best friend, (don’t worry Cass won’t mind)?


Wait, that’s a bit forward….let’s start over. Over the course of 24 hours I devoured this little thing that you wrote. Oh you know, it’s just a full-fledged novel that you should be completely proud of.


It all started with that Author’s note of yours. My adoration starts there. Now I sound a bit stalker like. You just drew me in though with all that wisdom and snark. I can assure you I now know many things such as not trusting a nineteen year old to fly a plane, not to use my husband’s hard earned military earnings on J.Jill clothes even though they are very much worth it, and to wear a diaper if I ever fly to Nepal.


I feel like while I am being utterly honest with my new found adoration I should mention that I have never read any of your other books. I know, I know. Sorry. I feel like a backlist binge may be oncoming. Is it possible to order a copy of all of them gold-plated? Oh, that’s not an option. I suppose I will just buy the paper copies like all your other hardcore fans.


I loved the story that you created in “Truth, Lies, and Second Dates.” I loved the mystery, I loved the foul-mouthed characters and the creative cussers, I loved the intelligence displayed throughout, I adored the inclusion of disabilities, quirky Dr. Tom is a good fella, and the footnotes that made me giggle through-out. What I am ultimately saying is thank you. You definitely helped this reader escape her four needy children for a day. It’s possible your writing made me want to smother myself in Nutella and roll in crushed Oreos. Oops, that’s the diet speaking.


I should probably end this sap fest and get a healthy snack instead. Just know that you made a longtime fan of me, especially if I can continue to get your quirky side.


Sincerely, 

The Crazy Cat Lady who doesn’t own a Cat, but really wants to.

Book Info
Paperback, 320 pages
Expected publication: December 15th 2020 by St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN 125005317X (ISBN13: 9781250053176)
Other Editions (1)
Source:Netgalley EARC
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BOOK BLURB


A sweet and sassy contemporary romance from New York Times bestselling author MaryJanice Davidson!

My Thoughts

For me this books author is synonymous with the words fun, humorous, impossible and tongue-in-cheek.

All if which applies but there is so much more to the story as well.

Main character commercial airline Captain Ava Capp is multi-layered, as are her supporting characters.

The way in which there are multiple twists and turns from Ava’s past that affect her present situation were handled with a mixture of mystery combined with comedy as others have noted.

For a third book in a series I never felt the lack of reading previous books to get a gist of what lead up to this story, it just sucked me in on its own merit.

Just when you thought there were no more surprises the story twists again and proves you wrong.

A thoroughly enjoyable read from beginning to an ending I saw coming with a surprise twist I did not.

[EArc from Netgalley]

First time reading this author but will look for her other works. This book was a quick funny, quirky read. Think Stephanie Plum as a pilot but a tad more snarky. It takes a few chapters to get into the groove but once you get the staccato conversations, you're there. The footnotes were a little distracting in ebook format because of having to find them at the end of the chapter, but not a big deal. I am surprised at the number of negative reviews. The cover gives an adequate description of the story so I won't give a big book report here. It was a really fun lighthearted read and the naughty parts weren't overly descriptive so its not just steamy bedroom scenes. I was provided an advanced reader copy and was under no obligation to provide a review. The opinions expressed are my own.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I loved the story line of this!!
So there is a female pilot, a male medical examiner, and a deceased best friend who's murder has become a cold case. In the book the plot moves at a good pace and I liked the romance that also occurs because I love when different genres collide. I also love a strong female lead! I want to read more by this author.

"Truth, Lies, and Second Dates" by MaryJanice Davidson
I truly enjoyed my time within this story, although it did take me a few pages to get into the rhythm of the story. An off the wall romantic-comedy with a side of unsolved murder and author footnotes, too! I enjoyed the serious times, the off-the-wall times, and the author footnotes were enlightening or just plain fun, too. BUT, will you figure out who murdered Danielle and why, before the author lets you in on the secret? I surely did not. Happy Reading ! !
Note: I received an ARC of this story from the publisher via NetGalley. This review reflects my honest opinion(s).

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's for the chance to read an early copy of this book!

This is a slapstick romantic comedy mystery that is quirky and fun to read. Even the structure of the book is a little off-kilter -- lots and lots of short chapters, peppered with asides and stray thoughts in the middle of dialogue and amusing footnotes. It all adds up to something that's a little dizzying at times, but ultimately pretty fun.

Two of my favorite parts actual bookend the main story--the author's note at the top, about how this series is a love letter to genre tropes, and the ACTUAL LIST OF TROPES USED is at the end of the book! How fun!

I enjoyed a lot of the snark and banter and silly jokes, but with the sheer volume of them, sometimes not all of them will land. A few of them irked me (a fat joke and blind joke stood out in particular), but once I settled into the story I figured out it was just a really over the top, ridiculous set up, where nothing is meant to be at all tethered to reality.

Our hero and his niece both steal the show. (I particularly like that for once, the hero is the clumsy one and not the heroine.) Tom is a delightfully serious contrast to the snarky Ava, and they make a great, if unlikely pair, teaming up to investigate the mystery.

If I had to choose one word to describe this book, it would probably be "screwball." If you're looking for a romantic comedy with a hefty dose of murder and a lot of laughs, pick up this book.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the free review copy. All opinions are my own.

This book was pleasant and, surprisingly, full of humor. It's a rom-com with a side of murder, and I loved it. The author broke the fourth wall a lot, and I liked that about this book. It was clever in the way it was used. I enjoyed the tropes of romance between Captain Ava Capp and Dr. Tom Baker because the personalities of these characters helped freshen up the commonly used tropes, of which the author provides a list in the back of the book, which I thought was fun. Ava finds herself at her best friends ten year memorial service when things start to go very wrong. She has to figure out what really happened, while becoming quite interested in Tom, who wants to help her.

I’m not really sure which genre this book fits into, a little rom com mixed with a mystery?! A series of events has landed Captain Ava back to her hometown, a place she really dislikes and is soon flooded with negative memories of her childhood. She’s a great character and we meet a lot of people and began a game of who-done-it. Overall an okay read, but I found myself skimming through it in some places. I was also in the mood for a light, romantic comedy which may have impacted my thoughts on this one.

I thought outline of this book sounded really interesting.

That was the best part. I really wanted to like this, but had a real hard even finishing it.

I didn't care for Ava at all, I did really like Tom but didn't like them together. Thought Abe and Hannah were the best I actually liked the conversations between Ava and Hannah more that the "romance" between her and Tom.

I have to admit I had a hard time getting into this book, which made me sad because I was really excited to see a strong female lead (especially one with a job you don't see a lot of female leads have!) who knew what she wanted and acted on it.

There was so much conversation between characters that was hard to keep up with and it felt like new characters constantly popped up out of nowhere. I almost needed a character map to keep up with them. I think I started out slight confused though, because from the first page it felt like I'd stepped into a conversation that was already half way over.

I think there's definitely an audience for this book but unfortunately it's not me.

Sometimes our stars align to make us face our past. This book was very good. I liked the romance, the wit, and the true meaning of the story.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I tried the author's The Love Scam earlier this year and thought I'd try a different book despite not liking that one. I did not finish this one and am therefore not posting to Goodreads. Unfortunately I just am not a fan of the author's writing style and can't get into her books.

I got into this book and the characters RIGHT away! I loved the character of Ava - she was very real, even as she was snarky and flawed. I liked how the genre was a mix of rom com and mystery (something I hadn't read before) and this definitely made me eager to read more each night! I will definitely be looking for more books by this author.

I barely finished this book. I just couldn't relate to the casualness of the characters even amidst the chaos and an unsolved murder. There was no chemistry between the main characters and the plot was tough to get into.

I really wanted to love this one, and tried several times to give this book a chance but I just couldn't get into the story, couldn't connect connect with the characters and overall just couldn't stay engaged. it really was confusing and I spent more time trying to figure things out that I couldn't' even begin to try to enjoy it. Sadly after about 40% I decided to no go any further with this one

I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced, somewhat snarky and entertaining book! The author combined a bit of horror and murder mystery with a rom com—which sounds really weird but it definitely worked for me! The dialogue was sharp and snappy, the relationships were complicated, and the cold case murder added an unexpected layer! Tom and Ava were certainly not a conventional couple, but they were quirky and endearing!

Ava is a pilot and has learnt to be happy with her life. She has a past she has tried to forget. Until ten years after that awful event things go hay wire on her. Mystery, murder and romance make this book a entertaining read.