3 stars!

I had no idea what this was about going into it, but I wasn't super impressed. I thought the writing style was a bit dull and thus led to my lack of enjoyment of the story. The characters were okay, but overall the story was a bit vanilla for my tastes.

DNF
I tried to read this book--found that the characters werent relateable or likeable.
The dialogue-conversations did not make sense--felt I was missing parts of the conversation--inside jokes?
And i found the side texts to be annoying.

It was a nice surprise to receive this book from St. Martin's Press to read and review. I'm always happy to find these surprises in my inbox.

I've never read anything before by Mary Janice Davidson. I have an interest in aviation so the fact that the heroine is a captain for an airline was a fun feature for me. The back blurb caught my attention so I was eager to jump in.

Ava Capp has issues and it's quite obvious from page one. She tries to cover up her issues with humor and has something to prove - which likely can be attributed to her past but also trying to work in an industry dominated by men. She comes on a bit strong in sections.

I have to say despite strong character development and an intriguing blurb, this is not the type of romance I'm drawn to. I more of a sweet, inspirational romance reader and this novel is far from sweet. The book opens with a bedroom scene - though not terribly graphic, but enough for the sweet romance reader in me to cringe. The pages are filled with language that I prefer not reading, realizing that within the context of the type of romance it is, the language is perfectly suitable and gives the character another dimension.

I think the author did well in creating memorable characters, but in the end it just wasn't the kind of book I like reading - thus the three star rating.

Captain Ava Capp Becomes a commercial airplane pilot in order to run from her past. She's been doing well for 10 years until she is invited home to a 10 year anniversary commemoration of her best friend's death. Ave is known for strange things happening to her but, everything since she has landed in Minneapolis keeps getting more strange and, she can't figure out what's going on. After the Memorial, she meets M.E. Dr. Tom Baker and, he is, apparently, also known for having strange things happening to him. They are immediately attracted to each other but, that just gets in the way of everything else that's happening!
This was a cute, sweet, funny book that can be a bit confusing at times but, generally has a smooth storyline..

Mary Janice Davidson…this author sums up what can happen when humor, heart, heat and witty/gritty storytelling hits the pages! TRUTH, LIES AND SECOND DATES is sassy, fun read that defies readers to try to NOT at least chuckle at what may normally seem the most inappropriate times.

Airline pilot, Captain Ava Capp has a past she has avoided for years. Now she is back where the nightmare began and Medical Examiner Dr. Tom Baker remembers the young woman who disappeared after a murder case went cold. In spite of the circumstances, when he sees her again, there are sparks and where there are sparks, there is fire and trust me, you will get caught up in the heat.

Great characters, terrific dialogue, type “A” personality clashes and romance, all while finally putting an unsolved murder to rest and giving Ava a second chance on life, forgiving herself and possibly learning to trust in others, as well as her heart.

A fun read, in spite of the serious parts, once again, Mary Janice Davidson has done it, again!

I loved most of the early Queen Betsy books by MaryJanice Davidson. I read the first two Danger books. So when I saw another book full of tropes by MJD, I went to scoop it up. It's full of laughs and tropes galore. I'd highly recommend this book to anybody who likes romantic comedy. I received a review copy.

4.25/5⭐️

I think I can truly say that I’ve never read a book like this one. The author (new-to-me) explains in the Author’s Note that this is a book about tropes…specifically romance/horror tropes, and all 60(!) of them are listed at the end of the book. This is a rom-com/horror/mystery that is FULL of snarky humor…laugh-out-loud humor. It reminds me a bit of the Airplane!/Scary Movie films but not as patently silly.

The plot centers around Ava Capp, a pilot captain (Captain Capp), who is a tough, woman-of-the-world who hides her teenage scars (from the murder of her best friend) through snarky humor and running away. She and a sexy, socially inexperienced medical examiner embark on a quest to find the killer-at-large who might be targeting Ava.

Hijinks and a cast of quirky characters make this an enjoyable ride. My only personal complaint was the amount of foul language which I think could have been toned back a bit (however it somewhat plays into the plot of the story).

Anyone enjoying a light, tongue-in-cheek, humorous romp will enjoy this.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for providing me the ARC. The opinions are wholly my own.

I really wanted to like this book, but there were a few too many characters and the writing was a bit too choppy for me to get into. While I do think Captain Capp was an interesting protagonist, I don't like 'friends being murdered' as a backstory in my romcoms - just a personal preference! Ultimately, DNF.

I received this book for free from NetGalley.

DNF, did not finish
Will not leave review any where, including Amazon
Not my cup of tea
100 characters is too long for dnf

A fun, witty rom-com delivering a plethora of laughs and a little bit of mystery. MaryJanice Davidson entices readers with a cast of creatively flawed characters that each hold engaging, relatable qualities. Both the romance and mystery aspects are a bit subdued throughout the plot, however, the trope and characterization make the narrative attractive and an easy read. Perfect for a weekend read. 3 stars.

Thank you to #Netgalley for the ARC of Truth, Lies, and Second Dates which was read and reviewed voluntarily.

My favorite thing about this frothy romantic cozy mystery was the way it turned so many of the romantic story tropes on their heads. Ava, our heroine, is the pilot, with a spunky and funny flight attendant sidekick G.B., who is a man (and one of my favorite characters in the book). I liked the window into the world of flying, which is not one I’ve read about too much from the pilot’s perspective. I also enjoyed the author’s cute and funny footnotes about flight facts and trivia and other interesting details in the book. I also enjoyed the romance/horror tropes list in the book but did not think the horror ones worked quite as well.

Though I really liked Ava and G.B., I couldn’t quite get into the banter or narration of the book. I felt like it was striving for a Bridget Jones-y tone but the narration never quite connected me with the character. I also felt like the book couldn’t quite decide if it wanted to be a romance or a mystery and shifted kind of awkwardly between the two.

A cute and creative idea with some good characters, though. And, like it’s heroine, the book stuck the landing. 3+ stars.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and the author for the advance copy.

Captain Capp is a well respected pilot who recently got a lot of press for pulling off a “belly land.” Very few know that is flying from her past. A past where she found her best friend murdered. When her friends brother corners her to invite her to the 10 year memorial, Ava can’t think of an excuse fast enough. After the event, she meets Tom, who thinks there may be more to the story of Danielle’s murder.

2.5 stars. I really wanted to love this book. I can’t pinpoint it but something was just missing. It felt a bit choppy, like here is this cute rom com love story, but BOOM a possible murder. You are being sabotaged. I didn’t feel like the murder mystery part was truly done to its fullest. It felt like a complete side story to the actual story and just felt off. The person that ended up being the murderer made so little sense. I mean I guess once explained it made sense, but they weren’t even remotely part of the story. When I saw the name my first thought was “who?” Overall, I think I just wanted more from this one. It had the ideas, I think it just needed to be flushed out a lot more.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Truth, Lies, and Second Dates was a fun romance read. I liked Ava as a powerful female character, but she was a bit brash at times. The dialogue was a little confusing at times because I felt like conversations picked up and left off at different points that as a reader, I was left out of.. The other characters were funny and light-hearted, but I didn't really think any of them were super likeable nor did I feel any connectedness to them.

I'm giving this book three stars because it was an interesting read and I really enjoyed Ava as a female lead. I do think this book seemed rushed, or maybe I just rushed through it. It was a fairly quick read which I appreciated. It was a nice break from the more serious reading I've been doing.

3.5 Stars. This book was fun, a bit weird and definitely a smidge darker than I would have expected for a romance, but overall I liked it. The main character Ava, was quite hilarious and I loved reading about how her relationship evolved with Tom as they tried to navigate Ava's past and present. The murder aspect was a bit much for me and it even though it was a part of the story, it felt distracting to me. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

I really enjoyed both Ava Capp and the author's use of all the tropes in one story. This was a quick, mystery with some romance and once I got used to the points of view, I really enjoyed it! I will look for more by this author! Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

3.5 stars. I ended up enjoying this suspense/romance with a female pilot, but it seemed a bit herky-jerky for me. I guess I just don’t understand the whole trope thing. But I did like Ava Capp!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a copy to review. The review is my personal opinion.

This is my first book my this author and I'm a bit stunned. I think she challenged herself to include as many tropes, and turn them on their ear, as possible. So, I'm not sure if this is her writing style or I happened upon the lone zany title in her catalog. There is a lot going on in this book. Ava Capp, Captain Capp, is a pilot avoiding her past in the perfect profession. There a lot of loss back home in Minnesota and she not going to deal with it, on purpose. Poor planning and chance have her in MN at the same time as the tenth anniversary memorial of her best friend. I've never heard of that, is that a thing? She is guilted into attending, and it's odd at best. The silver lining turns out to be meeting the local M.E. Tom Baker who is all in to help her figure out the mysteries all around her. Tom is a delightful character, I found myself wishing there was more of him.

The story is entertaining and kept me engaged. I had to really pay attention because there is a lot on inner dialog in italics mixed in to the conversations. The snark is my brand of humor and there is plenty from Ava. Tom is dry and it works for me. There is a slow burn which was enjoyable. Over all I liked the book, the mystery felt a bit rushed at the end.

I really enjoyed this book and had so much trouble trying to put it down! The unique characters and the suspense twist on a romance novel made me stay up way late needing to know how it was going to end. The writing style is a bit different for me, and a few times I had to reread to understand what the author was trying to say; but this did not take away from the enjoyment of the story. If you need a refresher romance book that has a murderous twist AND a strong heroine its a must read!

Truth, Lies & Second Dates is the first book I’ve read by MaryJanice Davidson. Captain Capp is an airline pilot whose best friend was murderer 10 years ago. Doctor Tom Baker ( Doc Baker -yes, I loved the Little House reference) is an ME who also is an amateur detective. Together they are looking for whoever murdered best friend, Danielle, 10 years ago.

I liked the humor throughout. I laughed out loud out loud quite a bit.

I didn’t love the story itself. I feel like I’ve read this before. And I didn’t love it.

Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for the advanced e-copy of #truthliesandseconddates.

Reading the blurb for this books, I was really excited about it. Who doesn’t loved a strong female lead and a pilot at that! I wanted to love this book, but the plot of it made it a little hard to read. I enjoyed the wit and back and forward banter and rubbing between Tom and Ava, but sometimes it was a bit much. I like different, but the underlying story just made this one flop for me. Pun intended.