So I want to start with I am glad to see some gay Rep and the characters are lovable and strong and I absolutely love Frank the dog.
I did feel that the plot did need a bit of work. This was a read I wanted to get through. PI Ben, who is a former cop was hired to find a missing college student Kimberly. I did enjoy this book, however it won't be something I'll purchase.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this.

I really enjoyed this mystery novel, which follows PI Ben Ames, a former cop, who is hired to find a missing college student, Kimberly, at the behest of her sister. Initially brushing this off as a runaway, he does accept the job and finds more to the mystery of the missing girl.

Another part of the story is a second chance romance, that takes a back seat in this story when an ex-boyfriend, turned famous rock star turns up (Jesse).

Definitely recommended to mystery series readers who like a touch of MM romance.

I received this book for free via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts here are my own.

I wanna start with the good stuff: I'm glad to see gay rep, as always. And the characters are loveable. I will say that. Ben and Jesse are great, Luna is spunky and clever. Frank the dog is prob my favorite though.

The plot kind of needs work. Seems like a lot of filler content was needed to flesh the story out. I won't comment on editing mistakes because it's an uncorrected copy, so I know that editing isn't finished. And that's okay. I do wanna say that I genuinely thought Jesse was the killer because of him showing up conveniently when Ben starts an investigation. I do think that would have made it more interesting, for sure. Also the intent behind why Kim died was kind of.. meh.

I'm a big fan of true crime and as I keep reading crime novels I realize that I like crime stories? But I don't like cops so it's weird 😅😅

The Girl Whose Luck Ran Out by Gayleen Froese was just an okay read for me. I could not really get into the story or connect with the characters. I did like Ben and the LGBTQ aspect but felt the romance took center stage rather than the disappearance of Kim and that mystery. The first part of the book was good, but then it kind of fell apart after that.

#TheGirlWhoseLuckRanOut #NetGalley

I really enjoyed this Canadian mystery which follows a private investigator as he looks for a missing college student, Kimberly, at the behest of her sister. It is told in first person from the point of view of Ben Ames, a former cop turned PI. Since Kim’s an adult, there’s a degree of dismissiveness from the cops and from other people in the young girl’s life as to whether she’s actually missing or not.

There’s also a bit of a second chance romance as the love of Ben’s life, now a famous rock star, has turned up in town for a stop on his concert tour and would like to meet. The romance definitely takes a backseat to the mystery and at times I often felt that Jesse’s presence was being used as a sounding board for Ben’s theories on the case and as a way to relay information to the reader. Don’t expect any heat here though the relationship had a satisfactory emotional feel for me by the end due to some touches on mental health and celebrity. I look forward to book 2 in the series. Recommended to mystery series readers that like a touch of MM romance.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamspinner Press for the free copy provided for an honest review.

4* Decent mystery/case that isn't dumbed down to accomodate a romance.

Honestly, when I started reading the tale, I thought I was reading a murder-mystery without a hint of romance of anything else, and for the most, despite this having hints of MM romance, as the leads used to be a couple, it was for the most what I expected, and what I wanted.

It's a very believable tale in terms of the leads coming back into each other's lives, and how they 'collaborate' on one's missing person's case and yes, the ending is sad but there's also hope and love, and no, on the love point, I don't mean between the leads. The investigation seemed credible and though I did suspect the person who turned out to be the killer, and whilst there was a tiny, tiny element of TSTL when the experienced investigator put himself and the other lead in danger, but all turned out well in the end. I felt that the ending was just a little too easily contained and a little too anticlimactic in terms of the bad guy, but it was still a book worth reading, un-bogged-down by fake drama and sex scenes and recriminations about why the leads' relationship went bad.

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

Honestly, this was not my favorite book. I could not get into it DNF @ 30% mark. We are following Ben as he tries to find missing Kimberly after she disappears. Kim's sister begs for Ben to take on this case, as he is no longer a cop. Ben's ex- Jesse is also in on the case and they are trying to solve the case, only Jesse is not very skilled or trained at being a PI. This book was just not interesting enough for me to keep reading it.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Dreamspinner Press and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Fast-paced, entertaining mystery that plays on the themes of most mysteries.

I really liked the mystery aspect of the book, thought it was pretty entertaining and fast-paced but when it came to the romace I just wasn't feeling it. Second-chance romances just aren't enjoyable for me so that definitely affected my rating. Everything else, from the writing style to our characters was fine, I think it was pretty average for a mystery story.