YVONNE’S SHORTIES #299 – Evvie Drake Starts Over // The Book Of Cold Cases

Time for another round of Yvonne’s Shorties! This time a romance read and a thriller with paranormal horror vibes that both ended up being excellent stories.

Title: Evvie Drake Starts Over
Author: Linda Holmes
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
First published: June 25th 2019
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Finished reading: May 29th 2022
Pages: 287

“If you wait long enough, something terrible is always going to happen.”

I was in the mood for a lighter read and some romance, so I decided to finally pick up my copy of Evvie Drake Starts Over. The blurb sounded interesting with the sports angle and the promise of a slowburn and friends-to-lovers romance, and I’m happy to say that this story turned out to be just what I was looking for. The story uses a dual POV structure, where we switch between Evvie and Dean to learn more about their background as well as their budding friendship. It’s not all roses and sunshine, as Evvie still struggles with her feelings about the sudden death of her husband and Dean still has to come to terms with the fact that his very promising Major League career is suddenly over… And the story also deals with abuse, gaslighting and family issues among other things. I personally felt the story was well balanced though, and there were plently of more uplifting moments and humor to even things out. Things can be said about the romance being quite cliche, but I personally didn’t mind and I liked that the romance went slow and the sexy scenes were mild. The ending was maybe a bit too perfect, but it made for a good (mostly) feel good contemporary and the fact that we even get a dog near the end is a bonus. If you are looking for an easy to read contemporary and slowburn romance, Evvie Drake Starts Over is a great choice.

Title: The Book Of Cold Cases
Author: Simone St. James
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
First published: March 15th 2022
Publisher: Berkley
Finished reading: May 30th 2022
Pages: 350

“It didn’t escape me that I could talk about any number of gruesome murders, but I couldn’t talk about the murder that had almost been mine.”

I loved The Sun Down Motel back when I read it in 2020, and I’ve been meaning to try more of her books ever since. I ment to turn to her backlist first, but then time slipped away and her newest story The Book Of Cold Cases was published… I simply couldn’t resist the promise of a true crime angle, a mansion with a past and a crime mystery, so I ended up reading this story first. While I still slightly prefer her other story, The Book Of Cold Cases has confirmed to me that her writing and me definitely go along. I love her ability to create creepy and ominious atmospheres, and the Greer house is the perfect backdrop for the introduction of the paranormal horror element. Both Beth and Shea are fascinating characters with a loaded past, and I enjoying learning more about both. They have a lot to hide and there are plenty of secrets and twists to unravel along the way; the flashbacks to the past are very well incorporated and only add to the suspense. The true crime angle and the whole unofficial investigation by Shea and Michael was without a doubt part of why this story worked so well for me. I also liked how everything was wrapped up in the end, and there were definitely a few things I never saw coming. True, some parts were a tad slow, but as a whole The Book Of Cold Cases was definitely another success for me.