"Sins of the Past' Book Review

"Sins of the Past" is a collection of three short stories under one cover. All three have the same feel to them - a mystery, a handsome police officer, a woman in trouble. It's a tried and true formula that works. I mean, if the future boyfriend isn't a cop, how is he going to get behind the scenes information about the detective work going on?

My 13 year old daughter loves mysteries. She has an overflowing bookshelf in her room and every book is efficiently placed into one of two categories - daytime reading and nighttime reading. Books that freak you out? Daytime only reading. This is definitely a nighttime okay reading book. There wasn't anything horrifying or graphic. Author Dani Pettrey came the closest to getting my nerves on edge as she describes the main character realizing someone was in her home but all three novellas are more romance than mystery. There's something to be solved in each story but there's also a lot of googly eyes being made too. That's okay - I enjoy this kind of romance novel. They're light, fun but with an actual plot.

Speaking of plot...
While the authors did well to have twists and turns as much as is possible in a 100 page story, it is proper to keep in mind that these are short stories and therefore the plots don't go in as much depth as a normal novel. On the plus side, this also means the stories skip along at a fast pace. Like reading a magazine.

The first story, "Missing" by Dee Henderson, didn't do anything for me. I would read a few pages, walk away, read a few more when convenient. Not a sign of a great book. However, "Shadowed" by Dani Pettrey and "Blackout" by Lynette Eason were much better. Better written, better mystery, better romance. I finished those two stories in less time then the one by Dee Henderson. If "Missing" was a book by itself, I wouldn't recommend it. Not that it's dreadful, but it just wasn't great. However, "Shadowed" and "Blackout" more than make up for it. They might not be quite believable but who is looking for believable in a romance mystery novel?

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc."