Category: Literary Criticism

I should just re-name my blog ‘Laura Griffin Fan Girl Website’. After finishing the Tracers series I promised myself I would move on to something else, but I just couldn’t say goodbye to some of the characters from Griffin’s books yet! In the Tracers series books, we meet a few of the Wolfe Security characters and I thought it would be fun to read a bit more about them in this short series. Currently it’s only two books, but I hope we get a couple of more!

The Wolfe Security books can be read out of order—-I actually read the second one first by mistake and had no trouble doing that. I should also note that you don’t need to read the Tracer books to read this series. We just happen to cross paths with some of the characters in other books in the Tracers series but all of Griffin’s books can be read as standalone books.

I really liked the idea of a bodyguard romance. It’s something I never really thought about before or thought that I would enjoy, but after being introduced to the subject in the Tracers books, I was intrigued and excited to check out this series. Knowing that Griffin always writes such great mysteries as well as romance, I knew I would be getting a quality book but with a new subject matter. I knew this wasn’t going to be the typical cop romantic suspense, and considering the main character in this one is a lawyer, I figured it might be more like a Law and Order episode—-heavy on the law part!

Continue reading “Review: Desperate Girls (Wolfe Security #1) by Laura Griffin” →

I finally made it to the last book in this length series. I don’t know that I am ready for this series. to end yet—-but it appears to be the end at least for the foreseeable future. I personally feel like there are more stories in this series as there are some reoccurring characters in the books that I think could have interesting stories to tell—-the one I am thinking of inparticular is Ben. He’s been a long standing character in the books and I would love to see him have his own book. Same with Ric Santos’s brother.

Who knows maybe there will be other books in this series in the future but considering this book was written in 2019 and author Laura Griffin has since written a number of other books and side series, I feel like this one could be over at least for now. Obviously I am a big fan of this series as I have been reading it for the last couple of months now and haven’t really taken much of a break. I promised myself I would switch to something else after I was done with this book.

Spoiler—-I didn’t. I picked up MORE Laura Griffin books. For whatever reason, I am so invested in her books and I think it’s because I haven’t been disappointed yet! Her mysteries are so wonderfully complex and interesting not to mention the romance that is subtly woven in really makes for quick reads for me. If you haven’t read her books yet just jump right in! Each can be read as a standalone so hope around if you want!

Continue reading “Review: Stone Cold Heart (Tracers 13) by Laura Griffin” →

In this book, we meet Detective Sean Byrne. Well that’s not quite accurate, we met Sean in a couple of other books prior to this one and he is always portrayed as the cocky devils advocate. At least that’s how I read him. I wasn’t really a fan of him in previous books but at the same time I was intrigued a bit by his character so when I saw he was getting his own story I was excited to reconnect with him and see what he was like as the hero.

Brooke was also in a couple of other books but we barely get a glimpse of her beyond just a passing nod. Not in the way we see series favorites like Mia, Alex, or Kelsey. So I was excited to read and get to know Brooke as well as Sean plus the summery promised a shocking carnage of a crime scene and the macabre in me was like—-do tell me more.

This book really reminded me of an episode of Law and Order SVU, especially with the way things wrapped up. In this book we get to know the ADA (Rachel) a bit, not necessarily as a main or even secondary character but this book clearly has an ‘order’ part to it in a way that many of the other books do not. In the other books its about forensic evidence helping solve the crime and the police investigating. In this book we have that but we also have the added layer of how to secure a warrant etc. That’s what made this book stand out for me.

Continue reading “Review: Touch of Red (Tracers #12) by Laura Griffin” →

Throughout this series the stand out hero for me has been Derek from a few books back, as for stand out story, all of them have been so complex and interesting that it’s hard to pick a favorite. The last couple of books in the series have been a but disappointing in the romance category so I wasn’t really sure about picking this one up. I recalled Scott from a couple of books back but he didn’t really stand out to me as a swoon worthy hero.

I briefly skimmed the summary of this one mostly just looking for who the main characters were because I already know that Griffin’s mysteries never disappoint so knowing that I don’t really need to read the summary. So when I started this one I was like oh ok it’s featuring Scott and Daniele (Dani) as the principal characters—cool—and more or less went in blind.

When the book opens, I was instantly hooked on the mystery (as per usual), it features a double homicide that leaves two lovers dead in a local park. Dani is taking the lead of this case and it’s her very first so the pressure to perform and solve the crime is intense. Especially with the interesting twists the case quickly takes. Griffin does such an outstanding job at drawing readers in and leaving them eager for more about the case, victims, and of course the detectives and investigators that do all the leg work. But what grabbed me unexpectedly was the intriguing chemistry between Dani and Scott.

Continue reading “Review: At Close Range (Tracers #11) by Laura Griffin” →