So Bailey, you already posted today. Why are you posting again at 10:00pm? Uh because I read this book today in one sitting and absolutely adored it. I couldn’t wait to tell the world about it. That’s why.
Welcome to Lovely, a small town of 13,000 people with all the normalcy you might expect. That is until a young, troubled woman named Emily Teller is murdered. She’s found artistically posed with the word Addict scratched into her arm. Recently appointed Daniel Drake is assigned on the case, which unfortunately, has no leads. In the meantime, local reporter Samantha Roberts thinks this could be her big break. Stakes are raised as the case goes unsolved, Samantha and Daniel deal with their own romantic tensions, and yet again, another girl is murdered.
Welcome to Lovely is a gripping debut novel. It wasn’t terribly long and interesting enough that I read it in one sitting. The set up is perfect for a mystery with a long list of suspects. There’s Jimmy, the odd cameraman who works with Samantha. Davis, Samantha’s boss, who married a beautiful young lady half his age. Tom, the old time journalist with the fancy camera, who seems to know everything about everyone. Christopher, the womanizing district attorney. And even Daniel Drake himself, who is controlling and creepy enough to be a murderer.
Clark gives us red herrings right and left. I honestly wasn’t sure who it was going to be till I got near the end. I just had to know who done it!
I only have a couple issues with the book. I hate it when authors give characters’ names much alike. This book had a Brady, a Brandy, a Daniel, a Dave, and a Davis. Drove me nuts, and at times, it made me super confused; I wasn’t sure who was talking to who.
Second of all, while the romance aspect of the book itself didn’t bother me, Daniel’s controlling of Samantha certainly did. I hate it when a domineering, verging on abusive relationship is portrayed as sexy or desirable. It makes me mad.
All in all though, I enjoyed the book, and I look forward to seeing more of Clark’s work.
Content advisory: language, and sexual content but nothing explicit.
Disclaimer: I was given this book for free in exchange for an honest review
Fictional Fox 
Nice review Bailey, especially the angst sat similar named characters. That’s one of my pet grievances because my concentrations so rubbish I end up thinking eh? What just happened and who’s doing what.
Domineering sexy….that has to be carefully crafted though and have a definite POV in character…eg…did Daniel find it sexy in his character? In which case it’s his psychology (right or wrong) and does Samantha find it abhorrent or is she submissive? How does she do
Is play it in her character?
I only ask because my character Rose has danced with an abusive relationship. We pick her up down the line from that but she is an emotional train wreck as a result. Ok that’s hars but it’s her journey through depression induced by the past neglect. It’s not a subject to just throw into a book without careful thought mind.
Good review though…do you do thes a lot?
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Thank you! Sorry for the late response; I have been horribly sick this week. I do a review at least once a week, usually on what I call Reading Wednesdays then starting with March, I’m going to be posting a list and short review of everything I read that month.
That’s a good thought on the dominance issue. I guess my problem is Samantha continually asks him to stop, but he doesn’t and she allows it to continue by tolerating it. It usually turns into something they flirt over. It weirds me out! It’s kind of a touchy subject for me as someone who has been in a verbally and emotionally abusive relationship so I appreciate that your character Rose has some of the ugliness of it in her story.
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No need to apologise. Seems to me that more than one on the bloggers I’ve thus far connected with have taken onboard bugs that don’t belong to them. Hope you’re feeling better now 😊
I should also proof before posting too 🤔 Bad habit that rushing to get what’s in my head out faster than I can craft the words. My views on dominance and bad relationships stems from personal issues in childhood. I also people watch and listen to friends with depression. It’s something I empathise with deeply. I also write but to do it I have to get into the head of the character. I’m not a fan of information dumps about hair colour and what type of jeans they wear. I think a character with psychological depth lets a reader flesh that out more. To me Rose has to have a soul. Something you can grip and feel. It’s not my usual style of writing which makes it hard to judge whether it’s any good or not. It’s also one that is told from her POV throughout. A cathartic book of sorts. I put some snippets on my blog under the Assent category. Although I don’t think they give much away on that side of her.
Thanks for the reply 😇
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What a good review, I’m not a fan of reading names that are similar, that’s why I go with really strange made up names, mainly as a tool to stop me being confused haha.
On my blog I have my first published book for free if you would care to read and review it?
It’s not a massive read and more of an introduction then a real story but yeah if you’d be so kind, I’d greatly appreciate the feedback 😊
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It was ridiculously confusing! Thanks for the comment! I’m sorry for my late response. I have been super sick this week!
I would love to review your work! I have several other deadlines for previously requested reviews, but I will be happy to add your onto my list. You can probably expect my review sometime between mid-April and mid-May. Sorry, I can’t be more specific than that right now!
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That would be amazing if you could, sorry if I’m writing this after you’ve done it, I’m working my way through a backlog of notifications as I’ve been without Internet for a week or so!
Thanks in advance, or past possibly haha
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