Karis Walsh

Wow.

I've read quite a few mysteries that had main characters who were lesbians in them, and had lesbian romance in them, but this was the first ostensibly lesbian romance centric book that had a great, great mystery in it. And it wasn't some cop out mystery that was just window dressing. It was a really well plotted story that twisted and turned in ways that I didn't always expect.

The main story wasn't the mystery though, it was the meeting of Sergeant Rachel Bryce and polo player Callan show more Lanford and also how together they train the new Tacoma Police Department's mounted horses and their riders too. Rachel has been ostracized by her fellow officers because she followed the rules to the letter, something that she does often, and then she gets given the command of the mounted unit for reasons that both the reader and Rachel don't understand for quite awhile. She's also to get help from Callan, and even though it goes against her pride, she does ask. Callan comes from famous polo players on both sides of her family and is one herself. As Walsh says in the book, Callan's heart belongs to polo. That's what makes the journey for Callan and Rachel towards each other very interesting.

What makes the book great though is the mystery. In most of the lesbian fiction romance centric books that I've read there's the main meeting and the falling in love, and then there's the twist in the romance. The 'harsh' twist. Whether that is that the family doesn't accept one of the women, or some other... something is forced in between the two main characters (to be fair, it happens in the male/female romance books too). This book didn't quite have that, instead, it had the mystery. Having that mystery in there made the story flow so much better and kept me deeply engrossed in the story. And, by the end, I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen to the characters, Walsh kept me quite in suspense right up until the end. (which is good, because I read wayy too many mysteries, and usually can guess the ending about halfway through.)

In addition to the plot being great, the characters really made the novel pop off the page. The human characters were all very unique and they didn't devolve into stereotypes, which I was worried might happen with some of the secondary characters (even Rachel's Lt. surprised me in good and bad ways during the novel). And, then, there were the horses. They were even more unique characters (and I learned some stuff about horses that I didn't know) than the humans.

Honestly, the worst part of the book was when there were no more words to read. I would love to read some sort of sequel with the same characters, or at least some of the same characters, but, I guess I'll have to settle for Walsh's other books. An awesome 5 stars.

I got this advanced galley through Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books. show less

I haven't read anything by Karis Walsh in a really long time. I think the last one I read was Sea Glass Inn and it was super angsty. Good, but by the end, I felt like it was just too much. I hadn't felt compelled to read another by the author until I was a victim of peer pressure.

Wow, I'm so glad I was shoved into picking this book up. I don't know if it was the mood I was in or what but this book was very nearly my perfect romance novel. Lovely human beings for main characters who had show more fantastic chemistry, great humor that kept me smiling - and even laughing - throughout, and just enough angst to make my feel it in the heart. And a cute doggie, too!

So why only 4 stars instead of 5? Because the mid-scene POV shifts yanked me out of the story too many times. If I have to stop to look at the previous paragraph to make sure I wasn't mistaken on whose head I was in, I've lost some of that wonderful connection to the character. I enjoyed the story enough to never consider putting the book down but I did curse a few times when I was thoroughly engrossed in the action or emotion and then pushed into the other characters head.

Even with the POV thing, I will be reading this one again. It has earned a spot on my Cheri's Funk Reading List show less

This was the story of Lenae and Cara. Lenae is a Guide Dog trainer at a newish guide dog school. She's also a former news writer. And Cara has a local TV show that highlights people and places in their Washington State community (somewhere near Puget Sound) that are doing great things. Her family is a bit famous and after Cara does a piece for her show on Lenae's school her father manages to help get them even more intertwined by getting Cara a weekly spot on the local news that spotlights show more her being a puppy walker for one of Lenae's puppies, Pickwick. (I love all the dog names in this book).

The main thing I liked about this book were the dogs. In addition to Pickwick, who was a hilariously cute puppy, there was Baxter, Lenae's Guide Dog and there were the other dogs at the training school too. Each of them had their own personalities just like the human characters in the book. And as usual Walsh's characters were amazing as well. Des, Lenae's assistant was cool. Cara's parents were suitably crazy making. And of course Lenae and Cara were extremely well drawn. Walsh just seems to understand people/humanity so well.

Also in her books everything seems to have a purpose. Even in some really great books by very very good authors some of their plot lines get left dangling and forgotten, but not in this book or the other Karis Walsh books I've read (Mounting Danger especially). Everything had its place and purpose in Blindsided and it all fit together like a well oiled clock.

It was a great book, and although I can't speak to how accurate the guide dog stuff was, it seemed to all be very plausible and ture and if so, I even learned something while reading this book.

I got this advanced galley through Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books. show less

I love Karis Walsh books. She's probably my number one go-to author now because I know I'm going to enjoy getting to know the characters, diving into the story, and have a great time with the humor.

I finished With a Minor in Murder a few days ago but got sick and couldn't get to the reviewing part of the ARC deal until today. But I STILL miss Clare and Libby. I loved getting to know them both separately and as a couple. And Cappy! I came to adore her, too.

With a Minor in Murder is a sweet show more romance mixed with some gruesome murders and a nice little mystery. I'm going to keep this review short because I'm still not feeling 100% but suffice it to say that I will read this one again - even though I know who the killer is. Also the mystery was nicely done, too. I was caught off guard by the reveal and totally suspected someone else. I love when that happens.

So a huge thanks to Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for hooking me up but an even bigger thanks to Karis Walsh for creating such lovely worlds for me to escape to. Very much looking forward to the next one. show less