Sandy M’s review of Murphy’s Law by Lisa Marie Rice
Contemporary Romance published by The Story Vault 12 Jun 14
I have to admit when I was a few chapters into this book, I stopped reading and thought, “What in the heck is this? What is Lisa Marie Rice doing??” It’s not something I ever expected from her. The book starts out reading like one of those cozy mysteries that have nineteen books in the series with cutesy titles. In fact, this is a more fun and sexed up revised version of Dying for Siena, which was published under Rice’s pseudonym Elizabeth Jennings. But I kept reading. And I’m damned glad I did.
Faith Murphy is used to things going wrong in her life. She’s had a crush on Nick Rossi for quite sometime, but he’s always treated her like a sister. The famous hockey player has had any and every woman he’s wanted, but then comes that night she’s hoped for – spending an amazing time in Nick’s bed. At least it was amazing for her. The next morning she can’t believe he was too drunk to remember their time together. What she doesn’t know is that after his last injury on the ice, Nick will never play his favorite sport again. Humiliated, Faith jumps at the chance to put distance between them when she’s called to Siena, Italy for an annual international conference she’s always wanted an invitation to. Nothing can go wrong there. Right?
Very wrong. Right off the bat Faith is in the middle of a murder investigation when she’s the one to discover her hated boss dead in his room. With no one else to look at, she’s the number one suspect. And of all things? The cop in charge, Dante Rossi, is related to Nick! It seems Dante believes her story, and as he begins to question other faculty members from her group, the one person she wishes would have stayed in the U.S. shows up, the man she dated and slept with only once and who now wants more than she’s willing to offer.
And, of course, since his family is in Siena, when Nick discovers the trouble Faith is in, he hightails it early to this small, quaint town in time for the yearly and very competitive horse race townsfolk go crazy over and to make sure Dante doesn’t arrest Faith and also that he doesn’t get any romantic ideas in his head about the woman. Faith is now his. And though he remembers every sizzling moment of their night making love, he has plenty of work ahead of him to gain her forgiveness and entree back in her bed. He may not have the education like the men Faith is surrounded by, but he’s smart enough to know a good thing when it’s right in front of him.
There’s not nearly as much romance or sex scenes in this book that we’re used to in most of Ms. Rice’s books, though the few scenes we get with Nick and Faith are fun and sexy. That’s okay, though. One of the best things about this story is the town of Siena. She does a wonderful job of giving readers the flavor of the town not only with perfect descriptions but also with the competitiveness between the townsfolk during the horse race each year. I wanted to visit Siena myself when I finished reading. I also like the family feel that is thrown into the mix with, first, Nick and his sister, Lou, and then Nick and Dante, as well as more of the Rossi family as the story goes on. Of course, the mystery of the murder pushes the book forward with Dante meticulously gathering evidence – and Nick assisting – to a very surprising ending.
I’m glad Ms. Rice took the time to revise this book. I’ve had it in the TRB pile for quite a while, so it’s a pleasant surprise to have it in hand in its new form. I quite enjoyed it.
Grade: B
Summary:
The first Murphy’s Law of Love – NEVER SLEEP WITH ANYONE CRAZIER THAN YOU.The morning after the night before, gifted young mathematician Faith Murphy runs away from Nick Rossi, hockey star heartthrob. If you have to run away from home it might as well be to a gorgeous place—Siena, Italy, where an international conference is being held. She wakes up in the buttery sunshine only to discover the murdered body of her Boss from Hell and she is the prime suspect.
Nick Rossi wakes up with a massive hangover and fabulous memories of his night with Faith. She ran away from him to Siena. Siena is where his family is from and his cousin Dante is the cop who arrested Faith. He has to rescue her, also because his cousin Dante is really good-looking and now that Nick has tasted Faith, he realizes she is his.
No excerpt available.
