Mx. Phoebe

When Wrong Alibi starts I feel like I am in a Stephen King novel and Alaska feels all too real and freakin' scary. I had just finished the prequel, Right Motive, of Christina Dodd's new series “Murder in Alaska” when I started this book. Dodd definitely creates a mood and a red herring (laugh). I was sucked into the storm immediately and could not put the book down.

You do not have to read the prequel first to understand Wrong Alibi. They are both standalone stories. Matter of fact reading the prequel gave me preconceptions for Wrong Alibi so I spent two-thirds of the book waiting for a connection to the first book when there is none. The Chief of Police is the same person at the end of the story, but he is barely in it. Thinking that these two stories were connected kept my mind off of the full story of the book.

Throw your concept of time away when you are reading Wrong Alibi. Our heroine Evie has a lot happen to her in her young life and it happens hard and fast. (Don't be like me and flip through pages to make sure your timeline is correct...just go with the flow. (laugh)) Evie is a fighter even when she does not want to be.

I think the relationships in the book confuse me the most. Ioana is like two different characters in the book. I am most confused by her and her relationship with Evie. She is very cold in the beginning of Evie's story. Ioana abandons her completely. Then when Evie shows up four years later it is with a completely different tune. It is like whiplash and Dodd's explanation just doesn't make sense to me. The same can almost be said for Evie's relationship with her sister.

Now the mystery is beyond good. It is diabolical and you get where the story is going in the book on the first drive. You just don't realize the full extent of the killer's agenda until it is too late...just like Evie. Gives me the creeps just remembering it.

I wish the later connections between Donald White and his future victim is explained better. Why them? Did he know? Did it satisfy the evil within? Was it deeper? So many questions.

There is a minor romantic storyline, but romance isn't the correct word. It is just sex, but somehow it ends up romantic a couple of chapters later. No buildup just an instant “I know this is going to be my person” connection. I think the later connection did not need to be added, it actually would have made more sense for Evie to end up with Hawley who stuck by her and helped her for eight years or even Jeen who made such a big impact on Evie's life.

Wrong Alibi is a mix of action, hold your breath moments, and drama. Evie's story is thrilling, horrifying, and enthralling. Dodd creates a memorable background for Evie. Evie is Wrong Alibi and she is a survivor. A heroine to root for and to read. Check out the vastness of Alaska and the killer's impact in Wrong Alibi.

I received an ARC of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.

I have read every book in the “A Woman Lost” series and I think A Woman Trapped is the best book in the series.

If you read T.B. Markinson's blog, then you will see the real life events of Markinson's life replayed through Lizzie...and her family's eyes and it is freaking hilarious. There are tits (get your head out of the gutter!), oranges, and trips to real places.

You will also get to view how those of us in Massachusetts trod through the pandemic. COVID-19 hits the Petrie family and its extended family as it has hit everyone: hard, fast, and with stupefaction. How do we manage in this new world? Well if you are anything like Lizzie, you handle it with panic of course (laugh).

I actually think Lizzie handled it pretty much as I have and this is the funny thing. This is the eight book about the Petries and this is the first one that I realized: I am Lizzie! Or maybe Lizzie is me. But, Markinson has never met me (laugh). Hmmm...maybe because we both live in Massachusetts? Osmosis in action rainbows.

For whatever reason, Lizzie seemed relatable to me in this novel and I identified with her actions so much more. Maybe because Markinson was able to tap into what every human was experiencing, or viewing someone they loved doing and giving us an ability to laugh about it. Markinson inserts real-life incidents and I laughed aloud.

Who hasn't been pissed when someone does something we would never do? I have totally been mad about the above quote. Like: Seriously?!

This is the first time in the series that I pick Lizzie as my favorite character. Maybe it is because I am in a different place or because I have issues with self-acceptance (laugh). Markinson makes A Woman Trapped feel new and familiar. All of the familiar voices are there, but Lizzie's actually sounds the loudest. She is not drowned out by the antics of the other characters. Lizzie's voice was finally heard by me.

Like some couples, Lizzie and Sarah end up growing closer during this period of quarantine. I love how Markinson ensures that “lesbian bed death” does not happen to this couple. I also love how after all of this time, Lizzie still lusts after Sarah. There is a comfort in that continuity.

If you have never read a book in the series, that's okay. A Woman Trapped can actually be read as a standalone. This is a family's love story during COVID. It is also a woman's journey to self-awareness in the midst of isolation. Markinson gives us laughter, romance, and Lizzie high-jinks. Markinson also still manages to throw in a surprise at the end.

If you want a married couple surviving to “happily-ever-after” in this crazy time, then A Woman Trapped is for you. Laugh. Love. And keep Lizzie away from online ordering...just saying.

Eunuchs are more than just a trope to use when you need a villain.

Tucker Lieberman shares his thoughts of how eunuchs are viewed in Painting Dragons: What Storytellers Need to Know About Writing Eunuch Villains. Lieberman takes the experience of the transperson and relates that emotional experience to how a eunuch feels (the two are not connected in any way). He first takes us through the history of eunuchs, the ones made due to slavery and the others made due to religion or spiritual belief. The idea that we value a person based on whether they have balls or not (my words not the author's) is predominant in society and throughout history and is showcased in casting the eunuch as a villain. Lieberman points out that this is not only done with eunuchs but with other humans with a seen deformity or deficiency, they are made to be the villain of the story and the author does the villain and the reader a disservice. Lieberman then takes us through various stories from Eutropius to Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol (2009) to George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire (1996 and onward) examining various roles of the eunuch and villains.

I had never thought of this issue before as I have never written a villain as having a deformity or only one race. I have always written villains that have represented the villains in my own life and unfortunately they could look like the person looking back at you in the mirror. Sometimes they resemble me. I will say that I recognize the themes in Lieberman's book and in his examples and could give quite a few myself and I think this book would make an excellent choice for a Book Club selection. I wish while I was reading it that I had someone to bounce the thoughts going through my head as I was reading it and know what books I will never read (laugh). I will say though that in my stories I always ensure that I have a LGBTQ+ character(s) in them, but it never occurred to me to have people who are considered to be “deformed” in my stories as an everyday character just as I have a queer character. This is bad on my part as I am handicapped and I am part of everyday life. Thank you Mr. Lieberman for pointing out a HUGE faux paux on my part and many other writers' parts as well. I highly recommend this book for writers, readers, and Book Clubs.

I received this book for #free in a #Goodreads Giveaway and it did not affect my opinion at all.

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Two friends find each other again at the Beach House written by K.C. Luck. Thirty years may have gone by that has not stopped the feelings left over from summer crushes that were never spoken of. Luck brings the sparks to Abby and Toni, proving that love can come later in life and that we do get second chances.

Paris changes from the “City for Lovers” to the “City of Betrayers”.

President Dominique Laroche has a year left to her candidacy and everyone is assuming that she is going to run again except the President herself. When she shares her doubts with Solange, her Chief of Staff, and her partner Steph, a partner in Barber & Cyr the President's PR firm, she gets completely opposite reactions. Solange responds typically as she has given her life and her relationship with Aurore to give her best to her position and Dominique. Solange has to rethink her entire life, but before she can take her next breath there is a leak and it comes from an unexpected source. Everyone is surprised when Dominque's private thoughts end up in a Socialist's hands to do with what she will. The betrayal ends up affecting everyone from the new relationships formed to old relationships at Barber & Cyr. What does Dominque decide? Whose relationship survives the betrayal? Then Sybille joins the Socialist campaign and throws more fuel on the fire by sharing secrets she learned at Barber & Cyr. Can Dominque and Steph's relationship survive the stress and the press under fire?

Harper Bliss can create the drama and she does in French Kissing: Season Five. Writing the above was recreating the stress for me that reading it did and I know the ending (laugh). There is a lot going on in this book and it makes for an exciting read, but...and there is actually a “but” here. I think some emotions could have been made clearer with a paragraph or less of information, for example Claire and Margot have a sexual dominance relationship. Margot realizes at one point that she has been neglecting Claire in this area, but I think for people who are not experienced with this type of relationship they may not realize why Claire and Margot need this and how it helps them individually and as a couple. This was mentioned in a previous book, but in the situation that develops in this book an explanation would actually help people to understand this type of relationship in a healthy way - an opportunity missed. This book also felt a bit rushed though it takes place over a length of time to show that decisions and events were not made over night, the impact of the betrayal between a particular couple that was heading one way and then ended up going the complete opposite way - no mention of how they're relationship survived that year when they literally were reliving all of their previous problems and having lost even more time. This book was exciting for it's drama and Bliss writes emotion filled sex scenes. I loved being in Paris again and cannot wait to see what Bliss has in store for us again next time.

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