Hit and Run
4 Stars

Former LAPD officers Scarlet Moreno and Krista Hart are now partners in their own PI firm. In their latest cases, Scarlet comes to the aid of an old friend when someone makes an attempt on his life, and Krista looks into the alibi of a sleazy husband accused of killing his wife.

Once again, this is a collaboration between authors Allison Brennan and Laura Griffin and the two authors play to their strengths with Brennan's being the suspense and Griffin's the romance.

Brennan's short story advances the ongoing ambush storyline from Scarlet and Krista's past and in doing so there is a great deal of tension and action. In contrast, Griffin's tale is more of a standalone and focuses more on the forensic aspects of a murder investigation. In terms of the romance, Griffin has the edge as Alex and Scarlet lack the chemistry and emotional intensity of Krista and R.J.'s love/hate relationship.

Notwithstanding the above, both stories are engaging with likable characters and I will be continuing the series even though novellas are not my usual fare.
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Another great installment in the Moreno & Hart Mysteries.

Allison Brennan’s story has Scarlet Moreno working a case that is eerily close to what happened to her three years ago. When her childhood friend, LAPD officer Jason Jones, calls her and says someone is trying to kill him and he doesn’t think he can trust the police to help, Scarlet waste no time in helping him but soon finds herself also a target and finds certain things being reminiscent of the betrayal she went through when she was on the force and shot. This was a pretty intense story from beginning to end with Scarlet getting some more clues as to what happened to her but yet still nowhere near close to finding out the truth. Her relationship with Detective Alex Bishop has moved into the bedroom but Scarlet is still keeping an emotion distance due to her past. I hope in future books she is able to work on her issues and finally get the answers she been looking for as to what happened three years ago.

For Laura’s Griffins part P.I R.J. Flynn pulls Krista Hart into a case he is working on that turns out to be more than what any of them thought it would be. Krista still doesn’t trust R.J but Moreno & Hart needs the money that he gives her as a retainer. What she thought was a clear case of a husband killing his wife turns out to be much more complex as she starts digging into and re-interviewing witnesses and following her gut. I still don’t know what to make of R.J. Yes he’s handsome but I don’t think we’ve seen all his layers yet and I agree with Krista about being leery of jumping into a relationship with him before he shows more of those layers.

All in all both stories were great. I’ve really come to like both of these strong willed women who are doing their best to survive in a man’s world. Cant wait for the next installment in the series.
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