Dead Set

Alaina is full of regrets, remorse, and guilt. Her younger brother, Noah, the one who idolized her committed suicide. Having distanced herself from him for reasons not good enough, Alaina is now consumed by guilt; could she have prevented his death. However, even through the lens of her pain, she doesn't believe that the brother she knew would take his own life. So she has hired Aspen Falls only private investigator, Lucas McGowan to look into his death. Lucas doesn't believe that there's much of a case but can't bring himself to say no to this woman. However, he does uncover a few odd findings and Alaina starts receiving threats. Maybe there's more to this investigation than he first imagined or maybe he's falling in love with his client and wants to find the answers that can ease her broken heart. <br /><br />Dead Set is a clever mystery set to a tragic event. Suicide or murder? The clues are all vague enough to keep you focused but not enough to allow you to immediately figure out the story. The suspense builds, ebbs, builds...always lingering. Alaina is a wonderful lead female. She's driven, successful, sassy. Estranged from her parents, she made a very human mistake and lost touch with her brother. There was no falling out, no cruel intentions. Life got in her way. She was busy, didn't pay enough attention; this could happen to any of us. That makes her pain, ours. Her guilt is our guilt. How many times have you put off returning a call or text? You always assume that you can do it tomorrow but when tomorrow is taken away, you are left with guilt and regret. You are Alaina. Lucas has his own regrets. He still misses being on the police force. He wonders if he made a mistake leaving. He's successful as a PI but he has days when the love of his past career haunts him. It seemed natural that these two would be drawn to one another. As much as I would have liked more romance with this budding relationship, it made sense that there were only a few kisses and private thoughts. Alaina was too torn up about her brother and Lucas was trying to be professional. It's lucky that we got any romance at all and we did get a good idea of their future going forward together. It was nice to revisit Blaine and Rosie briefly although Blaine was not at his best. I would have liked a little Louanne since I feel she is the center of this little town. <br /><br />This is one of those books that will leave pieces with you once you are finished. Sure, the story itself was entertaining, but the character's relatability will be what stays with you. Maybe you will be a little more careful with family and friends for a few weeks. Yes, it's okay to have regrets but it's so much better to take time out of your own busy life for the little things along the way.

Alaina Dans left home when she graduated high school and started her own successful business. Her relationship with her younger brother suffered, but she refuses to believe that he took his own life. Lucas McGowan is no longer an Aspen Falls police officer, he owns the only private investigations business in town, and Alaina hires him to find out the truth about her brothers death. Interesting, well written characters brought together by a desire to find out the truth, and find love. Fascinating twists in the plot with lots of suspense and secrets others are determined to protect.Fantastic book, I loved it!<br /><br />I am voluntarily leaving an honest and non-incentivized review of this ARC.

Fantastic story, fast paced. Alaina’s brother was murdered, police have closed the case. Help is needed, so she hires a private detective. Lucas isn’t sure he can help but he’ll try. Impossible to stop reading until I finished.

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="http://celebrityreaders.com/2018/05/29/dead-set-by-melissa-pearl-anna-cruise/">http://celebrityreaders.com/2018/05/2...</a><br /><br />I received a free copy through the author in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.<br /><br />3 stars — This one was more light on the romance, focused more heavily on the plot and mystery surrounding Alaina’s brother’s death. I was enjoying the mystery for the first half, but unfortunately I kept wondering about certain things, and I couldn’t get out of my own head. I was still fully entrenched in my slump when I read it.<br /><br />Unlike many co-written novels, this is more of a co-written series. You can notice a stylistic difference in the writing. This author employs a lot of description, which can be nice to really get the reader entrenched in the setting. Unfortunately, my personal preference tends to lean away from too much description. I think she did it well, I just get bored with details, my bread and butter for liking books is more about characters.<br /><br />And in the end I wasn’t completely sold on either character. I didn’t really get a super great sense of who they were…I got more of a sense of Alaina, but I really didn’t always understand her or empathize with her struggle. There were DEFINITELY moments where I was emotionally invested, so it wasn’t all the time. But I guess I just couldn’t get a good grasp on how she came to be who she was. That could be a me failing though, not sure.<br /><br />Lucas was a bit of a mystery. I felt his sadness about being off the force, but we really didn’t delve into his psyche much, you know? And his friendship with Blaine was a bit different than what I had expected from book one, so that threw me off too.<br /><br />I really enjoyed the first part of the mystery, and trying to figure out what happened to Noah. But somewhere along the way I lost patience in all the things they weren’t doing, in all the ways the characters were behaving that were antithetical to solving the mystery, and there was a certain point where it became super obvious when one character was involved, and it wasn’t noticed. Alaina not telling Lucas everything, keeping him at arms length was frustrating. And there were other things that happened that felt like plot devices, and that was it (namely Mariah Coates).<br /><br />I don’t know. See? I’m just in a shitty mood, and so things are bugging more than they might otherwise. I mean, this probably wasn’t ever going to be a favourite, but I seem to get sucked into the things I disliked more than I should.

Alaina is a successful woman, having left behind the luxury of her life to run after her dreams, which led her to move away from her family and her brother.<br />When Noah is found dead, allegedly committing suicide, Alaina can't believe he would do so and hires Lucas to investigate his younger brother's death.<br />Lucas, who had already appeared in the first book in the series, accepts the work, but doesn't believe he will find much.<br />As their investigation progresses and threats appear, both Lucas and Alaina are in danger, but how far will they go to find out the truth?<br />The end of this book was startling and left me literally gawky and sad at the events that led to Noah's death.<br />This is a great story with very interesting characters.<br />I highly recommend the reading.

Dead Set is the 2nd book in the Aspen Falls Series. This one focus’s on Lucas, the towns Private Investigator and Alaina, who has hired Lucas to find the truth of her brothers death.<br /><br />While this was a good read, I didn’t feel it had the same feel of writing as usual. It felt over descriptive and slow to get into. But once things started happening I really enjoyed it.<br /><br />I’m keen to finish this series and can’t wait to discover more of the rest of the characters.

I enjoyed this book! It was very good. I just didn't like the main female until half way through the book! I like connecting with characters right away. She was one I didn't connect with at first. I understood she was going through grief. Grief makes you feel things you don't want... <br />I have been dealing with it this year after the lose of my grandma. It's not easy.

Dead Set is book 2 in the Aspen Falls series. This is Alaina &amp; Lucas's story. This novel begins with a heartbreaking prologue. A well crafted novel brimming with mystery, suspense &amp; a bit of romance. Character's are cogent &amp; relateable. This novel keeps you guessing till the end not being able to solve the mystery. Looking forward to reading book 3 Nate &amp; Sally 's book.

A Really Enjoyable, Must Read Story <br /><br />I voluntarily reviewed an arc of this book. “ Dead Set” from Melissa Pearl is the 2nd book in the (“Aspen Falls Series”) and is another really enjoyable book. This story is a great addition to the series. I loved it and couldn’t put it down. It’s a well written, must read book with a lovely storyline and engaging characters that I enjoyed reading about

Alaina is on the search as to what happened to her brother. she knows he wasn't suicidal. Best book ever written. loved it