Mountain Town Mischief with a Poodle
A little romance, a dab of suspense, and a whole lot of fun await you in the first book of the genre-skipping Rocky Mountain Cozies series.
What’s a big-city girl to do when she finds out her boyfriend is dealing shady business out of the apartment they share in Seattle? She grabs her big standard poodle named Rambo and runs to granny in small-town Colorado, that’s what!
The dog fits in just fine, but Jasmine’s ways of vegetarian eating and yoga are a bit different for this little mountain place. Meanwhile, the hunky sheriff—single, with a reputation as a player—won’t stop poking his nose into Jasmine’s past. Plus, he’s a bit too fond of the way she looks in yoga pants. Her boyfriend isn’t ready to let go or forget that she knows about his illegal activities. Grandma, the colorful townsfolk, and the pets who populate the town are in for some thrills, chills and romantic double plays until Jasmine sorts her life out. Grab the popcorn!
Mountain Town Mischief with a Poodle by Virginia Fox is the debut of Rocky Mountain Cozies. Jasmine is a yoga instructor who lives in Seattle. She forgets the key to the yoga studio where she works and rushes back home to retrieve it. She overhears her lazy boyfriend, Gavin talking to two men about a counterfeiting scheme. The lout plans on making off with some of Jasmine’s savings account as well. Jasmine gets caught eavesdropping and she takes off. She does not go to the police because Jasmine spots Gavin talking to an officer (she fears corruption in the ranks of the Seattle PD). Jasmine picks up dog, Rambo (an adorable black Standard Poodle) and drives to her grandmother’s cabin in Colorado. She ends up on the wrong end of the neighbor’s shotgun who believes she is a burglar. Jasmine gets to meet the hunky sheriff (cue romance). When Jasmine calls Gavin (I never said she was the sharpest knife in the drawer), she buys his phony baloney story and tells him where she is hiding out (cue trouble). The sheriff (who is equally as smitten as Jasmine) works to protect Jasmine from the bad guys (you know where this is going).
I do not feel this story is a cozy
mystery. It is a romance with a smidgen
of suspense. There is no mystery to
solve. Jasmine is hard to like. She is a yoga instructor, a vegetarian (we
are told this many times), and firm believer in no gas guzzling vehicles. Jasmine comes from a well-off family, and it
is obvious (her pretentious attitude). Jasmine
has a tendency of making bad decisions. The characters lacked development. They were one-dimensional. I found it hard to get through the story
because the point-of-view jumps around.
It was hard to keep track (it would just change without warning). There are inconsistencies in the story. Jasmine tells Gavin where she is and the
later wonders how he knew where to find her because she did not tell him (I
distinctly remember the phone call where she overshared). My favorite character was Rambo. There was too much romance. Jasmine has just left her lout of boyfriend
and she is falling for the sheriff the next day. Jasmine’s grandmother, Nana wants Jasmine to
open a yoga retreat at the large family log cabin. Instead, Jasmine rents a space in town for
her classes. She could have done that at
the cabin and saved herself the rent.
There is mild foul language (just a couple of words maximum). Mountain Town Mischief with a Poodle felt
more like a telenovela than a cozy mystery.
Kris
The
Avid Reader
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