Two Time Loser by Kristi Rose [Review]

Two Time Loser (Samantha True Mysteries #5) by Kristi Rose
Format: ebook
Source: borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: February 2, 2022

Samantha True Mysteries
1. One Hit Wonder
2. All Bets Are Off
3. Best Laid Plans
4. Caught Off Guard
5. Two Time Loser - Paperback | Kindle
6. Dodged a Bullet

Kristi Rose
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

A fake fiancée. An alive deceased husband. Samantha’s life just got more complicated.

When Stella MacInerney asks Samantha to be her maid of honor, she's surprised. The woman has enough stepdaughters from her three previous marriages to ask one of them. Why didn’t she? Then Leo asks Samantha to be his plus one to the wedding, as his fake fiancée. What’s up with that? So when Stella is kidnapped the eve of her wedding it’s up to Samantha to get to the bottom of these mysteries. Samantha vows three things:

1. Find Stella’s kidnappers and make them pay. She can’t wait to use her highest voltage stun gun on this bad guy.
2. Discover why Leo needs a fake fiancée? Who knew he had a past with the wedding planner? And when asked, he clams up.
3. Track down a key eyewitness in Stella’s disappearance who is a dead ringer for Carson. Could her dead husband really be alive?

When Stella’s ransomed for three million dollars, Samantha has twenty-four hours to find her alive. All while pretending to be engaged to Leo to keep the smiling devil of a wedding planner at bay, never mind Samantha's facing her own matrimonial past. Samantha doesn’t know how she’ll feel if the witness turns out to be Carson. But she might just have to use her highest voltage stun gun on him, too. Unless her fake fiancée does it first.

Thoughts on Two Time Loser: Sam's life is satisfyingly complex. She has a solid group of friends who have her back. Most importantly, I think, her group is growing. She might not always know what she's doing when the dangerous situations explode around her, but I think people admire her gung-ho attitude. Either that or they're horrified and appalled at how often she rushes headlong into danger. I'm looking at you, Leo. Horrified and appalled, amirite?

To be fair, Sam is trying to be more mindful of those dangerous situations. Mostly. She might have tailed a guy on the freeway, but she totally had Leo on the phone the entire time giving him a play-by-play. She's also getting better about asking for help and communicating in general. (Especially with Leo. Can you tell I like those two together? Because I do.)

And that whole thing with Carson? MAN, am I glad her family and Leo have her back with that one.

A kidnapping or two, a drive-by shooting, a stalled wedding, a wedding-planner ex who Leo wants to avoid, money drops, street thugs with very few brains between them, and the potential for all that simmering sexual tension to finally spill over between Leo and Sam. (admittedly, the last one might be mostly wishful thinking on my part, FOR NOW, but I REALLY like those two together.)