I discovered A Cutthroat Business via some recommendations on Amazon, and I blew through all of the books in this series in about a week. The series is about a debutante who, disillusioned a little from the life she’d been expecting to have as a southern Belle, decides to forge her own way in life. On the way, she discovers that some of the prejudices she grew up with don’t fit into her new life, and she discovers a love (and a few experiences) she wouldn’t have had otherwise.
That about sums them all up as well as I can, without giving too much away. Savannah, the heroine, fits in mostly with the stereotypical southern Belle, though she grows out of it slowly as you read through the books. The hero, Rafe, is also that stereotypical tall, dark, handsome and dangerous drink of water that the innocent Savannah can’t stay away from. Other than that, though, these books aren’t typical or stereotypical at all. I enjoyed them thoroughly. They were easy reads, but ones that I didn’t want to put down.
They’re mysteries, as it seems that death is sort of following Savannah around. She also can’t just let some things go. There were times when I saw the ending coming about halfway through the book, where I guessed who the bad guy was. (It was never Rafe, obviously.) Once in a while I was a little annoyed with Savannah, thinking “Can she really think like that? Can she really not figure this out?” At the same time, it sort of fits into her personality. She was raised to believe in the good of people, and not to solve crimes. Still, she can’t keep her nose out of them.
You can tell that the author, Jenna Bennett, is a former realtor (as it says on her website). That part of these books was obvious, and true to form, since Savannah is a realtor in the books. I also liked how Savannah made fun of liking romances, and throughout the books I was usually chuckling every few pages at one thing or another.
I now want to read her other books, including her Do It Yourself mystery series. If that isn’t enough of a recommendation for an author, I don’t know what is.
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I'm a lover of writing and books. I graduated from South Dakota State with a master's degree in communications in 2011, the same year I was first published. I'm a wife and mom, and I work in content and digital marketing in South Dakota.
Me and my writing life 
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