5+ stars for Southwest of Love and Murder by Brenda Whiteside #romanticsuspense #ku #bookreview
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  • N. N. Light
    • Jul 17, 2023
    • 3 min read

5+ stars for Southwest of Love and Murder by Brenda Whiteside #romanticsuspense #ku #bookreview



Title: Southwest of Love and Murder (Wild Horse Peaks Book 2)

Author: Brenda Whiteside

Genre: Romantic Suspense


Book Blurb:


Writing murder mysteries is all in a day's work until an obsessed fan brings Phoebe’s stories to life.


Mystery writer, Phoebe Anderson, owes her success to killing her first husband on paper seventeen years earlier. Now, someone has actually done it. Taking a few days to re-group on an isolated ranch, she doesn’t expect romance…or murder…to find her.


Mason Meadowlark is happy with his wild cowboy ways, avoiding love since the death of his baby and the end of his marriage twenty years before. When Phoebe shakes up his routine, he fights to control his emotions, fearing the pain of opening his heart again.


With an obsessed fan close on her heels, Phoebe is thrown into her own murder mystery…and the next target on the psychopath’s list is Mason.


My Review:


From the very first page, Southwest of Love and Murder, draws the reader in. Phoebe Anderson, successful murder mystery author, credits her success to her ex-husband. She killed him off in her first book.


Then the man is really murdered under the same circumstances as she penned. How can that even be a coincidence? Needing to put space between the crime and herself, she visits a ranch for research for her next project. But not just any ranch. This one is owned by Mason Meadowlark, the man she had a one-night stand with at the wedding of her best friend and can’t seem to get out of her mind.


Her attempt to put the coincidental murder behind her fails, though. No sooner does she arrive in town, but another person is murdered and it’s in an identical fashion as in another of her plots. She finds the body and Mason is considered a suspect.


Whiteside has created two stories that parallel each other. In one, we follow the mind of a crazed fan and delusional wannabe author whose intent on getting Phoebe’s attention. The other story is about the blossoming love between Phoebe and Mason. In this storyline, the author has made us fall in love with not only Mason, but his father, Dirk, and Marge, a long-time employee and Dirk’s love interest.


When they collide and the crazed wannabe author descends upon the small ranch family, the reader is left gripping their chair and caring deeply about the outcome.


I was fully submersed in both. Whiteside knows her job well as a mystery writer. She deftly brought us to the intersection of the two stories, creating the perfect momentum of tension to keep me turning the pages. Once the collision of the storylines occurred, I couldn’t put the book down because I just had to see how the events wrapped up.


Whiteside’s plot is original and her character development superb. Whether you’re a fan of mysteries or romance, you’ll find Southwest of Love and Murder, your next favorite book.


My Rating: 5+ stars


Buy it Now:

Free to read on Kindle Unlimited!






Author Biography:


Brenda Whiteside is the award-winning author of romantic suspense, cozy mystery, and romance. After living in six states and two countries—so far—she and her husband have settled in Central Arizona. They admit to being gypsies at heart so won't discount the possibility of another move. They share their home with a rescue dog named Amigo. While FDW fishes, Brenda writes.


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Reviewed by: Terry

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