My Dirty Detour by Grace Risata
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
“I am NOT that neurotic! I just have germ issues and I tend to over-analyze things. Sure, I second guess myself all the time and have a tendency to freak out over the small stuff. I’ll admit that I do ask a lot of “what if…?” questions. Fine. I’m neurotic.”
Right from the start I liked Violet. She was quirky, funny, and as mentioned, neurotic as all get out. She’s a 34 year old divorcée, not a perfect, modelesque type; Violet had a “every woman” feel to her that most, including myself, can relate to on many levels. Violet’s somewhat sheltered, preferring to live vicariously through her aunt and BFF than do living of her own. At times, Violet read younger than 34 years old, especially when her mother treats her more like a teenager than a 30-something who was married for 10 years.
When Violet takes a wrong turn one day and meets Rocky, she never thought the brooding, handsome, yet ornery distillery owner would want more from her than someone to do his company’s bookkeeping. Meeting Rocky and his friends promises to push Violet out of the rut she’s found herself in following her divorce.
Rocky was a bit of a douche at first, but once he decides Violet is The One, he’s sweet as tea in Georgia!
“Tonight meant something to me. I have a hard time opening up, but with you it’s effortless.”
There’s a good cast of characters in MDD. It’s not just Violet and Rocky falling in love here. To be honest, I felt like their romance took a back seat to the goings-on with Rocky’s crew. I didn’t mind that for the most part, but there were points when I wanted more of Rocky and Violet on their own, not the zany drama surrounding them. For much of MDD, Violet’s inner musings were funny and injected some much-appreciated sass to her character. Yet, by the 3/4 mark, those musings wore thin for me, making MDD feel a bit long-winded and repetitive.
Overall, a light-hearted spin on the mafia romance trope from this new-to-me author. I’d recommend MDD to anyone looking for a book that does not take itself too seriously!
*Copy provided by author in exchange for an honest review.*
My Reading Nook 