I read the first two books in this series back when they first came out, and I absolutely loved them. The romance feels kind of like The Adrien English Series toned down to cozy level. I think life must’ve gotten in the way of me staying up with the series, but I’ve rectified that, now. I reread (actually, listened to) those first two books as a refresher, then dove into books 3, 4, and 5.
Here I’ll pause, because even though book 7 has jumped the gun and is out now (and for that matter, book 8 is available for preorder), book 6 is still pending. It wouldn’t matter too much, but I’d rather read them all in order. And so I wait.
Series Blurb
Ellery Page, aspiring screenwriter, Scrabble champion and guy-with-worst-luck-in-the-world-when-it-comes-to-dating, is ready to make a change. So when he learns he’s inherited both a failing bookstore and a falling-down mansion in the quaint seaside village of Pirate’s Cove on Buck Island, Rhode Island, it’s full steam ahead!
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Today’s snippets are from books 3, 4, and 5. The series is all told from Ellery’s 3rd-person POV:
Mystery at the Masquerade Snippets
Honestly? Better not to try to analyze what was happening there.
But it was confusing sometimes. Sometimes like now, when Jack’s gaze would catch his own and linger, linger, until Jack finally looked away. Or sometimes Ellery would glance up and find Jack studying him as though Ellery presented a puzzle Jack just couldn’t figure out.
Ellery’s exasperation mounted. “Watson, get down.” He bent to scoop up Watson, but so did Jack, and they narrowly missed colliding heads.
“Ooof,” said Jack, ducking left.
“Yeesh,” said Ellery, ducking right. They gazed at each other with consternation as Watson wriggled frantically to get to Jack.
“Really, Watson?” Ellery demanded and handed the squirming pup to Jack. “Here. Puppygram.”
“How’re you doing, you rascal?” Jack tried to speak around Watson licking his chin. It was difficult to preserve a professional demeanor with a puppy trying to kiss you, but Jack did his best.
Ellery sighed. It was disarming. No use pretending it wasn’t.
Jack is the speaker here:
“It’s like living with a bullet in your heart. You figure it will kill you eventually—hell, you rely on that—but until then you go through the motions of pretending you’re still alive. And that’s how it is and how you figure it will always be. But then one day you notice the sunrise is beautiful. And one day you enjoy your cup of coffee. And one day something makes you laugh. And finally one evening you look across the room and see a guy having dinner and think, I wonder what he’s like.”
Scandal at the Salty Dog Snippets
“It’s like living with a bullet in your heart. You figure it will kill you eventually—hell, you rely on that—but until then you go through the motions of pretending you’re still alive. And that’s how it is and how you figure it will always be. But then one day you notice the sunrise is beautiful. And one day you enjoy your cup of coffee. And one day something makes you laugh. And finally one evening you look across the room and see a guy having dinner and think, I wonder what he’s like.”
Mr. Starling seemed to be answering those enigmatic looks when he said testily, “She never married that jackanapes!”
Ellery blinked. What in the heck was a jackanapes? It sounded politically incorrect in the extreme.
Ellery returned from plating their dessert and set the dish of bonbons in front of Jack, whose brows shot up, before he smiled a funny kind of smile.
“I can’t remember the last time someone bought me an ice cream.”
Ellery smiled back, but he was touched by Jack’s surprised pleasure. Jack was so good at taking care of everyone else, it was easy to forget he deserved to be looked after too.
Body at Buccaneer Bay Snippets
A sure sign you were getting comfortable with someone was when you went back to wearing your dental retainers in bed.
The mornings Jack slept over, Ellery did his best to get into the shower and downstairs first. Jack liked to show his appreciation by fixing Ellery breakfast, and his cooking skills were pretty much nonexistent. In fact, following his recent attempt to make “California omelets,” it was a wonder the United Egg Association—or even the State of California—hadn’t filed an injunction against him.
Okay, a little bit of an exaggeration, but the practice of preparing food for human consumption was not in Jack’s skill set. Which was kind of a relief. Until Ellery had tried Jack’s cooking, he had been very much afraid Jack was great at everything.
He found Mrs. Wallace a bit of a conundrum. She did not strike him as To the Manor Born, but she wasn’t a bimbo. She was sort of attractive—at least, all her features were her own—but her wide face had a flattened look, as though someone had run over her with a steamroller. Maybe it came from years spent holding her tongue—and nose—and closing her eyes.
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