Blue Smoke and Murder

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Elizabeth Lowell
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 404
Rating: mhmm...urg...gr... 6.5 out of 10

Summary (thank you Goodreads): Jill Breck was just doing her job as a river guide when she saved the life of Lane Faroe, son of two of St. Kilda Consulting's premier operators. But when a string of ominous events--including a mysterious fire that kills her great-aunt and a furor in the Western art world raised by a dozen Breck family paintings--culminates in a threat to her life, Jill reluctantly calls in a favor.

Zach Balfour works part-time as a consultant for St. Kilda. His expertise is gathering and analyzing information from unlikely and often dangerous sources. Though he's got the skills to be a highly effective bodyguard, being a bullet catcher isn't his preferred way to spend time.

Protecting Jill will take him into familiar territory--among a strange, savagely competitive bunch of collectors who'll do anything to stay at the top. But Jill is in deeper waters than she's ever known; as she soon discovers, the perils of running wild rivers are tame compared with the hidden dangers in the high-stakes game of art collecting.

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this novel. It was hard to rate because I'm not quite sure if I would read it again though I would recommend it to some. I guess this was the fourth in a set, not series, but I didn't really noticed. A few things can be assumed about other characters so that it is not important to read the others. I did enjoy the characters though I felt that more attention was given to the story line and explaining the world of art (which was good since I lack in that area) but little was given to explaining why Zach and Jill became so close so quickly. I can get over that though since the action was decent and I felt an insane need to find out what happened to them in the end. I love finding out how people get out of sticky situations or how they survive things. I am a fan of the classic fighting-won't-give-up character. This story has those.

Final thoughts: Some parts of the writing were rough. I laughed a few times at some lines in both a good way and a bad way. I found one mistake (I like that. It makes it more real to me somehow.) but it didn't hurt anything. I loved the characters. I'm glad they were smart and believed in the truth instead of only caring about themselves and revenge. It is a romance novel though so keep that in mind if you are on here looking for YA. I really did like it!