Like Coffee and Doughnuts by Elle Parker

On sale now from Lyrical Press for $5.50!

I really loved this one!

Our hero Dino Martini is a private investigator/repo man/jack-of-all-trades who is 110% comfortable in his own skin.  His good friend Seth Donnelly serves as his trusty sidekick for Dino’s varied adventures but daylights as a mechanic and soon-to-be-garage owner.  The two find an interesting package in a car they repossess and that’s when things get interesting.

What I liked:  These characters were amazing.  Dino has so many different layers.  He’s such an interesting mix of elegance and crass, sensitivity and toughness.  He never falls into one catgory and it was so intriguing to see where he would end up emotionally.  Seth was far more two-dimensional of a character, but he played perfectly against dino’s dynamic character and he was so completely different from Dino yet complementary to Dino that their relationship just worked.

I really loved how Elle managed to make me see these characters as more than just elements in a story but brought them fully to life with a variety of unexpected thoughts and actions.

What I didn’t like: It normally takes a lot for me to read and get into a novel that’s told in first person.  It takes a gifted writer to accomplish a full story told in first person.  They can easily neglect to give a full description of all of the  main c haracter’s emotions.  Dino’s voice, though, worked very well and Elle accomplished this task superbly.  If you find yourself turned off by the first-person narration in the beginning, I strongly encourage you to read the full first chapter before you make any judgements.

Overall:  A really great read!

Jaya Grade: A-