When bookish Penny Collins reluctantly lets her
sister drag her to an estate sale at a neighbor’s house, she’s hoping
for a little diversion rummaging through dusty antiques. Instead she
ends up in a public squabble over candlesticks with the deceased owner’s
nephew, Anthony—right before a dead body tumbles out of a closet.
Penny’s
plan for the summer involved finalizing tenure at the university where
she’s a computer sciences professor. Now she’s suddenly on the run with a
man she barely knows, scaling walls, evading bullets, and accidentally
stabbing henchmen. It seems the wrong people believe she’s Anthony’s
girlfriend and in possession of something they desperately need—and will
do anything to get.
My Review
When Penny visits her sister and attends the next door neighbor's estate
sale, she has no idea what she's getting herself into. Anthony is not
only the estate seller, but he's got some dubious activities that get
the two of them in extremely hot water very quickly. I really loved
Penny -- she had a great attitude. And Anthony is the strong, silent
type, but he's just too adorable when it comes to Penny.
This
cute and humorous romantic suspense /comedy makes it to my favorites of
2025. I really enjoyed this story. Although predictable, it was just a
fun romp that held my interest until the end. I'm not a big fan of
insta-love, but sometimes it works, and I could feel the chemistry
between Anthony and Penny from the start. The story is a bit
far-fetched, but the tone of the narration makes it easy to ignore
that sort of thing and just relax into the story. Recommended if you are
looking for a romantic suspense tale with a light touch.