Take the Body and Run

ROMANTIC COMEDY

Title: Take the Body and Run
Author: Jada Ryker  
Publication date: 09/20/2016
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

I decided to read and review this book based on the words “fart machine” in the blurb. What can I say? Farts are hilarious. I’m immature like that. I think the author and I share a similar sense of humor, for the most part.

I could immediately see why this book was a Kindle Scout winner. It’s well written, has a nice, even pace, just enough mystery to keep things interesting, and plenty of witty, snappy dialogue. Fun, quirky characters are also in abundance, which I love.

This book is also a bit of genre-bender, which is cool. There’s a little bit of something here for fans of satire, mystery, chick lit and romance. And it works really well as the first book in a series in all of those categories. Mostly.

I did have a few nitpicks that lowered my rating a bit:

• There were some pranks that Macey’s staff played on her that, I think, were supposed to be funny, but that I found distinctly unfunny in a kind of could-get-arrested-for-assault kind of way. I’m pretty sure that slamming into your boss as hard as you can with a rolling metal cart would get you in some serious trouble. (If I’m wrong about this, please let me know. I have some old bosses that are totally deserving of this kind of treatment.)
• I realize this was a satire and I’m most likely overthinking this, but the fact that the wannabe Scooby gang was so involved in solving the case was a little too far-fetched for me. Any cop worth his badge would’ve put an end to that pretty quickly.
• Cats are weird, for sure. But a cat that sneaks to work everyday with her owner? An owner that lets her not-terribly-friendly cat wander around her workplace? Nope. Not buyin’ it.
• The whole cult thing was just...weird. I don’t see how it moved the story forward in any way. But I’ll give the author the benefit of the doubt and assume this was setup for future books in the series.

Minor gripes aside, this was an overall fun, light story from a talented author that’s definitely worth a read.   

Disclaimer: We received an ARC from the publisher at no charge, and this review originally ran on Knockin’ Books blog.  

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
It doesn’t necessarily contribute, but it’s not really strong enough to crush it, either.  

Other reading suggestions
I’d probably check out the author’s backlist. But for funny stories with a bit of mystery to them, my reading tastes tend to fall into the paranormal category, where the Darynda Jones Charley Davidson series.

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