Happily Never After

Claire Hartley Accidental Mystery, Book 3

By: Madison Score

Narrated by: Lila Winters

Things are looking up for Claire Hartley. After thwarting yet another attempted murder, she’s enjoying the quiet life as a dog mom to Rosie, girlfriend to grumpy filmmaker Luke, and planner of epic marriage proposals.

If she can manage to pull off this wildly elaborate Hollywood proposal, her dreams of creating bicoastal happily ever afters will finally come true. So what if her trauma-induced sleepwalking—and sleepsnacking—hasn’t gone away yet? That doesn’t mean anything, right? She’s fine. Everything is fine.

Except it’s not. There’s a teeny, tiny possibility that she didn’t put every member of the sinister, murdery organization behind bars. At least, that’s what Claire’s burned-down warehouse and a swimming pool full of blood lead her to believe.

The FBI isn’t turning up any leads, and when the threats escalate to target people she loves, Claire is forced to put on her amateur sleuth trench coat one last time.

The stakes have never been higher.

Can she turn the tables on the bad guys or will she—or someone incredibly close to her—be the final victim?

©2024 Madison Score (P)2024 That's What She Said Publishing, Inc

Nice wrap up

These are great books. Very fun & easy to read. It’s a good ending to the series.

The wildest ride so far!

Claire Hartley is a flawed main character. the second hand angst from her bad decisions in this one is high. I mean you could make a drinking game out of the line,”Luke is going to kill me” The story is terrific with some crazy situations. The narrator is perfect- so important. It is a ride very worth taking. Loved it.

Wonderful Finale

There's a lot of suspense in trying to solve who is the leader of the group that keeps trying to kill Claire and her loved ones. Will she survive? I liked how even when Luke was upset with Claire, they still loved each other. A wonderful story and ending for a wedding proposal planner.

Great finale!

What an incredible finale to an outstanding series! Following Claire and Luke's relationship journey has been an absolute delight. Watching them navigate the complexities of their burgeoning love while simultaneously managing their successful careers was both inspiring and heart-wrenching. The intense moments of suspense woven throughout the trilogy kept me on the edge of my seat, eagerly turning each page. The cast of secondary characters brought so much depth and enjoyment, their loyalty, humor, and unwavering support adding richness to every scene. And Rosie, the corgi, stole every moment she was in with her charm and warmth. Happily Never After is a perfect blend of romance, suspense, and heartwarming moments that left me thoroughly satisfied. Truly, a series that will linger in my heart for a long time!

Good series ending but too long

The final book in this series was not as good as the first two. It seemed too long with the story dragging in the middle which felt like I had to force myself to keep reading. The storyline is still that of a crazy comedic romance that has suspense and mystery. The story had the same main characters who for the most part are real and relatable people who are really just trying to do their best as messy humans though some characters are a bit cartoonish. Unfortunately, in this book, especially in the middle of the story, I was not liking Claire very much. She was very selfish, self-centered and made a number of decisions that screamed teenage-level decision making skills. This pulled me out of the story and made me wonder why Luke, her friends and family put up with the behavior. This book picks up after the last book ended. Claire, an event planner who specializes in wedding proposal planning, is trying to deal with the trauma of getting stabbed by Barney and then stalked and attacked by the misogynist cult of ESA. Luke, an award winning documentary videographer, is still dating and living with Claire. Unfortunately, it seems that Claire’s amateur sleuthing and potential danger is still not over as other chapters of ESA are still out there. Overall, the series was good and the final wrap up in this book was great but it might have been better if the series was two books instead of three. I might have continued to like Claire’s character more. 3.5 stars.

Lila Winters did a fantastic job narrating the story and characters into life with enough change of inflection, tone and cadence to voice multiple characters quite convincingly.