Say You're Sorry

Morgan Dane, Book 1

By: Melinda Leigh

Narrated by: Cris Dukehart

A #1 Amazon Charts bestseller and Prime Reading’s most read book of 2018.

In this multimillion-copy bestselling series from #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh, former prosecutor Morgan Dane faces the most personal - and deadly - case of her lifetime.

After the devastating loss of her husband in Iraq, Morgan Dane returns to Scarlet Falls, seeking the comfort of her hometown. Now, surrounded by family, she’s finally found peace and a promising career opportunity - until her babysitter is killed and her neighbor asks her to defend his son, Nick, who stands accused of the murder.

Tessa was the ultimate girl next door, and the community is outraged by her death. But Morgan has known Nick for years and can’t believe he’s guilty, despite the damning evidence stacked against him. She asks her friend Lance Kruger, an ex-cop turned private eye, for help. Taking on the town, the police, and a zealous DA, Morgan and Lance plunge into the investigation, determined to find the real killer. But as they uncover secrets that rock the community, they become targets for the madman hiding in plain sight.

©2017 Melinda Leigh (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved

Critic reviews

"Search no further for a suspenseful audiobook. And narrator Cris Dukehart gives it a dynamic performance.... With a performance that ranges from depicting fear to delivering shocking reveals, Dukehart draws the listener in from the first chapter." ( AudioFile)

This is a test review.

I loved this book. This is a test review. Great listen. Highly recommend this book

run of the mill

ordinary, mundane, predictable suspense/romance for women. i did agree with her psycological slant. men are stereotypically unbelievably evil or wonderful.

great mystery

I enjoyed the characters and the mystery kept me Guessing. I will be looking for other books by this author

Good Story

Good Story, the final twist seemed a bit too quick and forced. I still enjoyed the story. Very good narration.

suspenseful

The story kept me guessing, when I thought I had it figured out I didn't.

It was okay.

Story line was okay. I would have liked to know the characters better. With the surprises at the end of the book I wish those characters were talked about more throughout the story. This book missed the mark for me.

Joining forces

This is book one in the Morgan series. They can be read out of order and each book is a standalone. Morgan, Lance, and Sharp are characters found in all these books. There personal lives are a side story that adds depth to these detectives lives.

There are many elements that compromised this story: it was an election year and the police chief was quick to announce the suspect, once the investigation got started a slew of other secrets unraveled in the wake of Tessa’s murder, Morgan and Lance were working as private investigators instead of their prior jobs.

I liked how Morgan was able to balance her life as a defense attorney and mother. After grieving the loss of her husband, Morgan puts on a happy face every night for her girls.

Morgan and Lance did conduct a thorough investigation, yet the process lacked the edgy excitement I look for in a crime book.

Narrator: Cris Dukehart narrated the entire story. She did a fantastic job voicing all the characters. She not only read the words word perfectly, but she performed them with the correct tone given the circumstances.

Overall: The story was mediocre. Had it not been for the audiobook sync with the ebook I would have struggled to finish reading it myself. It just didn’t grab ahold of me in an exciting way that most crime novels do. This book had all the typical procedures and methods for investigating a crime, yet it missed the thrilling aspect.
Even with all the mini plots and side stories I still felt like the story was lacking.

Greatness

I enjoyed the trill of the book. The Author did amazing job capturing my attention. Thank you

Great read...

easy to digest. easy to listen to I enjoyed the story. I am looking forward to the next book.

Standing For the Truth and a Step Toward the Futur

After reading Anna @ Herding Cats Burning Soup's review, I knew I had to give this romantic suspense a go. A tenacious and smart widowed lady lawyer who will do what's right even though it costs her and a tough, burdened former cop turned private investigator take on the challenge of proving a young man innocent of an heinous crime that the whole town thinks he did. Engaging from the get go and quite riveting at times throughout.

Say You're Sorry is the first in a series and it wasn't long after the intro to the crime, the killer's twisted thoughts, and the cast of characters that I was drawn in and didn't want to step away from the story. I loved that Morgan is working through her grief over loosing her husband while serving his country. She has three adorable little girls, the guardianship for a foster girl, a crotchety grandfather, and is surrounded by a family who are true blue multi-generations in the law enforcement community. Morgan is on the cusp of taking a job as an assistant district attorney when her heart tells her that Nick, the young guy accused of raping and stabbing his girlfriend is railroaded into an arrest by a chief cop, mayor, and district attorney who are more concerned about election results than justice. Morgan fights the condemnation of the whole town, a dangerous enemy in the shadows, and her own troubles to find the truth.

Lance was injured in the line of duty and wants to get back on the force once his leg is done healing. His long time mentor, a retired cop hires him for his private investigation firm. He is torn between liking working for Sharp where the rules are different and bureaucracy isn't involved and going back to protect and serve. His sense of duty stems from a personal loss in his childhood that left his mother with severe mental health issues. He looks after her, but knows no woman will ever want to take on a guy with a mom like that. He and Morgan dated in high school and then drew apart, but now she has caught his eye again. Now, she's hired the firm to help her work Nick's case and Lance would rather be nowhere else than at Morgan's side while she has to go into danger to do her job with a young, scared man sitting in jail counting on her.

The blend of romance and suspense was well done. The established circle of characters were engaging. I loved both Morgan and Lance from the beginning and appreciated how they handled their attraction which is necessarily slow burn because of the case and their separate personal issues. The trail to the truth was exciting and interesting. I loved having Lance's cop training and Morgan's legal and cop background be a large part. The mystery was not simple though I did peg the murderer with a few doubts at times. There were some good side lines that added to it.

The narration work of Cris Dukehart was superb. I was all in and thrilled with the added depth she brought to the story. Her voices, pacing, tone, and emotions were spot on throughout. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for her other work and I'm not sure, but I think I'd be disappointed to get the rest of the series without her reading it.

All in all a abso-fab beginning and a new series for me to follow. Romantic Suspense lovers should definitely take a look-see.