Review: Bobbie Faye's...Family Jewels

Bobbie Faye's (kinda, sorta, not-exactly) Family Jewels by Toni McGee Causey

3.5 stars

Book description: It had been a whole freaking month since Bobbie Faye Sumrall had blown up anything or been shot at, and that was almost a new record. Then her diva cousin Francesca waltzed into Bobbie Faye's workplace, Ce Ce's Cajun Outfitter and Feng Shui Emporium, and everything just went to hell. Francesca's mom has disappeared with exceptionally valuable diamonds swiped from Francesca's dad and Francesca has told every insane psycho within earshot that Bobbie Faye could recover the ersatz family jewels. Accused of one man’s murder, Bobbie Faye’s on the run as an unintentional Pied Piper to a rabid band of thieves. She has to find the diamonds, figure out the motives of the dead sexy FBI agent who's pressing her for more than just the jewels, all while racing to side-step her steamy (and steamed) detective ex-boyfriend before the deadline arrives and the diamonds disappear.

First line: "Bobbie Faye Sumrall was full up on crazy, thank you very much, and had a side order of cranky to spare."

What I liked:
- As with the first book in the series, Bobbie Faye's Very (very, very, very) Bad Day, I really liked the whole thing, particularly the humour, Bobbie Faye's character, and the Louisiana setting. It's also a pretty good mystery story.

- The 2 hunky men in love with her, woo! I'm looking forward to seeing how that love triangle gets resolved.

What I Didn't Like:
- The vague family ties. In the first book, Bobbie Faye is struggling to save her brother and her niece, so it's obvious that she'd move heaven and earth for them. But in this one, Francesca hates her and she hates Francesca and Francesca involves some other cousin-type folks and aunts and uncles (and a father!) she hasn't seen for years. While it's been established that family means everything to Bobbie Faye, it was hard to buy that she'd risk her life yet again for these people who, apart from a couple of aunts, she can't stand.

- That magic was brought in at the end. It just seemed too unrealistic to me, even if the message was a nice one.

I'd still definitely recommend you join Bobbie Faye for a crazy, dangerous, sexy, funny journey through Cajun country!