Reading about heroines with crappy ex-husbands is not a favorite plot of mine, so after reading the first chapter, I put this book down and read some other review books. With my back to the wall because of the looming release date, I picked it up again and discovered Ms. Craig’s wonderful ability to write comedic dialog, appealing characters, tender sentiments, and sexy love scenes. I lost count of the number of times I laughed out loud.

Nikki Hunt is almost destitute. The sluggish economy has affected the public’s willingness to buy art, and her gallery is only pulling in enough to cover the rent. Her ex-husband Jack has been begging her to give him a second chance, which has fallen on deaf ears, until she realizes she doesn’t have enough money to meet her payroll. Not that she would go back to him for money, but if the feelings are still there, then she might as well explore that option. With wrath being the only emotion she feels upon seeing him, she realizes that after finding him shagging her ex-employee all her love for him died. Jack is desperate for another chance, and since she hasn’t eaten since breakfast, she decides to let him buy her dinner.

Intent on showing him he better not try to lecture her on proper behavior, Nikki uses uncouth manners and dunks her bread into his gumbo, and fishes out a shrimp with her fingers. Rather than reprimanding her, he expresses appreciation that she came. Since this is not his typical behavior she knows something is up. After telling her he needs a wife on his arm, he excuses himself to take a call, and then never returns. Left with a two-hundred-dollar dinner bill, Nikki is fuming. Her checking account is already overdrawn, and she is close to maxing out her thousand-dollar overdraft protection. Nikki also has a habit of talking to herself, so individuals at the restaurant hear her say “I am going to kill him.” Before she reaches her car, she upchucks her two-hundred-dollar meal, then again when she finds Jack’s dead body in her car, and finally on the good looking guy with gorgeous blue eyes.

Dallas O’Connor is proud of being a part of the thin blue line until he and his partners, Austin and Tyler, are framed by Deluna, a scumbag drug dealer and members of that line disavow them. After spending sixteen months in prison, the truth comes out but it has already ruined their careers, reputations, and relationships. While the three are united in their goal of nabbing Deluna, they still need to make a living, so with the healthy check they received from the state, they open Don’t Mess with Texas Private Investigations. Now they receive enormous satisfaction in solving cases before the police do.

Of course that aggravates Dallas’ brotherTony, a detective with the Miller police department. After Dallas and his partners solve one case, and are actively pursuing another, Tony offers to buy him lunch, in order to persuade him to stay the heck out of police business. While at lunch they both see police cars pulling up to the parking lot next door. Moments later Tony is called out on the case. A woman who threatened to kill her ex-husband claims she doesn’t know how his body ended up in her car. Dallas follows along, and cavalierly makes a bet that she is guilty. Realizing that he just judged her without knowing the facts, like others did him, he decides the only way to make amends is to provide his services even though this will put him in direct conflict with his brother, who is a stellar cop. But before he can say a word, the woman throws up on his shoes, and then his shirt.

Nikki’s initial answer is thanks but no thanks, she is innocent so she doesn’t need a private investigator. But after she discovers that she might have been poisoned, and then her employee and friend is found at the art gallery near death, Nikki is grateful for any assistance.

Nikki and Dallas were betrayed by their spouses so neither has any interest in going down that road again. He of course has a great body, good looks, and only looking for a good time. Blonde, sexy Nikki thought she would be married forever. After being rejected by her parents, Jack’s betrayal hit her hard. She knows better now, and there is no way she is going to get involved with a player.

There is a secondary romance involving Tony and his estranged wife, which I found very sweet. The supporting characters do add to the story, although Nikki’s grandmother and her cronies seem somewhat stereotypical. Senior characters for the most part tend to be larger than life. Dallas’s father seems more realistically drawn.

The book did drag a little bit and seemed overly long at times, with not quite necessary scenes, but as soon as I would think that, along would come some absurdity, making me laugh and pulling me back into the story. The jokes are not new but the timing and their incorporation in the story just worked for me.

If you are looking for realism then this is not the right book for you, but if you have a appreciation for the farcical with a engaging love story then you will find plenty of it here. I’m not sure how I missed Ms. Craig’s books. I suspect I passed them by because of divorce in the title. Now that I know what is inside the covers, I won’t make that mistake again.