Arizona Wild - Linda Lael Miller (HQN - Aug 2016)

Series: Mojo Sheepshanks (Book 1)

Starting over has never looked so good

Mojo Sheepshanks knows a thing or two about new beginnings. After a long-ago tragedy she's never fully remembered and a childhood spent moving from place to place, she's making a home in the small town of Cave Creek, Arizona, and finally taking charge of her future. But Tucker Darroch, a sexy cop with baggage of his own, keeps complicating the life she's trying to simplify…

Tucker has been fascinated by the enigmatic Mojo from the beginning, and try as he might, he can't ignore the sparks that fly between them. So when a wealthy man shows up in Cave Creek claiming to be Mojo's long-lost uncle, and her shady brother begins dogging her footsteps, Tucker decides he's sticking close as he and Mojo work to solve a decades-old crime…and prevent history from repeating itself.

Good book with a slightly slow start as all the characters get introduced. The book is categorized as a romance, but I feel it is more a romantic suspense, with more emphasis on the suspense than the romance. Still, I really enjoyed it. Mojo is trying to get her life together again. She is currently living above a biker bar and eking out a living doing medical billing from her home. Her divorce from her cheating, now dead, ex-husband Nick left her with a lot of debt that she's still paying off, and a lot of resentment toward Nick. She is beginning to remember details from witnessing the murder of her parents when she was five. Her babysitter from that period kidnapped her to keep her safe, and they spent years moving from place to place. Along the way she acquired two foster sisters, with whom she has interesting relationships. That same babysitter/foster mother is now in a nursing home after suffering a stroke, with Mojo and her sisters visiting often. She also has an on-again off-again relationship with undercover cop, Tucker, who has his own issues to deal with.

The fun starts when she wakes up in the middle of the night with the ghost of her dead ex-husband in bed with her. Understandably freaked out, she's incredulous when he explains that he has to earn her forgiveness before he can move on. Other things from her past are catching up with her. Her uncle, a state senator, reappears in her life, claiming that he's been looking for her for years. Her half-brother, Geoff, who went to prison for the murders of her parents, has been released and has been making random appearances. An ex-boyfriend's ex-wife is stalking her. And someone is trying to kill her.

I liked Mojo. She's a loyal friend who will go out of her way to help you. She's resilient, which she has had to be to survive all the upheaval she has had in her life. She has a rather quirky sense of humor which can come out at inopportune moments. She is smart, though she doesn't think so, using a whole series of "Damn Fool's" guides to educate herself on many subjects. Not satisfied with her job in medical billing, she is thinking about becoming a private investigator.

Mojo's life becomes quite the roller coaster ride. She becomes a person of interest when her friend and landlord is nearly killed during an attack at his bar. Her sister, Greer, hires her to investigate her husband, who she believes is cheating on her. Her long lost uncle wants to be part of her life, but his bodyguard and his wife don't seem to be on the same page. Then there are the death threats that she's receiving.

There's plenty of wild action as Mojo copes with everything that is happening to her. It's great fun to see Nick's ghost popping in at awkward times, though he also comes through with a few well-timed warnings. The threats against her escalate with an attempted poisoning and the murder of her foster mother. Returning memories have Mojo reliving the deaths of her parents, and questioning what really happened. Everything builds to a final confrontation that provides some surprises along with the truth of what occurred that night.

There isn't really much shown of the relationship between Mojo and Tucker. There are definitely sparks between them. He is still dealing with his divorce and Mojo isn't quite convinced that he's over his ex-wife. She's a little wary of letting herself fully commit to him, having been burned once before. I liked that Tucker was understanding of her reluctance and didn't push. I also liked the way that he believed her when she told him about Nick's ghost.  Tucker the cop was also very good at being there when she needed him. I liked the ending as they seemed to be ready to pursue what they have a little more deeply.

The ghost storyline was fun. I enjoyed seeing Nick pop in and out. For someone that was so selfish and self-centered in life, he seems to have undergone some vital changes. I loved how he brought the cat to her and the effect it had on her. There are some really fun scenes when he and Mojo are together, and his revelation that she's about to become private investigator to murder victims' ghosts was hilarious. The book ends with her next case sitting in the back seat of her car. I can't wait to read the next in the series.