Another fantastic book by Melinda Leigh. Thanks goes to the publisher, via Net-Galley, for the chance to read and review this outstanding book. My opinions are my own and are not influenced in any way.

What a great book! I thoroughly enjoyed this new exciting novella by Ms. Leigh. The characters are intriguing, the plot is gripping. I always know I'm in for a treat with one of Ms. Leigh's romantic thrillers.

Tessa Black’s character was easy to like. She was willing to sacrifice her career in Seattle, so she could be there for her mother who has dementia. Tessa certainly has a lot in her cup, but her determination to solve the murder while caring for her mother is commendable.

Logan Wilde is a great hero, one I quickly liked. He is willing to go to any lengths to help Tess solve the murder. It’s easy to see that he is attracted to Tessa.

While this is a stand-alone novel, I wish I had read Kendra Elliott’s, Close to the Bone. I will be purchasing it when it releases on October 23rd. Happy reading!

A novella is not always easy to read. Sometimes it seems that you only get part of the story or the story seems unfinished. With A Bone to Pick there is a complete story. There is a definite ending and no cliffhangers or to be continued.

A gruesome murder takes place and Tessa must solve the crime while taking care of her aging mother. Luckily there is help on the island for her. It was amazing how much they could do when they are such a small community with limited resources. It helps that Tessa comes from a larger department and she brings in the FBI to help. I liked how much she relied on Logan Wilde, a local park ranger. Tessa uses all the resources available to her while keeping her cool to solve the murder.

I am new to the Widow’s Island series and not familiar with the underlining story of Samantha and didn’t feel that this novella gave many clues as to what was going on with that part of the book. I am intrigued enough to want to go back and read the first book and continue reading the series to learn more.

This is a quick and fun novella by Melinda Leigh. Pick it up, read it, and meet some intriguing characters.

Close to the Bone (by Kendra Elliot)

FBI Special Agent Cate Wilde is back home on a remote Pacific Northwest island recovering from a gun shot wound when she skeletal remains are discovered and she is. Together with the island’s new doctor who also happens to be the island’s coroner she investigates a murder that happened many years ago.

A Bone to Pick (by Melinda Leigh)

Sheriff’s Deputy Tessa Black gave up her career as a detective with the Seattle PD and returned to Widow’s Island to care for her ailing mother who has dementia. She thinks her life will be one of turning a blind eye to the island’s marijuana supplier and investigating petty crime. But when one of the island’s artists is gruesomely murdered she finds herself once again investigating the violence she thought she had left behind in Seattle.


Kendra Elliot and Melinda Leigh are regular collaborators. They must have published over a dozen books in the Rogue River series and its many sequels. Now they have put those series’ to bed and have started this series set on an archipelago loosely based on the San Juan Islands in Washington.

As with Rogue River these books are short with a page count somewhere around 100 for each of them. That is both a strength and a weakness. They are quick and entertaining, you could polish them off on a lazy Sunday afternoon. But that is done at the expense of story and character development which will happen over time with each new offering.

The thing that makes these books just a little bit better than the competition is likeable characters and the two authors are plainly enjoying themselves.

A Bone to Pick is book two in the Widow's Island series written by Melinda leigh. Book one is written by Kendra Elliot and concentrated on Cate, the FBI agent who returned home to Widow's Island to recuperate from a work related injury and the new doctor to the island, Henry. This book is centered around Tessa, an native islander, who has returned to the island to take care of her mother who has Alzheimer's. Tessa is working as a policewoman on Widow's Island. Native islander Logan has returned to the island to work as a park ranger. They are attracted to each other and seem to be the perfect match. Right off the bat, they are called to the scene of a brutal murder and set to work trying to discover who the killer is and why they would commit such a heinous crime. There is plenty of action, mystery and sexual tension. It's a quick and easy read and is quite enjoyable.

Deputy Tessa Black has moved home to take care of her mother. She's the lead investigator for a man who has klled with a harpoon. A harpoon is a common tool on her island. With the help of Cate and her brother Logan, the small island is desperate for answers. Who among the residents is a murderer. The story keeps building in this series. I hope there is a next book to this series.

Death in the woods brings Deputy Tessa Black and park ranger Logan Wilde together in search of a killer. The suspects are quirky and varied. I really enjoyed this quick read.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of A Bone to Pick by Melinda Leigh that I read and reviewed.
I really enjoyed the second novella in the Window's Island series. This was Tessa's story and I really enjoyed getting to know this character and her family. The crime that she had to solve was also intriguing because not that many people get killed harpoon gun. I can't wait to see what happens next and if Cate and Tessa find out what happened to Sam.
A Bone to Pick gets five out of five stars from me.

The second book in the Widow’s Island series, A Bone to Pick, take off from where book 1 Close to the Bone by Kenda Elliot left off. With a new murder this romantic suspense is gripping novella, straight out of the gates. I am really enjoying this duel penned novella series and hope to read more by these two authors. I recommend if you a looking for a quick, gripping, romantic suspense go grab this series.

I’m a big fan of both Kendra Elliot and Melinda Leigh individually and thoroughly enjoyed their joint Rogue River novella series, so I jumped at the chance to read their new co-writing effort, the Widow’s Island series. CLOSE TO THE BONE (#1, Kendra Elliot) and A BONE TO PICK (#2, Melinda Leigh) are the first two novellas in the series and introduce us to heroines FBI Special Agent Cate Wilde (CLOSE TO THE BONE), back on Widow’s Island on medical recovery after being shot on the job, and Sheriff’s Deputy Tessa Black (A BONE TO PICK), who left the life of a police officer in Seattle to care for her mother with dementia and teenage half-sister on the island; as well as their respective beaus-to-be: affable Los Angeles-ER-doc-turned-island-doctor-and-(surprise)-coroner Henry Powers and former-Army-Ranger-turned-park-ranger (and Cate’s brother) Logan Wilde; plus the quirky, tight-knit community of Widow’s Island and the tragic, unsolved disappearance of the heroines’ third musketeer, Samantha Bishop, ~20 years ago. Both CLOSE TO THE BONE and A BONE TO PICK are fast, action-packed mystery reads with great characters, sharp writing, and a light romantic undertone that read very similarly to the Rogue River novellas -- fans of that series will undoubtedly love this one! Looking forward to more from these two authors… and I typically don’t even like novellas!

Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an fair and honest review.

Part 2 of the Widow's Island novella series collaboration by Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot. These novellas are really short, in fact I read this one while watching the marathon 18 inning World Series Game, have a mystery to solve and a budding romance to cheer for. As was true in the first novella, the baddie was caught not through great police work, but because they self destructed. Not my favorite way to get the baddie. The limited format of the novella doesn't allow all the elements to fully develop and I found that the mystery was the element that suffered.

Deputy Tessa Black has a successful career as a detective in the Seattle PD. She had to leave and return to Widow's Island off the coast of Washington in order to care for her mother, who has dementia, and her high school age half sister. The slower pace of life is just what she needed while dealing with the other issues life has thrown her way.

While checking out a routine disturbance call Tessa discovers a man harpooned to a sign in the State Park. With the help of hunky former Army Ranger, now park ranger, Logan Wilde, Tessa uncovers that not everything was as it appeared to be with the life of the dead local artist.

While Tessa and Logan have know each other all their lives, Tessa is Logan's sister, Cate's, best friend, they didn't "know" each other as adults. The budding attraction has to take a backseat to the murder investigation and Tessa's mother's increasing dementia. When Tessa and Logan get close to uncovering the secrets of their victim, the murderer will stop at nothing keep those secrets buried.

A Bone to Pick by Melinda Leigh is the second book in the romantic suspense Widow’s Island series. This series is all at novella length and penned by Melinda Leigh along with Kendra Elliot by alternating the books. This pair of authors have teamed up in the past for the romantic suspense Rogue River series of which a couple of the characters have moved over to this series but the books can be read and enjoyed separate from the Rogue River series.

The first book introduced FBI Special Agent Cate Wilde who had returned to the island after an injury to rest and recuperate. Cate had been best friends with Tessa Black who is now a deputy on the island. Book two now changes over to Tessa along with her own romantic interest.

Tessa had returned to the island after a stint with the Seattle P.D. when she needed to begin care for her aging mother. Tessa was expecting a routine night on the island where crime is normally pretty slow when she gets a call about a dead man who had been killed with a harpoon. Teaming up with the park ranger Logan Wilde Tessa finds herself chasing a murderer.

Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot certainly know how to write a compelling novella length read. Even with the shorter length both books so far have been fleshed out wonderfully giving enough about the characters to begin to care about them and a good mystery to follow. Definitely a fan of this series and can’t wait to see what happens in the next two installments.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

A Bone to Pick takes up where Close to the Bone left off, but with a brand new mystery to be solved as murder is once again afoot in the tranquil setting of the Pacific Northwest islands. Tessa takes the lead in this one, and she also finds an unexpected attraction to Cate’s brother Logan, as they investigate the brutal murder of a relatively new resident to the area. The mystery abounds, but justice will prevail and readers will be left wanting so much more.

A Bone to Pick by Melinda Leigh is the second novella in the Widow’s Island series and is as great as the first one.

In this novella the main characters are Tessa Black and Cate’s brother Logan. Tessa is also a tough, headstrong woman just like Cate.
She used to be a cop in Seattle but returned to her hometown/island to care for her mother and she is a deputy on the island. The book is set a couple of weeks after the first book.
And than another murder happens on the island. A gruesome one. Tessa investigates the murder with the help of Logan. I’m curious about their future relationship although it’s kind of obvoius what will happen I still am.

A Bone to Pick is a must read.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc.

And she is back and back at work looking at a new case and the poor thing really need a break she has her sick mother and another case and she is still working on Samantha's disappearance from years ago. Tessa comes across a dead man who is not all that he seemed as she starts working on the case, she finds that he has all these secrets, lots a money and fake ID, who was he? And why was he keeping all these secrets and keeping up a fake persona. The good thing for Tess is she is not working alone she is working with Logan who is her best friend Cate's brother and now Tessa's love interest. We will continue on to find out just a little of the Samantha's disappearance leaving us to a new book hopefully soon, and then we will continue to see where the attraction of Tessa and Logan will take us..Enjoy!

This is a brilliant new series that I hope will continue for many more stories. The first book is written by Kendra Elliott, the second by Melinda Leigh; two writers who I have loved in the past.
They both have a writing style that completely sweeps you up into the story and engrosses you. The characters are immediately endearing...most of them!!
I absolutely loved both of these novellas, I didn’t want to put my kindle down while I was there on Widow’s Island, I can’t wait for more!! Ten stars for this new series...five for each book!

What a great continuation of the series. This one is full of surprises and twists that make it hard to put down. The secrets of the island are starting to come to light, but the biggest one of all is left unanswered (for now). Will Cate and Tessa ever find out what happened that faithful night when their lives changes and their careers were decided? I am so bummed that I have to wait for the next book in the series. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

A romantic kind of thriller, based on the islands of San Juan although only novelas they keep the reader interested from start to finish.

I LOVE Melinda Leigh and her partner in crime Kendra Elliot!!!! They never disappoint me!

I'm not a huge fan of novella's, but if they write them, I will read them.

This was the second book in the Widow's Island series and I loved it!

It has murder, mayhem, twists/turns, great characters, and a hint of romance. But, I need more!!! Give me more please!!!

I'm sad to say that these ladies just can't write fast enough for me.....I need the next book now PLEASE.

A Bone to Pick is Book 2 of the Widow's Island series by Kendra Elliot and Melinda Leigh. This time there is a new mystery to solve along with more teaser information surrounding the disappearance of their friend several years ago. You could read this as a standalone but since the backstory continues to build across books, I recommend at least going back and picking up Book 2. So far each of the stories in this series are extremely light on the romance, almost non-existent actually. Overall, I am very pleased with these stories and can't wait to read what's next.

These books are engaging and the characters grab you so that you want to be involved in their lives. Very human issues that prove you cannot judge a persons life by the outward appearances. Remote idyllic communities are not always what they seem and your retreat from big city living might be more eventful than you planned.

The true issues of PTSD are addressed bluntly as is the horrid disease of dementia. This series is a do not miss.