This book came at the right time - I had struggled my way through some pretty blah books with wooden writing and was starting to be discouraged at the thought of reading more of them. I was very happy when I started reading Ashford Place - the writing was brighter and fun, the characters were sassy and the blend of romance and mystery worked really well.

I enjoy snappy dialogue and the two main characters were pretty amusing - perhaps a bit to precocious at times, but they were fun and vibrant and I liked them both. I was particularly impressed with how the author handled the dramatic/mystery elements. There were some darker elements but Copeland didn't go for the angst.. The author didn't exploit some topics/situations but added a pretty nice air of realism and balanced that with the more upbeat and engaging characters of Belle and Ally.

I really enjoyed this one - it was a light read with just enough meat to it to make it engaging and it came at the right time in my reading queue to refresh my reading palate.

I have mixed feelings about this story. The characters are cute and the dialog is crisp and natural. A lot of kissing and cuddling but no actual sex scenes. The mystery is interesting but for most of the story it was slow and a bit repetitive. But , near the end, the story takes a dramatic turn, both in the mystery and the characters relationship. I was disappointed in the way the delema was resolved. I felt the author had a real chance to give the reader some insight into how you continue a relationship after a shocking character change. Instead all we get is an apology and all is well. I guess the author couldn't figure out how to deal with it either.

I really liked this book. It had good characters and a nice mystery to slove as well as the romance. They only thing that bugged me about the story is how many times is the officer of the law going to let a civilian mess with the case? Honestly she should have been charged with obstruction of justice because she certainly was a Jessica Fletcher no matter how much she wanted to be.

Thanks to BSB for giving me the ARC in exchange for my review.

The Ashford Place is a fabulous mystery and romance all in one. Wonderful writing and I loved the characters. I want to read more from this author. Bravo.

Jean Copeland's The Ashford Place is a mystery/romance that is equally great as a mystery read as it is for its romance. Belle Ashford inherits her aunts country home and she has every intention of renovating and flipping it as quickly as possible. When she arrives in town she is pulled over by Deputy Sheriff Ally Yates and sparks fly. During the the renovations the house gives up clues to some family secrets and Belle with the help of Ally is determined to solve the murder.
The mystery has you guessing until the end. The characters are likeable with some really witty dialogue. Would have preferred the sex scenes to be more descriptive but overall a good read.

Excellent mystery and slow burn with a touch of angst!

It wasn't long before you could guess who the culprit is, but the manner on which it is revealed sure came unexpected, Deputy Ally and Belle are the complete opposite of each other yet they compliment each other. Belle is very unlike other English professor characters, more like the slight immature college student. In the end, she does get herself together.

Overall this is a good book. It is well-written, with a good story and a couple of, generally, very likeable characters. Dialogue is very good with wit and honesty and no fake shyness or relationship angst. Deputy Ally is great all the way through but I can't decide is Belle is too self-centred, too immature, or just clueless when it comes to "interrogation". The "shocking" conclusion to the mystery is well-handled as well. I'm not a fan of fade-to-black in romances, but if you think of this as more a cop mystery then it's OK. A good four stars and a worthy read.

I LOVED this book. I read The Second Wave a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. From the cover photo, I expected this to be about either teens or young adults, but the main characters are both 40-ish (this is why I'm not a fan of people on covers). The mystery aspect kept me interested the entire time, and the sensitive subject matter was handled beautifully. But what I really loved about this book is Jean Copeland's writing style. I follow her on social media and she seems like a hilarious person, and that totally comes through both in the dialogue and also the running thoughts in Belle's head. There's only one other author that can write fade-to-black love scenes that don't leave me feeling disappointed, but I thought it totally worked here. That's some good writing when I can feel the chemistry jump off the page without reading all the gory details. Fantastic book.

Enjoyable read with a serious subject matter, light mystery, and some very funny lines placed just right. I enjoy reads with self-talk because the characters let you know what they are thinking and why they are doing what they are doing. Deputy Sheriff Ally Yates is posed with several challenges that has her wondering if she is doing the right thing or protecting. Isabelle Ashford, college professor looking to get in and get out as quickly as possible but the small town has hooked her.

There was so much to love about this book! Some annoying things about some of the characters, but why wouldn't there be?

I did kind of figure out who the perpetrator was kind of early, although it was just a guess. I applaud the author for going further with it, and exploring the ripple effects of it all.

The romance took back seat to the mystery, but I preferred that. It also colored what the main characters did regarding the mystery, but it couldn't be any other way.

Overall, though, it was really a great book, and I will definitely read it again, and I will definitely read more from this author.

The Ashford Place was my first Jean Copeland experience. It’s a romantic suspense that manages to keep a light feel even though the subject matter isn’t. Maybe it was a bit too light. Let me explain what my observations were.

The romance was there early on in the book and it had potential. But… all their encounters were of the fade-to-black variety and that was a shame. I don’t say that all romance novels need explicit scenes, but what was shown to the reader was rather bloodless and so what could have been a sizzle became a cozy snooze fest and I felt robbed because of it.

The suspense was a tad on the light side, creeping (as some other reviewer aptly described) into cozy territory. I guessed who the baddy was early on in the plot. Most of the book is Belle doing her amateur sleuthing around the small town having a total disregard for deputy Ally who repeatedly asks her to leave it to the professionals. Some find it endearing, I found it quite annoying at some point. It was hard for me to picture Belle as the 40 year-old college professor because she lacked maturity in action and thought.

Because we are in Belle’s head we don’t get a clear picture of Ally. She remains a bit removed.
The dialogue was pretty good but it could not lift the book to 4 stars.

f/f fade to black

Themes: uncovering an old family drama, mystery death, buried secrets, sexual predator

3.4 stars

* A free copy was provided by Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books Inc. for an honest review.

When Isabelle (Belle) Ashford inherits her aunt’s country home she has a plan. Fix it up and sell. She hasn’t any desire to make a home in the country because she really wants to live near the ocean. While having some work done in the yard something comes to light and with the help of the local Deputy Sheriff, the very hot Ally Yates she finds herself trying to solve a mystery that involves her late aunt and her daughter, who have both passed. Ally can’t picture herself living anywhere else. She loves the home she has made with her young niece so falling in love with Belle isn’t the best idea. Problem is Belle isn’t making it an easy decision. Belle wants Ally and her home by the ocean. Ms Copeland has written a book that when I first looked at I thought it was another simple love story but what really grabbed me was the mystery involving her family. Very, very good read.
ARC via NetGalley

When her aunt died, Isabelle Ashford inherited her house. She's a teacher with the summer off so she decides to fix what she can in the house and then flip it. It's a small town so she quickly gets to recognize the major players including Deputy Sheriff Ally Yates. While the two begin a romance, they also start to investigate why a baby's skull was found on the house's property.

I did like that Isabelle didn't go completely off on her own but the story was somewhat awkward and there was rather a lot going on.

Three stars
This book comes out January 15
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley

This is a first time author for me (never read anything before this from her) and I was happy to read the story. The characters were engaging, the bit of mystery kept my interest, and the main characters as well as the sub characters were well developed.

The story takes place over a few months and the story line moved along at a good pace. Though having experience in renovating a home, that time short of a time line was kind of a stretch but I"m nitpicking. I like the characters, though the small town cop's attitude in regards to finding out 'who done it', was kind of mean but I get that it gave the ending a good twist in the end for there to be a HEA.

I look forward to reading more from this author - I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, but would have written the same opinion if I had come across this author on my own.

To see my Amazon review, it is under CC-Enjoyable Read

3.75 Stars. I enjoyed this book. It does have a few bumps but it’s my favorite book by Copeland so far. This is a mystery-romance. You could almost put this in the cozy mystery category. The book does deal with some darker subjects but the book itself is not dark.

Belle inherits a house that has been in her father’s family for years. Her plan is to spend the summer remodeling it before she goes back to teaching. But when she finds writings belonging to a teenager about possible molestation, Belle wants to get justice for her cousin.

One of my favorite things about this book was some of the dialogue. Anyone that knows my reviews knows I don’t always find comedy books funny. This book had a light humor throughout that really worked for me. I found myself smiling and chuckling multiple times. The lightly sarcastic humor really worked for me.

When it came to the romance it was pretty good. Belle is attracted to Deputy Alley. They had great banter together and the chemistry was absolutely there. Copeland writes mainly fade-to-black sex scenes. That choice doesn’t stop me from reading a book, but I did think seeing more intimacy between the characters would have really amped up the romance for me. The sparks would be really going strong but they would fizzle out instead.

My struggle was with the character of Alley. This book is in third person but we are never in Alley’s POV. I think because of that you just never warm to her like I think you should in a romance. Belle is really likeable and the colder Alley stands out next to her.

The mystery was entertaining. I do have to first give a slight trigger warning. There is talk about molestation and death of a child but this mystery is a cold case that happened many years ago so it’s handled respectively and I don’t think it would bother many people. When it came to who the bad guy/girl is, I must admit I had it figured really early. Even with knowing who it was, I liked following the little clues Copeland left and seeing how it all played out.

This was better than I expected and I’m glad I read it. It’s not a perfect story but if you are looking for a good mystery with light humor and some romance, give this a shot.

Isabelle Ashford inherits her late aunt's home in Danville. She has dreamed of owning a home on the cost so during her summer break from teaching she decides to remodel the home for a quick flip after she is done. She meets the Hot and sexy soft butch Ally Yates who is the Deputy Sheriff in town. Isabelle isn't known to make hasty decisions when it comes to dating so she tries to talk herself out of having a fling with Ally. Of course that doesn't happen and during their courtship, some family secrets are unearthed the threaten to shake the little town of Danville.

So let me start off by saying that I did like this mystery/romance. There was only one thing missing - SEX. Wait, they had lots of sex and it seemed to be juicy, but for some reason we don't get to read anything about it. Honestly, I normally don't read romances with Fade to Black sex scenes. It takes away from the romance (IMO). Sigh. That really bothered me and sort of turned me off from finishing (I am glad I did finish). After I got use to the idea that this was a mystery with some romance, I enjoyed trying to figure out who "done it".

I will rate this one a 3.5.

I really wanted to like this story, but the characters were pretty awful and unrelatable, and there were moments where they were treated with such disdain, that I wonder why the author wanted to tell their story at all.

Some examples of this disdain I'm talking about:
"U-haul lesbian" - I guess because Belle was ready to jump into her previous relationship wiih both feet?
"Lesbian hiatus" - because you have to break up 3 times before it sticks, apparently
"met your lesbian-drama quota" - does it have to be lesbian drama? Why not relationship drama? Or just drama?
"I want you to have your gay happily-ever-after" - IT'S JUST A HAPPILY EVER AFTER! JUST BECAUSE SHE'S A LESBIAN DOESN'T MEAN WE HAVE TO SPECIFY!!!!!

*sigh*

But let me talk about the characters for a moment. First, we have Belle, who is our point-of-view character. Belle is fresh off a relationship that ended with an actual eviction notice when her ex refused to move. Belle is impulsive but hard-working, traits I usually really appreciate and enjoy, but it's coupled with a 40-year-old woman who acts like she's 14. When Ally, our love interest, mentions getting home to "Chloe," Belle immediately thinks Ally's got a girlfriend, then thinks wife, and then, when Ally goes to kiss her (because of the ridiculous amount of flirting that has happened up until the past 30 seconds), Belle is all "oh no you don't, cheater" without ever actually asking "who is Chloe?" Just a thought, but is there a reason we are back to the "talking is for chumps" trope?

And speaking of Ally, how is "mildly bitchy with a dash of indifference" at all appealing for a romantic relationship? The end result is what seems like a complete lack of interest. There's nothing romantic about indifference. There's just not.

Finally, I really want to stress there is a complete lack of trust between these two women, from beginning to end. The relationship is completely unbelievable as a result. Lust sure, but lasting love? Nope.

This is my shortest review ever. I can't put into words how this book affected me. It was so moving I cried. It had twists I anticipated and major twists I never saw coming. The writing was great, as usual for this author. The subject matter was handled with sensitivity. This book will stay with me forever.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a lovely romance mystery. Even if I like the mystery more then the romance.


Isabelle (Belle) Ashford who has inherited a run-down country home from her reclusive great aunt Marion. Her idea is to do it up and sell it then buy her own place down at the shore which she always dream of doing.

Ally is a Deputy in the town of Danville where Isabelle aunt country home is at when they meet there is a instant attraction. I really enjoyed the witty and flirty banter between the two of them.

There a mystery going on when Isabelle finds papers that may indicate that her cousin Judy (who died when she was young) may have been sexually abused. It also another develop in this case I won't spoil.

Even though I love the character of Isabelle I didn't really warm up to Ally when you read it you found out why and though they had nice chemistry and love the banter between them I kinda wish they just remain friends nothing more.

The Ashford Place by Jean Copeland is a mystery/romance story that I really enjoyed. We see the story through Isabelle (Belle) Ashford who has inherited a run-down country home from her reclusive great aunt Marion. She decides to spend her summer renovating the home to sell, but during her time in the house she discovers a mystery involving her second cousin who died tragically and mysteriously as a young teen many years ago. Belle also meets and is instantly attracted to Deputy Sheriff Ally Yates, and the two work together to try to solve the cold case mystery involving the Ashford Place.

This was a lovely romance/mystery that brought the two main characters together and created a great deal of conflict that the two had to work through. I loved the dialogue between them. It was witty, sweet and fun to read. Though the mystery was not really that hard to solve (I figured out who the bad guy was way before the main characters), I enjoyed reading how Belle and Ally worked through the clues both together and separately. The sex scenes were mostly fade to black, but that actually worked fine in this particular book. Overall, this is a charming story that I can recommend to anyone who likes a well-written mystery with a good dose of romance.

I am going to give a trigger warning here. This book does have some discussion of child molestation. There are no graphic details and the subject is dealt with tastefully, but if a reader would be uncomfortable reading about this subject, I might suggest they give this book a miss and read a different Jean Copeland novel.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.