Scottsdale Heat

Laura Black Mysteries, Book 1

By: B A Trimmer

Narrated by: Karen Krause

Length: 9 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

In her first thrilling romantic adventure, Laura Black is an investigator for a highly successful Scottsdale law firm run by slightly shady Lenny Shapiro. She’s hot on the trail of con-man Alexander Sternwood, the missing grandson of wealthy widow, Muffy Sternwood. It sounded like an easy case, at least until she was kidnapped by a couple of upset Russian hit-men named Boris and Ivan, then by two seriously psychotic brothers called Smith and Jones, then finally by Tough Tony DiCenzo, head of the largest crime family in Scottsdale. To top it off, she’s found a dead body that seems to be a message directed toward her. Now, with the help of ex-cop Gina Rondinelli, a stripper named Danica, and her best friend Sophie, Laura needs to make sure that a slightly illegal international jewel sale goes smoothly, or else. All of this pales in comparison, though, with an even greater danger. Laura has decided that now would be the perfect time to get back together with her old boyfriend Jackson Reno, who just happens to be a Scottsdale detective. The only hitch in her plans for romance is Maximilian, a gorgeous crime lieutenant who has his sights set on Laura, a feeling that she can’t help but return. Craziness, romance, and more than a little danger are in store when Laura Black and her Scottsdale friends are on the case.

©2013 Saguaro Sky Media Co. (P)2017 Saguaro Sky Media Co.

Good fun!

kidnapping, PI, theft, suspense, lol-humor

Take three hilarious and hot women working for a connected lawyer add a wealthy woman with a fool of a grandson, a hot cop, a mob boss, and a dead body or two, and you have this really fun read! Lots of action, suspense, gunshots, and lustful thoughts, but no erotica. A really fun read!
Karen Krause gives an interesting audio interpretation.

Fast paced and lots of fun!

Would you listen to Scottsdale Heat again? Why?

I've read the author's Scottsdale stories before and really love them. They are light hearted, humorous, and fun. They've always reminded me of Stephanie Plumb in the way Laura gets into trouble but always manages to come out on top. I like the humor in the books. It goes from subtle to laugh out loud. I can't wait until the next one comes out.

What did you like best about this story?

At its heart, these are stories of the friendship between Laura, Sophie, Gina, and the people around them. They each approach life in different ways, but each is a good person and acts to bring out the best in each other. Plus, Sophie is hilarious. She seems to have no filter and whatever goes into her head comes right back out her mouth. She's the best part of the books for me. It good to read a story about three modern women trying to find love and survive in Scottsdale.

What about Karen Krause’s performance did you like?

This my first time listening to Karen Krause's narration. I love the way she brings out each characters personalities. I'll definitely go through her catalogue and find other stories she's read.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I like that the book was fast paced but not overly deep. It is the kind of book where you can listen to part of it today and part of it tomorrow without having to take notes to remember who is who and who said what.

Any additional comments?

Hurry and put the rest of the series on the site.

Riveting !!

Marvelous characters, never boring police procedural, and a fairly far-fetched but utterly unforeseeable ending, Every sentence pushes the story forward, I listened straight through because the story was riveting. Look forward to more from this. Author. This is a very very complex, intense, edge of your seat, and unpredictable .. Loved It-- "I was provided this audio book at no charge by the narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBoom dot com".  

Fun and Exciting

Laura Black is a private investigator working for a local attorney. While she is working an assignment to find a wealthy woman's grandson, she becomes mixed up with the mob and the search for their lost money.

The story is fun and is the beginning of a great series.

I received a free audio version of this book in exchange for an honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and look forward to more in the series.

This is my first time listening to this narrator. She does a good job. Has a nice calm tone. She does a good job with each of the characters.

Fun Listen!

Any additional comments?

This seemingly far-fetched story had me entertained from the first chapter. I loved the snarkiness of the narrator and the over-sexed women, especially Sophie, were a hoot! This was a fun and engaging listen and I would recommend it.

I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator. This review is my honest opinion.

Adventurous heroine with plenty of snark

Would you listen to Scottsdale Heat again? Why?

I would if only for the funny quips. Laura, Gina and Reno are each entertaining alone, but mix them all together and it's like a confetti filled bomb going off. Despite Laura's overactive imagination on one topic she snarks her way through this action packed story. There is never a dull moment and the twists and turns are enough to keep the interest to the end. A good solid P.I. book. I will listen to others for sure.

Any additional comments?

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review

Entertaining Listen

Both the author and narrator were new to me. I loved the wise cracks in this book. The character Laura Black reminded me of Stephanie Plum. I thought it was a very fun book to listen to and enjoyed the references to areas of Scottsdale. This adventure is total escapism from reality with fun twists and turns. I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, narrator, and/or publisher.

Loved the story!!!

I loved the story line. It reminded me a lot of the Stephanie Plum series that I love!!! The narrator did a great job keeping everything interesting..

I received this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Fun and Entertaining

Any additional comments?

Really good start to a series. Entertaining and enjoyable. A lighter and fun good solid mystery/thriller with plenty of suspense, intrigue and action along with a continuous dose of humor and sarcasm.

I had a hard time with this book in the beginning. Not because of the story, the story itself pulled me in from the start. It was the narration was throwing me off. The narration is not bad it's just a bit monotone. It took me a while to get used to the style of the narration. Once you get used to narration the story takes over and the narration fades into the background.

Laura, Gina and Sophie are a trio of fun, adventurous, intelligent, independent woman. All work for a high powered attorney. Laura and Gina as investigators, Sophie as a receptionist. Although the way Laura handles her love life is a little questionable and immature at times her sense of humor gets her through just about anything life throws at her. Sophie on the other hand was a no nonsense, go for it, say what you think, you only live once kind of girl when dealing with the opposite sex. Which was hilarious at times.

The case assigned to Laura a simple missing person case turns into a much more complex and dangerous assignment than she could have imagined. She finds herself in the middle of situation with some very unscrupulous and undesirable people.

At the same time during her investigation she finds herself semi-caught between 2 men in her life. One new to her the other her old boyfriend. Not knowing exactly which one she wants. I hate love triangles and this is something that could have ruined this story but it was done in a great way and only added to the storyline.

Karen Krause did a good job with the narration. Pleasant voice. Easy to listen to for long periods of time. Clearly spoken with a nice even pace. She has some really good character voices but a little more difference is needed between some of the characters. Especially the men. The humor and sarcasm the author was trying to convey didn’t always come through due to the narration. The humor and sarcasm was delivered in the same tone as the rest of the story. There needs a little more enthusiasm or change in the tone and delivery in her narration for certain things. Overall though her narration was enjoyable.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator or publisher.

if you like Stephanie Plum you'll like Laura Black

This was my first time reading/listening to a B. A. Trimmer. I enjoyed the story. It's reminiscent of Janet Evonivitch's Stephanie Plum series.
The narration however seems canned or robotic at times. It therefore took me a while to get into it.
"I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator."

OK.

This was an OK listen but not the sort of thing I would look for again. The story was steady and failed to excite me, I probably only finished it as I'd promised a review. Too much focus on jumping in and out of bed and not enough action of the other kind. Narration was fine and carrried an overall underwhelming story.
I was kindly given a copy of the book and leave this honest review.

Things are heating up

This is the first book by this author that I have listened to or read and I did enjoy it but wish it wasn't so focussed on most of the females trying to get a man in to bed, any man. They just seemed desperate, were as I think the author was trying to go for funny, think Stephanie Plum. I wouldn't call it a romantic adventure because there is no romance. Otherwise I did like it. The characters (when they weren't thinking about sex, whic okay might be hard to do when a lot of the story takes part in a strip club) were fun and made for a good team, if slightly quirky. The mystery was interesting with plenty of characters and a few humours moments. I think I will check out the next book in the series, just to see how things develop.
Laura Black works as a private investigator for a law firm. One of the wealthy clients is worried her grandson might have got himself into trouble and hires her to follow him and find out why he has money when he just quit his job. He leads her to a strip club where it seems he is dating one of the dancers but she isn't the only one following him. Then he disappears and Laura finds a dead body in his home. Is he on the run of did the men following him catch up to him? Laura gets into a shot out with the two Russians who were following him, so if they don't have him who does? When Tough Tony DiCenzo men pay her a visit her simple case gets a lot more complicated and deadly. Everybody is looking for Alex or more importantly what he took. So just who is going to find him first?
I liked the narrator. I have heard a few audio books read by her and she always puts in a good performance.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request from audiobooksunleashed and have voluntarily left this review.

Female Investigator drama.

Where does Scottsdale Heat rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I think that Laura Black is a very good investigator and if she was a police officer would have quite a high rank. Among the books of this genre that I have read, she would come fairly high on the list.

What did you like best about this story?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book it was really well written and had a good plot Much of it was extremely amusing and made me laugh a lot. However, there was also a lot that was serious and very exciting as well. There was just enough romance to balance the story out and it fitted in well with everything that was going on. There is also plenty of scope for a series to follow on from here. I am sure it could be really good and expand on the themes already set in this first book.