THE NINTH GIRL by Michele Dominguez Greene

3* Why, Emily?? Why Ms Greene? This felt like lazy writing and editing.

This is sadly the weakest book in the series. The Antonio thing has peaked and he's bought a house nearby, the divorce is nearly done, then something happens that makes Emily rethink all, and decide she can stay in the marriage, but not back as wifey. I kid you not. Then, the baby turns out to be not Antonio's, and the book ends in a scene where she's covering his hand that's reaching over to her as they sit and have a drink. Yet again, I kid you not. 

The tale was pretty good at first. Some real creeps, some characters who deserved what they got, some people who deserved better, and a decent storyline that should've culminated in who was protecting the bad guys and why their immigration files were so redacted. It turned into a bit of a 💩 show, tbh, with a far too convenient killing of the bad guy by one of his own, meaning that the US government agency at the core of things wasn't outed. But, they'd be getting thr killer a 💩 hot lawyer to avoid the truth coming out. And, 2 people who sang like canaries were caricatures of characters. 

The sacking of a DHS agent seemed to mirror the IRL fat orange twat's policies, but good on her for doing what she did. If only others had that courage. The FBI cover-up, the local cops' being bought, sadly rang true.

But, this was not the Emily Ray tale of books 1-3. Antonio feels and acts like a eunuch. Emily seems utterly indifferent to him, but seems to be his friend at the end. And Emily has discovered exclamation marks, using them in text messages, making her look like a kid! It's a disappointing read because agencies should've been outed, and the bad guy should've gotten what he was due. Even the mother crossing the world illegally, which felt huge, to find her trafficked daughter, ended in a huge anticlimax.

Will I be reading the next? Yes, because I need to know if Emily gets back to the Emily of books 1-3, i.e. if her life goes back to one of doing as she pleases professionally, because, hey, her family life is supposedly perfect and she's got all the support she needs, or if she's needing to rethink because her life has changed. 

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Storm Publishing for my reading pleasure. 

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