Anonymous Acts. Christina C. Jones. 2017. 364 pages. [Source:Kindle Unlimited.]
As always, I devoured a great new book from CCJ. I had been reading samples leading up to its release, but was still pleasantly surprised with the plot twists and turns of Anonymous Acts.
The book focuses in Monica Stuart’s legal woes, both for her once-thriving cosmetics company and for herself, as she faces murder charges in the death of her estranged husband. As much control as she exerts over the quality of her nail polishes, she can’t figure out why she’s getting nothing but bad reviews for her upcoming “Wicked Widow” line. This is followed, coincidentally, by the vicious murder of her philandering husband, leaving people to guess whether she took her new product line a little too literally. To make matters worse, her virtual friend with benefits, whom she’s never met, is arrested on suspicion of the murder.
Monica and Chad — oops, Sandy and Wick, as they know each other — are such intriguing characters who pulled me into their drama immediately. For her part, being framed for the murder of her chronically unemployed and cheating husband is a huge wrench in Monica’s plans to take her cosmetics company to new heights. Chad is just trying to keep a low profile while enjoying a virtual friendship and run his technology security company. Their chemistry is amazing and only amplified by CCJ’s ability to make each of their interactions entertaining. Nonetheless, it’s fun to watch as they try to get themselves out of legal trouble while trying to stay out of the good kind of trouble.
I loved the suspense, especially since I had just finished the If You Can series. Characters from those books figure heavily here, providing both comedic relief and their former covert expertise. The effort they go through to uncover the tangled web of lies and deceit that hide the answers to who is trying to ruin Monica’s life is relentless. Nobody was ever who they seemed to be nor coincidences simply that, which made it all the more difficult to put the book down.
CCJ never disappoints, and definitely delivered a great book for the end of the year. I enjoyed Anonymous Acts’ crime and suspense focus as a departure from recent books, but thought it kept her signature humor and passion. Do yourself a favor and check it out.
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