BRITTANY CAVALLARO
(Book two in the Charlotte Holmes series)
Synopsis:
Watson and Holmes: A match made in disaster.
Jamie Watson and Charlotte Holmes are looking for a winter-break reprieve after a fall semester that almost got them killed. But Charlotte isn’t the only Holmes with secrets, and the mood at her family’s Sussex estate is palpably tense. On top of everything else, Holmes and Watson could be becoming more than friends—but still, the darkness in Charlotte’s past is a wall between them.
A distraction arises soon enough, because Charlotte’s beloved uncle Leander goes missing from the estate—after being oddly private about his latest assignment in a German art forgery ring. The game is afoot once again, and Charlotte is single-minded in her pursuit.
Their first stop? Berlin. Their first contact? August Moriarty (formerly Charlotte’s obsession, currently believed by most to be dead), whose powerful family has been ripping off famous paintings for the last hundred years. But as they follow the gritty underground scene in Berlin to glittering art houses in Prague, Holmes and Watson begin to realize that this is a much more complicated case than a disappearance. Much more dangerous, too.
What they learn might change everything they know about their families, themselves, and each other.
Content:
Language: Frequent uses of mild language, several uses of stronger language such as "s" and "f" throughout.
Violence: Discussion of kidnappings, rape, murder, scenes involving fist-fightings as well as guns. A character is beaten unconscious. There are descriptions of blood after a shooting.
This isn't violence, but there are also references to drug rehab, addiction, and teenage drinking (though it is legal in the countries the book is set in).
Sex: Mentions of rape (and the effects of the resulting trauma), allusions to sex, a few kisses, several in bed and one scene where the main couple is shirtless (though the characters do not have sex). The main characters often sleep in the same bed.
LGBTQ: A main side character is gay and his love life is mentioned several times.
My Review: Every time I read one of these books, I feel slightly confused and conflicted afterward. Still, I love this series. Jamie and Charlotte are such perfect representations of the original Watson and Holmes, but they are also their own characters. I loved seeing their characters develop in this book, and my love for them makes it easier for me to overlook plot-points I'm still not one hundred percent sure I understood correctly.