Jen Turano
Gilead Publishing
November 15, 2016
Blurb from Goodreads: Off the charts and on the run.
International pop star Margo Hartman could use a night off. A grueling tour and overbearing entourage have sent her over the edge. It’s time for this diva to disappear. And who would think to look for the superstar in a small Dutch town in Ohio?
Sheriff’s deputy Brock Moore is undercover as well. He knows Margo isn’t who she appears to be, but her uncanny resemblance to a local Amish woman is raising all sorts of questions…the kind that make her a target for a killer.
Both are determined to find answers, but their mutual attraction stands in the way of either of them doing it alone. Is finding Margo the solution to Brock’s problems or just the beginning…?
I’m plodding through the backlog of books I took on when I was playing little kid with hand in a cookie jar. Disclaimer: I wasn’t as careful then as now researching the books to spend my time on, which is how this one slipped through. The blurb is great but had I researched the publisher, I would not have requested this one.
Finding Margo is a decent enough mystery although it’s definitely written through a black and white filter. For instance, the only discernible differences in dialogue are among the mean people and/or bad guys. Everyone else has interchangeable diction from the old lady to the 23-year-old pop star. The kidnapper has difficulty using the word “leverage.”
The 23-year-old main character sounds like she’s forty-something and she’s supposed to be a pop star. Her characterization tested credibility.
The writing is verbose and sometimes meandering, especially for this reader who disdains heavy-handed prose. For instance: “Settling into the cushy seat, Margo rubbed at the throbbing that had begun at her temples.” Why not: Margo rubbed her throbbing temples? This wasn’t the worst case, just the first case.
There wasn’t any chemistry between Margo and Brock so it was a ho-hum romance.
There was a duck. I loved the duck.
So who is this book for? People who like squeaky clean romances with black and white arrows pointing to good and bad.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
From Amazon: Finding Margo
Last disclaimer: normally a book about a pop star would automatically go under the “music novel” subcategory, but I feel that this would be a misrepresentation.
rating: 
3 butterflies and a ladybug out of 5 butterflies