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A review by heabooknerd
What We May Be by Layla Reyne
2.0
I have such mixed feelings about WHAT WE MAY BE and ultimately it felt too uneven and too many things didn't make sense. On a positive note, the writing was very easy to read and I liked Sean, Trevor, and Charlie as individual characters. They each bring a little something different to the relationship and they were each fairly distinctive characters. However, their romance was definitely second tier to the murder mystery and left the overall pacing of the book feeling off. Things start off with a steamy reconnection between all three and then nothing else happens between them until almost 40%, not even a kiss. And most of their respective POV chapters aren't really even focused on their attraction or their longing for each other. After 40% the relationship has a few token moments but again, those moments get pretty overwhelmed by new clues or developments in the case.
A large factor in my lower rating is that there were too many things that didn't make any sense, especially in regards to how their initial breakup happened 10 years prior. Why would Sean give his new police badge, the necklace Charlie gifted him, and his engagement ring to a third party (trying not to spoil things) just because he had to rush out of town? And I'm supposed to believe that these three deeply passionate and in love people never tried to fight for each other? That hotheaded Trevor never decided to call and confront Sean about his supposed abandonment. Yeah no, Trevor would definitely not pass up a moment to yell at Sean for being stupid, if not for himself, then certainly for Charlie's sake.
Additionally, everyone talks about how Charlie is this great detective but she hardly does any police work, Sean (who's not even there in an official capacity) takes over most of her suspect interviews and Trevor (who isn't even a cop) is the one who figures out most of the clues and connections left by the killer. And the thing that really blew my mind, Sean's FBI friend Marsh illegally hacks into a suspect's phone records while in the police station, with the full knowledge of several cops including Charlie who is the Deputy Chef and no one seems to think for a second this is a bad idea?? The only reason they have to arrest this suspect is a single piece of evidence they found after being granted a search warrant that is based on illegally obtained information. I don't usually nitpick police procedure in romance books but this was so blatantly illegal and incorrect that I just couldn't get past it.
Throw in some unnecessary angst with Trevor's ex-wife who hates Charlie, an unusually large secondary cast that are too interconnected, a secret about Charlie's mother that a surprising number of people seem to know about, and the last 10% that rushes through like four different possible suspects and WHAT WE MAY BE just didn't work for me. I probably should have DNFed earlier on but I wanted to know who the killer was so here we are.
Content Warning: book starts with a funeral for Charlie's father and brother; Sean's adoptive father is dying of cancer; reference to a side character's overdose and possible attempted suicide; frequent references to Charlie's mother's death years prior
A large factor in my lower rating is that there were too many things that didn't make any sense, especially in regards to how their initial breakup happened 10 years prior. Why would Sean give his new police badge, the necklace Charlie gifted him, and his engagement ring to a third party (trying not to spoil things) just because he had to rush out of town? And I'm supposed to believe that these three deeply passionate and in love people never tried to fight for each other? That hotheaded Trevor never decided to call and confront Sean about his supposed abandonment. Yeah no, Trevor would definitely not pass up a moment to yell at Sean for being stupid, if not for himself, then certainly for Charlie's sake.
Additionally, everyone talks about how Charlie is this great detective but she hardly does any police work, Sean (who's not even there in an official capacity) takes over most of her suspect interviews and Trevor (who isn't even a cop) is the one who figures out most of the clues and connections left by the killer. And the thing that really blew my mind, Sean's FBI friend Marsh illegally hacks into a suspect's phone records while in the police station, with the full knowledge of several cops including Charlie who is the Deputy Chef and no one seems to think for a second this is a bad idea?? The only reason they have to arrest this suspect is a single piece of evidence they found after being granted a search warrant that is based on illegally obtained information. I don't usually nitpick police procedure in romance books but this was so blatantly illegal and incorrect that I just couldn't get past it.
Throw in some unnecessary angst with Trevor's ex-wife who hates Charlie, an unusually large secondary cast that are too interconnected, a secret about Charlie's mother that a surprising number of people seem to know about, and the last 10% that rushes through like four different possible suspects and WHAT WE MAY BE just didn't work for me. I probably should have DNFed earlier on but I wanted to know who the killer was so here we are.
Content Warning: book starts with a funeral for Charlie's father and brother; Sean's adoptive father is dying of cancer; reference to a side character's overdose and possible attempted suicide; frequent references to Charlie's mother's death years prior