Julie Moffett

No One To Trust

Colleen

2.5 Stars
 
*This is probably the fluffiest espionage series ever*


On the one hand, the Lexi Carmichael series does meet my expectations. It’s fluffy brain candy. It’s romance with a dash of mystery. It’s short and entertaining. It’s easy to read and easy to forget.

I read the first book in the series a while ago. And while I was entertained for the most part, there were enough things that annoyed me that I was not in any rush to continue on right away. Fast forward to over two years later when I saw No One to Trust still sitting on my TBR list and decided some fluffy spy action was exactly what my exhausted, unfocused brain could use. And as with the first book, it did mostly meet my expectations. But those expectations were embarrassingly low.

The story was fairly fast-paced. And considering this is only a novella, there wasn’t room for much plot. After all, Lexi needed ample time to flirt and feel conflicted about the three (sort of four actually) men who are panting after her. I get frustrated enough with love triangles, but the overabundance of love interests made it impossible for me to focus on (or really care about) any of the romantic parts. I do like my romance to not feel like the heroine has short term memory loss and can only be interested in whichever bag of testosterone is currently in front of her. And I’m starting to get the sneaking suspicion that this series will end up like the Stephanie Plum series where the author leaves the characters in a constant love triangle just to avoid alienating fans who are rooting for opposing men.

If the number of men obsessed with Lexi doesn’t give it away, she’s smart and gorgeous but utterly in denial about her looks – to the point where one has to wonder about her supposed genius level intelligence. There was a part where she said, “I’m no Miss America—just your basic tall, skinny girl.” Yet everyone else kept saying how hot she was. Not only did Lexi remain stubbornly oblivious to her looks, she continued to have an extremely toxic self-image. While her body shaming was not nearly as prevalent as in the first book, it was still definitely there. Despite being underweight, she constantly says things along the lines of “I really shouldn’t be eating this, or I’ll get fat,” or “I can only drink diet soda.” It was so toxic.

Moffett also exhibited the same lack of fact checking about pretty much everything in this book. Whether it was technology, martial arts, or just general information, these books seriously lack even basic google searches. And it was too hard to believe Lexi was actually the supposed genius when she kept saying so much incorrect stuff.

Bringing up a big pet peeve of mine: as with the first book, Moffett refused to use the Oxford comma. And since she likes to list things in threes frequently, it was glaringly obvious and obnoxious as hell. Most grammar stuff I try to ignore (other than my favorite rant on how first person, present tense novels are substandard), but the fact that the Oxford comma is NOT OPTIONAL is a hill I will die on. And then haunt till the end of days.

Ok, so this review is pretty negative. And I do stand by those complaints. But I also have to mention again that this book is exactly what it advertises to be: a light mystery about a hot mess with multiple guys panting after her. So if that’s your thing, then you’ll probably enjoy this series.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 2 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 2 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 2 Stars
Level of Captivation: 3 Stars
Originality: 2 Stars

No One To Trust

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