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Carrying On
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I set this joke up four months ago
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When Demands Don’t Align With Reality
15 May 2025 12:00 amnotalwaysworking_feedRead When Demands Don’t Align With Reality
Immediately, I know that this work order didn't exist an hour ago when I got back from lunch, and I indicate the nearly full work order board.
Manager, Manage! Part 9
14 May 2025 10:00 pmnotalwaysworking_feed
The manager on duty would periodically turn up and bark at us that we were doing our jobs badly and that the shop floor was a mess and we needed to be out there tidying up, maintaining stock levels, and helping customers.
Unshelved strip originally published on Thu, 30 Oct 2014
15 May 2025 12:00 amunshelved_feedThis classic Unshelved strip originally appeared on Thu, 30 Oct 2014.
Stopping States From Passing AI Laws for the Next Decade is a Terrible Idea
14 May 2025 11:42 pmeff_feedThis week, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee moved forward with a proposal in its budget reconciliation bill to impose a ten-year preemption of state AI regulation—essentially saying only Congress, not state legislatures, can place safeguards on AI for the next decade.
We strongly oppose this. We’ve talked before about why federal preemption of stronger state privacy laws hurts everyone. Many of the same arguments apply here. For one, this would override existing state laws enacted to mitigate against emerging harms from AI use. It would also keep states, which have been more responsive on AI regulatory issues, from reacting to emerging problems.
Finally, it risks freezing any regulation on the issue for the next decade—a considerable problem given the pace at which companies are developing the technology. Congress does not react quickly and, particularly when addressing harms from emerging technologies, has been far slower to act than states. Or, as a number of state lawmakers who are leading on tech policy issues from across the country said in a recent joint open letter, “If Washington wants to pass a comprehensive privacy or AI law with teeth, more power to them, but we all know this is unlikely.”
Even if Congress does nothing on AI for the next ten years, this would still prevent states from stepping into the breach.
Even if Congress does nothing on AI for the next ten years, this would still prevent states from stepping into the breach. Given how different the AI industry looks now from how it looked just three years ago, it’s hard to even conceptualize how different it may look in ten years. State lawmakers must be able to react to emerging issues.
Many state AI proposals struggle to find the right balance between innovation and speech, on the one hand, and consumer protection and equal opportunity, on the other. EFF supports some bills to regulate AI and opposes others. But stopping states from acting at all puts a heavy thumb on the scale in favor of companies.
Stopping states will stop progress. As the big technology companies have done (and continue to do) with privacy legislation, AI companies are currently going all out to slow or roll back legal protections in states.
For example, Colorado passed a broad bill on AI protections last year. While far from perfect, the bill set down basic requirements to give people visibility into how companies use AI to make consequential decisions about them. This year, several AI companies lobbied to delay and weaken the bill. Meanwhile, POLITICO recently reported that this push in Washington, D.C. is in direct response to proposed California rules.
We oppose the AI preemption language in the reconciliation bill and urge Congress not to move forward with this damaging proposal.
Montana Becomes First State to Close the Law Enforcement Data Broker Loophole
14 May 2025 11:04 pmeff_feedMontana has done something that many states and the United States Congress have debated but failed to do: it has just enacted the first attempt to close the dreaded, invasive, unconstitutional, but easily fixed “data broker loophole.” This is a very good step in the right direction because right now, across the country, law enforcement routinely purchases information on individuals it would otherwise need a warrant to obtain.
What does that mean? In every state other than Montana, if police want to know where you have been, rather than presenting evidence and sending a warrant signed by a judge to a company like Verizon or Google to get your geolocation data for a particular set of time, they only need to buy that same data from data brokers. In other words, all the location data apps on your phone collect —sometimes recording your exact location every few minutes—is just sitting for sale on the open market. And police routinely take that as an opportunity to skirt your Fourth Amendment rights.
Now, with SB 282, Montana has become the first state to close the data broker loophole. This means the government may not use money to get access to information about electronic communications (presumably metadata), the contents of electronic communications, contents of communications sent by a tracking devices, digital information on electronic funds transfers, pseudonymous information, or “sensitive data”, which is defined in Montana as information about a person’s private life, personal associations, religious affiliation, health status, citizen status, biometric data, and precise geolocation. This does not mean information is now fully off limits to police. There are other ways for law enforcement in Montana to gain access to sensitive information: they can get a warrant signed by a judge, they can get consent of the owner to search a digital device, they can get an “investigative subpoena” which unfortunately requires far less justification than an actual warrant.
Despite the state’s insistence on honoring lower-threshold subpoena usage, SB 282 is not the first time Montana has been ahead of the curve when it comes to passing privacy-protecting legislation. For the better part of a decade, the Big Sky State has seriously limited the use of face recognition, passed consumer privacy protections, added an amendment to their constitution recognizing digital data as something protected from unwarranted searches and seizures, and passed a landmark law protecting against the disclosure or collection of genetic information and DNA.
SB 282 is similar in approach to H.R.4639, a federal bill the EFF has endorsed, introduced by Senator Ron Wyden, called the Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act. H.R.4639 passed through the House in April 2024 but has not been taken up by the Senate.
Absent the United States Congress being able to pass important privacy protections into law, states, cities, and towns have taken it upon themselves to pass legislation their residents sorely need in order to protect their civil liberties. Montana, with a population of just over one million people, is showing other states how it’s done. EFF applauds Montana for being the first state to close the data broker loophole and show the country that the Fourth Amendment is not for sale.
Bearded Iris Week Has Returned
14 May 2025 10:17 pmscalziwhatever_feed
Krissy planted bearded iris plans several years ago, and there’s about a one week window every spring when they’re actually blooming, and this week is that week! After this week there’s just some green plants in front of our yard — which is still nice, but not the same. Sometimes I miss the Bearded Iris Week because I’m traveling, but this year I’m here for it, so I’m going to enjoy it while I can. Such is life: Catch those evanescent moments when they come around.
— JS
“Just Put Up A Sign,” They Say. “That’ll Fix It!”
14 May 2025 08:00 pmnotalwaysworking_feedRead “Just Put Up A Sign,” They Say. “That’ll Fix It!”
The worst part of this (for new, confused customers) was that ten feet from our sign with an arrow at the beginning of the sidewalk, there was a door. This door was for a doctors’ office on the first floor above us — but it wasn't a door to enter their office.
This B Is Gonna Go For A P While Y’all Figure This Out
14 May 2025 05:55 pmnotalwaysworking_feedRead This B Is Gonna Go For A P While Y’all Figure This Out
Coworker: "How do you spell 'laptop'? I can never remember if it's spelled with a B or a P."
Me: "Uh… it's lap… top. Like on your lap."
Links: ASMR, Audiobooks, & More
14 May 2025 06:00 pmsmartbitches_feed
Hello and happy Wednesday!
What a week it’s been. It’s been crawling by, mainly because of the allergies. Thank you all for your kind words last week about my potential dress and my complicated Disney feelings. It’s been a interesting thing to work through with my therapist in regards to the ways I get to experience things that felt off-limits to me as a kid.
Have any of you experience something similar?
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PC Gamer interviewed Eric Barone/ConcernedApe, the creator of Stardew Valley. One thing that that surprised Barone was all the Pierre hate.
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One of our advertisers this week is Tempt Audiobooks – it’s an unlimited romance audiobook service and they’re offering two weeks free.
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A reporter at The Atlantic discussed his journey to loving the UK show Taskmaster. I feel like I’ve seen fans of the show in the comments. This one may be behind a paywall.
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I’m not a big ASMR listener, so I have no clue why YouTube thought to show this in my algorithm. It’s a QVC inspired ASMR video and I found it hilarious. The channel really nails the home shopping host voice.
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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!
our office is swelteringly hot and no one will do anything
14 May 2025 05:59 pmaskamanager_feedA reader writes:
The room I work in is an office with about 10 cubicles located in the middle of the building. We have windows to the hallway, but none to outside.
Two summers ago, our AC broke and the temperature in the office was between 79 and 82 all summer. Management bought italian ices for the office once or twice (super helpful /s) and said if anyone wanted to work in a different room they could work anywhere that was available — not a ton of options, mostly conference rooms that were frequently in use. They eventually got that fixed, and I thought all would be well.
Unfortunately, for the past 10 months, including all through the winter, the office was so, so, so HOT. The admin assistant in my office had some way of getting into the computer behind the system to override it and turn on the AC, but then it would become freezing — no in-between — so that didn’t last long. Management is aware of the problem and tried having some repair people down, but in a sort of lackluster way, like only every few months if there were a lot of complaints.
The office is 78 degrees for most of the day, almost every day! I’m probably the hottest in the office, so I’d prefer it at something like 69, but at least at 72 or whatever we wouldn’t have everyones’ lunch and, um, other smells hanging heavy in the office. 74 would make me very uncomfortable, but 77-80 is just too much. It literally slows me down, impedes my thinking, and makes me cranky. We have a joke in the office that even Chrome slows down when the heat goes up.
I have tried working in some empty desks in cooler rooms around the office, which can also disrupt my workflow (at least with others) but is still the better option of the two, but with many new hires recently, there are no more empty offices and I’m stuck in the furnace.
Is there any way to communicate to management that this is really not working for me? I have mentioned it in the past, but I think they just look at me as the office kvetch. Occasionally, my manager will walk in and comment, “Gosh, it’s really hot in here!” like this is news to her, to which I’ll respond, “Yes, and it makes it very difficult to work.” Which to me is asking, “Can you just DO something about this?” but I guess it doesn’t mean that to her because she just moves on. (Well, yeah, she’s not the one sitting there all day.)
Anyway, my question is if this is in any way an HR issue. I’m trying to figure out how to escalate this so it is taken seriously. Can I send HR an email explaining that this has been going on too long and I need a serious solution (along with the pictures of the thermostat that I’ve been taking daily)? If so, how exactly should I phrase my request so that it doesn’t come across as too complaining, but is also not ignored? If not, what other solutions would you suggest?
I’m slowly melting and getting more desperate as we head into summer.
Yeah, that is way too hot for a lot of people.
OSHA doesn’t require specific temperatures, but they do recommend 68-76° F, and you’re outside of that range every day. Moreover, that OSHA range is about safety, not comfort. Day after day of 78° would be really difficult for a lot of people. It’s also one thing to ask you to deal with discomfort for a day or two while something is being fixed (although not ideal even then), but asking you to accept it as a long-term condition is not okay.
It also sounds like your management is being deliberately oblivious. Your manager knows it’s too hot if she’s commenting on it when she walks in and you’re telling her it’s making it hard to work, and …. nothing?
However, it’s worth checking that assumption. Is there any chance your manager doesn’t realize these are the conditions every day? If you’re replying “Yes, and it makes it very difficult to work” (as you wrote in your letter), that actually doesn’t tell her that it’s that way every day, so that’s the next step if it hasn’t already been done. Tell her very explicitly, “You know how you often comment on how hot it is when you come in our office? It’s like that every day, and it’s very difficult to work in the heat. I’ve raised this before but it hasn’t changed. How do we get the temperature addressed? These aren’t sustainable working conditions.”
If that doesn’t work or you’re confident she already knows, then yes: HR. (And maybe HR regardless, since your manager seems pretty ineffectual.) The wording you want is: “For the past 10 months, including through the winter, the temperature in office has been uncomfortably hot. The repair work has not solved the problem, and most days the temperature in the office is 78°, which is two degrees over OSHA’s recommended maximum temperature. How can we get this fixed as soon as possible, so that we’re back within the OSHA-recommended range?”
Those mentions of OSHA are intentional. While the OSHA “recommendation” doesn’t have real teeth, it’s likely to make them take the complaint more seriously. You also might check to see if your state OSHA regulations are any more stringent.
Also: I’m guessing you have coworkers who are also fed up. This complaint should come from all of you; pushing as a group will make you much harder to dismiss.
The post our office is swelteringly hot and no one will do anything appeared first on Ask a Manager.
KDDs, Non-Fiction, & More
14 May 2025 03:30 pmsmartbitches_feedPeople We Meet on Vacation
RECOMMENDED: People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry is $4.99 and a Kindle Daily Deal! I feel like Henry’s romances rarely go on sale. Carrie reviewed this one and gave it a B:
Because of the structure of the book, the focus on Poppy’s character growth, and the happy for now ending, I think readers will enjoy this book most if they approach it as romantic comedy. The banter alone makes this book a fun read, not to mention the locations and the supporting characters. Pack a bookmark and have a good time.
Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.
From the New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read, a sparkling new novel that will leave you with the warm, hazy afterglow usually reserved for the best vacations.
Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.
Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.
Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.
Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?
Miss Moriarty, I Presume?
Miss Moriarty, I Presume? by Sherry Thomas is $1.99 and a KDD! This is book six in the Lady Sherlock series. The series has been reviewed favorably on the site and I know Sarah was really looking forward to this one.
A most unexpected client shows up at Charlotte Holmes’s doorstep: Moriarty himself. Moriarty fears that tragedy has befallen his daughter and wants Charlotte to find out the truth.
Charlotte and Mrs. Watson travel to a remote community of occult practitioners where Moriarty’s daughter was last seen, a place full of lies and liars. Meanwhile, Charlotte’s sister Livia tries to make sense of a mysterious message from her beau Mr. Marbleton. And Charlotte’s longtime friend and ally Lord Ingram at last turns his seductive prowess on Charlotte–or is it the other way around?
But the more secrets Charlotte unravels about Miss Moriarty’s disappearance, the more she wonders why Moriarty has entrusted this delicate matter to her of all people. Is it merely to test Charlotte’s skills as an investigator, or has the man of shadows trapped her in a nest of vipers?
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams is $2.99! Get your tissues because you’re going to need them for this one. This is a contemporary romance with hints of magical realism and historical elements. Fingers crossed this isn’t an expiring deal.
Leap years are a strange, enchanted time. And for some, even a single February can be life-changing.
Ricki Wilde has many talents, but being a Wilde isn’t one of them. As the impulsive, artistic daughter of a powerful Atlanta dynasty, she’s the opposite of her famous socialite sisters. Where they’re long-stemmed roses, she’s a dandelion: an adorable bloom that’s actually a weed, born to float wherever the wind blows. In her bones, Ricki knows that somewhere, a different, more exciting life awaits her.
When regal nonagenarian, Ms. Della, invites her to rent the bottom floor of her Harlem brownstone, Ricki jumps at the chance for a fresh beginning. She leaves behind her family, wealth, and chaotic romantic decisions to realize her dream of opening a flower shop. And just beneath the surface of her new neighborhood, the music, stories and dazzling drama of the Harlem Renaissance still simmers.
One evening in February as the heady, curiously off-season scent of night-blooming jasmine fills the air, Ricki encounters a handsome, deeply mysterious stranger who knocks her world off balance in the most unexpected way.
Set against the backdrop of modern Harlem and Renaissance glamour, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is a swoon-worthy love story of two passionate artists drawn to the magic, romance, and opportunity of New York, and whose lives are uniquely and irreversibly linked.
Dangerous Books for Girls
Dangerous Books for Girls by Maya Rodale is $2.99! This is a nonfiction book about romance novels. Some readers thought this was an informative and passionate look at romance, while others felt it came across defensive at times. If I remember correctly, this is based on Rodale’s Master’s thesis.
Long before clinch covers and bodice rippers, romance novels have had a bad reputation as the lowbrow lit of desperate housewives and hopeless spinsters. But in fact, romance novels—the escape and entertainment of choice for millions of women—might prove to be the most revolutionary writing ever produced.
Dangerous Books for Girls examines the origins of the genre’s bad reputation—from the “damned mob of scribbling women” in the nineteenth century to the sexy mass-market paperbacks of the twentieth century—and shows how these books have inspired and empowered generations of women to dream big, refuse to settle, and believe they’re worth it.
For every woman who has ever hidden the cover of a romance—and for every woman who has been curious about those “Fabio books”—Dangerous Books For Girls shows why there’s no room for guilt when reading for pleasure.
That’s… Almost A Compliment?
14 May 2025 04:00 pmnotalwaysworking_feed
how do I manage someone with extreme social anxiety who calls out before events?
14 May 2025 02:59 pmaskamanager_feedA reader writes:
I manage someone with extreme social anxiety who seems a lot like person #1 in this column.
Lee is very good at their job-specific tasks, which are largely operational and do not require much social interaction with the team or outsiders. We have established some office protocols that help support them (allowing camera-off in Zoom meetings, using Teams chat as a communication tool, etc.)
However, we are a very small team and do have times when we need all hands on deck — for example, for an event for all of our clients, when I need Lee to do something like staff the registration table so other staff are free to lead parts of the event that are more related to their jobs. When that happens, Lee will frequently call out sick the day of and then we are scrambling. They will have known for many weeks about the event coming and never say to me in advance, “I don’t want to do this.” They know we are counting on them to show up, and even have tasks assigned to them during our planning meetings so these aren’t surprise or last-minute requests.
Lee does in fact get sick pretty often, and I’m not looking to question someone’s sick time needs. But the pattern is becoming a problem and I’m not sure how to proceed. Thoughts? How strongly can I say, “These events/activities are part of your job and I need to be able to rely you to show up”? (Especially if they aren’t really job-specific functions.)
How often do these events come up and how essential is Lee’s presence there?
If the events are fairly infrequent and the most disruptive part of Lee’s absence is the last-minute nature of it, can you reframe this as a medical accommodation? In other words, Lee has a medical condition (anxiety) that makes attending the events difficult, so you’re going to excuse them from being there because (a) attending isn’t an essential function of their job and (b) it’s easier to plan if you know from the start that Lee won’t be there rather than counting on their presence and then having to scramble at the last minute.
That would be in line with your obligations as an employer under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which says that an employee with a disability doesn’t need to be able to perform “marginal functions of a position” — only essential ones — in order to be protected. Marginal functions are ones that aren’t central to the job. To determine what functions are marginal vs. essential, the ADA looks at things like whether the function is included in the written job description, the amount of time the person typically spends performing the function, and the consequences of not requiring the person to perform the function. (This assumes that the issue is in fact anxiety and that it rises to the level where it would be considered a qualifying disability under the ADA — but you’re generally better off erring on the side of assuming it is, particularly if the circumstances on your team make it possible to do that, and assuming you don’t have reason to believe otherwise.)
On the other hand, if the events are frequent and it’s an essential part of Lee’s job to be there, that’s a different conversation. In that case, the conversation is: “We’re a small team and we need all hands on deck at events like X and Y. Showing up to do Z is a requirement of your job. You’ve frequently ended up not showing up the day of, which leaves us scrambling at the last minute. Obviously last-minute illnesses will happen, but I’m concerned about the pattern. Except in cases of real emergency, I need to be able to count on you to be there. Realistically, is that something you can do?”
The post how do I manage someone with extreme social anxiety who calls out before events? appeared first on Ask a Manager.
Maybe We Should Stick to Baby Blocks And Umbrellas...
14 May 2025 01:00 pmcakewrecks_feedI can understand wanting to get more creative with your baby shower designs, bakers, but please, NOT LIKE THIS:
"The rare squiggle-spitting dingle-dangler immobilizes its prey with a unique 'spit net' that some cultures find quite tasty."
At first you think this is just another crocheted baby with exposed brains:
But turn the cake around, and...
...now I'm just really confused.
Did anyone ever show you the trick of making a tiny footprint stamp with the side of your hand? And then you use your fingers to stamp the toes?
Yes?
Well, then, did anyone ever tell you to keep your grubby hands off of other people's food?
Look closely.
In case you need MORE proof that bakers troll this site for "fun new" decorating ideas:
But you'll note there are STILL no air holes.
If that doesn't seem morbid enough for you, though, then how about a one-year-old's head on a tree stump?
I was about to say that at least this isn't a baby shower cake, but then I realized how much worse it is as a one-year-old's birthday cake:
"Look, kiddo! That's YOUR head! Do you like it? Look, I'm slicing off 'your' nose now, haha! Now, how big of a piece of your face do you want to eat? And why are you crying?"
And finally, I keep thinking bakers have reached the pinnacle of creepiness with their torso cakes: from protruding feet to perky nips to Wraith-hand-manicures, but I must say this is a new twist:
"I call it, 'Womb With a View.'"
Thanks to Anony M., Monique K., Cori M., Lyndsay S., Madina S., & Alexandra M. for the labors of... love? Ok, sure. Love.
Update from john- So it turns out the baby head on a stump cake is actually from the sweet, innocent, Slavik fairytale Kolobok. In said fairytale, a yellow, spherical being (creepy baby head) becomes animated and escapes from its grandparents. (I'm still trying to figure out how a newly-animated spherical being even has grandparents.) In the end, like so many other sweet, innocent fairytales, the creepy baby head is eaten by a fox. So, ya know, not creepy at all. Sleep tight, kids!
*****
P.S. I found the perfect shirt for the next time you go to a baby shower:
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
ikeahacker_feedThongs Got A Scandi Makeover! To celebrate 50 glorious years of meatballs, BILLY bookcases, and relationship-testing flatpack builds in Australia, IKEA has done the most IKEA thing imaginable: created the world’s first-ever flat-packed flip flops – or should we say FLIP FLÖPS. “It’s our way of saying thank you – and a reminder that after 50 years, we’re just getting started,” says IKEA Australia CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer, Mirja Viinanen. These limited-edition sandals are real, wearable, and they’re free. […]
The post IKEA Australia Just Launched Flat-Packed Flip Flops – And They’re Free If You’re Quick appeared first on IKEA Hackers.
A Trinket for the Taking by Victoria Laurie
14 May 2025 08:00 amsmartbitches_feed
This book and the review mention suicide.
I picked up this book for its cover. The blue really spoke to me. Plus it was on sale. That’s two things in its favour. Not a very substantial reason to start a book, but it is what it is. Now that I’ve read it, I can list a few more things it has going for it, although there are some negatives, too.
Dovey van Dalen is a mystic. She was spellbound at 18 and so ages really really slowly. She’s currently a very attractive woman of indeterminate age, but she’s actually 200 years old. She lives in present day Washington, DC working for Elric – a very powerful mystic in charge of a large area of North America. She’s also been in love with Elric and committed to him for nigh on 180 years.
Dovey’s job is to retrieve lost trinkets. Mystics imbue small items like jewellery and watches with power and spells so they can serve a function beyond their everyday use.
For example, the trinket that Dovey is tasked with finding in this book is a ring that convinces people to commit suicide when they see it.
This trinket has been stolen and it’s leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. A trail that the unbound (or fully human, non-mystic) world takes notice of in the form of an FBI agent, Grant ‘Gib’ Barlow.
Gib and Dovey work together to track down the culprits, but Dovey keeps Gib in the dark about what’s really causing these deaths. She hides her powers and her truth from him, too. Her heart, however, does not hide. There is flirting, for sure, coming from both parties. But can this go anywhere when he is unbound and Elric is a jealous lover (despite Elric having multiple affairs and even a wife)?
There are a couple of things that really worked for me in this book. First, the world-building. I don’t read a lot of paranormal romance or contemporary romance with fantasy elements. But for me, I enjoyed the way the basis for all magical actions was through these trinkets. The trinkets were hoarded and stolen from each other and swapped. I found it vivid and original and I enjoyed the tremendous creativity in terms of how the story unfolds. Second, I enjoyed that there were a number of side characters and subplots along with the main mystery and romance storylines.
There are, however, some things that didn’t work for me. It’s somewhat a cosy mystery but the body count is exceptionally high before there is any progress made on the case. In fact, the mystery plot only gets proper traction in the last 5% of the novel. Looking back after I finished, I can see the two or so clues that told me who the culprit was, but while I was reading it felt like Gib and Dovey were making no progress at all and people just kept dying. If the body count hadn’t been so high and there’d maybe been a few red herrings or some tangible progress along the way, it would have worked better for me. As it was, I was stressed out wondering why they weren’t getting anywhere.
The other thing that didn’t work for me sounds a bit ridiculous but both Gib and Dovey were too attractive to be cosy mystery leads. For reasons I don’t understand, I expect cosy mystery leads to be ordinary-looking folk. I’m not sure where I get this from, but it felt jarring to have the two main characters be physically very attractive people. Another thing is that Gib works with Dovey almost too enthusiastically. Aren’t law enforcement supposed to be sceptical of ‘private detectives’? But they become a team almost immediately. Is it because they find each other attractive?
As for the romance, there’s a lot of longing coming from both parties although the story is only told from Dovey’s POV. They’ve got significant barriers to an HEA and those are unpacked in the story. There’s certainly no HEA but they do reach an accord of some kind. This makes me curious about how their romance will unfold in the next book in the series which is due out near the end of 2025.
Looking at it with a bit of distance, this book is distinctly middle of the road for me. While I had a mostly good time reading it and I’m certainly curious about the next installment, it didn’t set my world on fire. It had enough to hold my interest for the duration, which can’t be overstated. In my Kindle I have more books in my ‘boring’ collection than I do in my ‘read’ collection. This book had a spark of creativity that I enjoyed, but it didn’t turn into that reading inferno that comes with a great book.