Playing in Shadow by Lesley Davis

Playing in Shadow by Lesley Davis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I do not remember now what caused me the double desire to read this book and . . . reluctance to start this book. I messed up, I did, though. I should have read this a lot closer to the end of the previous book in the series. Not because the previous book was incomplete or anything. No, both books are self-contained entities. No, I mention what I mention because this really is a book following two couples, not a book wherein the couple from the first book just make cameos or are important side characters. No, a lot of the story follows the couple from the first book (Trent and Juliet), and it is almost, but not quite, as if Bryce and Scarlet are the side couple in this story instead of the budding romance couple.

Right, so. This book follows the further adventures of Trent and Juliet about . . . if I recall correctly, 2 years after the end of the previous book. Plus the coming together of Bryce and Scarlet. A bank executive tired of her career in the first book (will at the start of the first book at least), Juliet now works in landscaping for Tweedy Contractors – and is ‘heavily pregnant’. Trent still works at the gaming story she was at in the previous book. Monica and her boyfriend Elton continue to be involved and continue to be important side characters. And I mention them before the other main point of view characters to round out the characters from the previous book.

Monica and Juliet were roommates in the first book. Now it’s Monica and Scarlet Tweedy who are roommates. And as the last name indicates, Scarlet is connected to Tweedy Contractors – as both the daughter of the owner, and worker at the company (though she’d just recently moved back home from Chicago working in a completely different field (which she continues on the weekends) involving being a painter and photographer – for Tweedy Contractors she works as a house painter (there’s a different skill set between a house painter and an artist painter – though one of the paintings at the Whitney that I liked the most involved an artist ‘making a statement’ about abstract art by following his house painting skills to slap some lines on an unprimed canvas and . . . well, basically I’m saying there’s different skill sets involved). Two important things to know about Scarlet (well beyond being short-ish, pale, and having flaming red hair): 1) her father wants her to take over the company – she has no desire for that; 2) she develops a fascination towards a coworker – the only other woman who works for the company (that’s not right, there’s at least one more, um, the only other woman who goes to job sites?) but that wasn’t what I was going to mention – no, I was going to mention that is that Scarlet is bold and not afraid to take the steps needed to get what she wants. This helps here because the other main character, the coworker, is Bryce Donovan. Who is a fragile fragile woman.

As the book opens, Bryce is being examined by a doctor. Bryce wants to get back to work as soon as possible. The doctor agrees, but only limited duty. Bryce works as a . . . um, I forget the words used, she prepares walls to be painted. Bryce is still in pain, but she needs to get away from her empty apartment. And her bed. Where she doesn’t spend much time anyway – not for reasons some might leap to expect, but because she can’t sleep. Every time she does she’s back in the car – the one she was in – the one where everyone but her died in.

Right, so, Trent and Juliet continue their happy lives, awaiting the birth of Newt, while Scarlet and Bryce work through issues to get to couple hood.

There is also a ton of sex.

Rating: … I didn’t realize until I came to write this review, but I apparently rated this book higher than the previous book. Who-would-have-thought, eh? 4.45

ETA: odd, took 4 days to write review for first book in series; and took 4 days to write review for this book here.

April 18 2018



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