Review: Dude Magnet by Gregory Ashe

Title: Dude Magnet

Series: The Last Picks: Book Two

Author: Gregory Ashe

Length: 212 Pages

Category: Cozy Mystery

Rating: 5 Stars

At a Glance: This little nugget of a story is sheer perfection. It’s funny, heartwarming, and yes, there are murdery bits to give Dash focus, forcing him to make decision after decision (which he allegedly isn’t very good at).

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: You can’t hide from the truth. And apparently, you can’t hide from your ex either.

Dashiell Dawson Dane wants the simple things in life: to live in a (possibly) haunted mansion, to avoid socializing at all costs, and to write, and possibly finish, a book.

Unfortunately, the real world has a way of intruding. And since unfinished manuscripts don’t pay the bills, he finds himself persuaded—against his better judgment—to rent out Hemlock House for a wedding.

Having his ex-boyfriend, Hugo, arrive unexpectedly during the preparations is bad enough. But when Hugo is arrested for the murder of the groom-to-be, Dash seems to be the only one who believes he didn’t do it. And Dash’s efforts to uncover the truth will draw the attention of the real killer—who has a great deal to gain, and nothing to lose.

Review: It shouldn’t surprise me that Gregory Ashe still manages to surprise me with something a little different in every book he writes. Whether it’s a shocking twist or a heart-wrenching revelation, there’s always something just a bit different to engage my emotions. In The Last Picks series, and Dude Magnet, specifically, the surprise is in how incredibly charming and funny the characters are, and how invested I am in Dash Dane’s love life. Sure, there are murder mysteries to solve, but give me that good, good romantic suspense all day, every day. Dashiell Dawson Dane is dishing it with vigor.

When his ex, Hugo, shows up on his doorstep, uninvited and unexpeected, it throws a little extra tumult into Dash’s already tumultuous efforts to make his recently inherited home work to pay for itself. Not only are the bride and groom, whose wedding Dash is considering hosting at Hemlock House, beyond the pale, but the extended family are also a bit of a nightmare. When everything (un)expectedly goes haywire, Dash is caught between Hugo and the groom-to-be’s twin brother, Cole, who is sweet and earnest and waving some major red flags.

And things only get worse from there.

Then there’s Deputy Bobby. He’s not necessarily impartial or objective where Dash is concerned, and Ashe is giving readers one heck of a tease where their friendship ::winkwinknudgenudge:: is concerned. Things are complicated, and only getting more so, and I’m intensely interested in how things between them will pan out, which is where the romantic suspense scores an eleven out of ten on the will-they/won’t-they meter.

This little nugget of a story is sheer perfection. It’s funny, heartwarming, and yes, there are murdery bits to give Dash focus, forcing him to make decision after decision (which he allegedly isn’t very good at). And his tight-knit group of friends are becoming their own little family right before our eyes. The most unexpected thing to come of this book, though? That’s how much I ended up loving Hugo. I didn’t expect that, and I hope he’ll come back around someday.