City Limits by Sheralyn Pratt

Synopsis: In the third installment of the Rhea Jensen series, Rhea's best friend Kay McCoy moves to Salt Lake City to keep a closer eye on Rhea, and Rhea worries that Kay wants things to go back to the way they were in Los Angeles - clubbing, dancing, and men. But when Rhea agrees to do a simple, harmless favor for Kay, she unwittingly sets off a series of events that ends up with a secret society appearing right at her door. The stakes are higher than ever - solving the case means more than just collecting her weekly paycheck. This time, it's a matter of life and death.

Review: I really enjoy this series. I really like Rhea and Kay. I like that they help each other out and enjoy their close friendship. This installment has plenty of action and not a dull moment. It moves along quickly and you have to keep turning the pages to find out what will happen next. I do wish we had a little more background on Rhea. The first couple of books she’s just a cool PI, but this time around she is like a Super-PI. Maybe her background will be brought up in the next book, but at times I felt a little lost in this one. The bad guy seemed to come out of the blue and seems it will take the series in a totally different angle than just a cool PI solving mysteries. So, while I totally enjoyed the story and will keep reading the series I’m only giving this one three stars because I was just a little lost in this one. Besides not knowing more about Rhea’s past, there are a couple other reasons holding me back from really loving this one.

First, the relationship with Ty and Rhea, I just don’t buy it. I don’t really know who Ty is and what purpose he has besides being Rhea’s “trophy-boy” who looks good and is there occasionally to lend moral support. I think their relationship is just too private. I didn’t get to be there for when they first met, or the three months leading up to them dating. I missed the four weeks they are dating and any important conversations they might have had. I think Ty’s past is brushed over too much and it’s too easily accepted that he’s “changed”. I don’t really know what he was like before and I just have a vague idea of who he is now. In my mind, they don’t know each other near well enough (or long enough) to be making the kind of commitments they are talking about making. And, he just seems kind of useless compared to Rhea, almost pathetic. Like he’s the old-fashioned wife who is told to stay at home while the “man” takes care of business. I’m all for a kick-butt heroine that is smart and can take care of herself. But, at the same time I’m kind of traditional and like my men to be men and women to be feminine. I wouldn’t mind Rhea being a little more feminine and actually have Ty be more manly and maybe help her out a bit more, instead of being the obedient and disapear into the background when trouble comes knocking.

Secondly, the first couple of books there is a nice side story of Rhea joining the LDS church. I was a little lost in this book, and I guess so was Rhea. I was left wondering why she even bothered to join? It seems like she is kind of negative about the church and even the members, especially poor Andy (why are they so mean to Andy? Making fun of his clothes, car, etc. They think he is judgmental, but really I think Ty, Kay and Rhea are the ones being judgmental). There wasn’t as much of the church stuff in this book, it seems like it was just pushed to the back burner. I’m left wondering why she joined if she is going to be so blasé about it and not really commit.

The Rhea Jensen Series:
Book One: City of Angels
Book Two: Welcome to Salt Lake City
Book Three: City Limits
Book Four: Kay'sVille