Long and Short Reviews

Bad Bettie by Layne Blacque
The Wild Rose Press, Vintage Rose
American Historical
Short story, Spicy
Review by Snapdragon

In 1948 Los Angeles, Detective Mike O'Neal is a handsome cop whose world is changed forever after his squad raids Sugartown, a happening nightclub just off the beaten path. During the bust he watches helplessly as sultry blues singer Bettie Bleue is cut down by a stray bullet. After rushing her to the hospital, he can't bring himself to leave her bedside. When she awakens, he decides to never leave her side at all.

But wooing Bad Bettie has its complications. She's a bit flashy and hard to figure out for a straight arrow like the detective. Her sexy job and curvy build provoke beefs with the sort of men who don't take no for an answer. And having most of society against their love ain't a picnic, either.

♥ ♥ ♥

Bad blues rhythm offers a pulsing backdrop to “Bad Bettie”, Book 1 in the Sugartown Blues series, by Layne Blaque. The tale even kicks off with a rhyming lyric that is so much fun to read, I wish I could hear Bettie belt it out: “Bad, bad, bad, bad Bettie, singing her bad-ass song, Bad, bad, bad, bad Bettie, I’ll rock you all night long…”

This particular LA hotspot has its share of the good and the bad – and one sharp-witted detective, Mike O’Neal. It’s 1948, racism is simply a reality, and someone wants to kill a spicy, colored nightclub singer. Or was it some drug-related one-time thing? Miss Bettie – stunning Miss Bettie, the free spirit, assures him that Sugartown isn’t a drug joint. And it’s not that Mike doesn’t believe her, but he seems unable to quite trust himself. She’s lovely – but she can’t be for him – or can she? Is he indulging in a little fantasy? And...oh dear, is Miss Bettie smart enough to see right through him? Their fast paced dialogue will make you laugh – even while you feel bad for poor Mikey, who she can twist into knots with a word!

It’s “on the level”-- from word choice, dialogue and descriptions, you’ll feel like an insider to an old-time nightclub scene when you read this – and you can’t help hoping that it will work out (oh so impossibly!) between the two of them. Can it ever really work? Can it work as a secret? Or – could it possibly ever work out, for keeps? You’ll be on the edge of your seat.

This one gets a 4.5 for fabulous, original story; powerful and straightforward writing style; and for how that husky voiced singer’s song seems to create a backdrop for the whole saga. I cannot wait for Sugartown Blues, book 2.