2 Bloggers 1 Book 2019 - A Dangerous Collaboration

So welcome to a new year of "2 Bloggers 1 Book!"  Stormi and I have so much fun reading the same books that I don't think either one of us planned on discontinuing this feature as we moved into a new year.  So for our first choice of a brand new year, we picked the newest book from a series we both adore.  So check out my thoughts and then head over to Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My! and see what Stormi thought.

TITLE: A Dangerous Collaboration (Veronica Speedwell #4)

AUTHOR: Deanna Raybourn

PUBLISHER: Berkley

PUBLISHING DATE: March 12, 2019

FROM GOODREADS: Victorian adventuress Veronica Speedwell is whisked off to a remote island off the tip of Cornwall when her natural historian colleague Stoker's brother calls in a favor. On the pretext of wanting a companion to accompany him to Lord Malcolm Romilly's house party, Tiberius persuades Veronica to pose as his fiancée--much to Stoker's chagrin. But upon arriving, it becomes clear that the party is not as innocent as it had seemed. Every invited guest has a connection to Romilly's wife, Rosamund, who disappeared on her wedding day three years ago, and a dramatic dinner proves she is very much on her husband's mind.                                                                                                                                                                                        As spectral figures, ghostly music, and mysterious threats begin to plague the partygoers, Veronica enlists Stoker's help to discover the host's true motivations. And as they investigate, it becomes clear that there are numerous mysteries surrounding the Romilly estate, and every person present has a motive to kill Rosamund...

MY THOUGHTS: So in looking back, I rated the first book 4/5 and the second and the third 5/5 so I expected good things from the latest installment.  And I seriously love this series. I don't do "book boyfriends" but if I did, Stoker is the best I could ever think of.  So needless to say, I dove right into "A Dangerous Collaboration" highly anticipating it to be one of my favorite reads of 2019.  I have to admit, I did really enjoy it but it fell flat in a few areas.  However, I still need to rave about it.

In "A Dangerous Collaboration," Veronica heads off to a remote island with Stoker's annoying Viscount brother - Tiberius.  He has promised her the larvae of an elusive rare butterfly and all she has to do is accompany him (and also pose as his fiancee).  Oh, and there might be another catch.  A few years ago, Lord Romilly's wife disappeared and the island gathering is a secret mission to discover what happened to dear old Rosamund.  

To say I don't care much for Tiberius is an understatement.  He has set his eyes on Veronica and in my opinion, has really only done so because he knows it will annoy his brother Stoker to no ends.  Also, Tiberius' presences seems to make Veronica make stupid decisions - like pushing Stoker away before a relationship can even begin.  Enough said about that.  I definitely enjoyed the banter between the three of them and "A Dangerous Collaboration" does introduce us to some unique island characters - my favorite being Romilly's sister, Mertensia.  She is strange and odd and I felt a weird connection to her.  Plus she not-so-secretly had a crush on Stoker so there's that as well.

So the mystery portion of the book centers around Rosamund's disappearance.  Was she a run away bride, did she accidentally perish, or was she murdered?  The resolution was interesting enough and there was a whole cast of suspects so I never really could pin down what happened and why.  I just sort of didn't care.  I didn't feel attached to Rosamund and was much more worried about whether Veronica and Stoker would finally admit they have feelings for each other or die before doing so which is SOOOO out of character for me.

If you love this series, then I have no doubt that this book is already on your TBR.  If you haven't started, then I cannot stress enough that you need to do so.  It is really well written and honestly, there are good mysteries at the basis of each and every book.  I'm super curious about where the next book will lead us and majorly bummed that I'm going to have to wait a whole another year to find out!

RATING: 4 PAWS