It Had to Be You by Delynn Royer

I loved this story. It's like Nancy Drew in the twenties. Only instead of depending on her daddy's money, this girl fends for herself as a fledgling reporter. I say fledgling not because she's not a good reporter, but because editors were hard pressed to give women chances back in those days.

But Trixie gets her chance when a story sorta falls in her lap via a little boy and a business card. A well-known local gangster called Johnny Blue Eyes is dead; the only witness comes to her; and it seems half the police force may be dirty. Who can she trust?

Sean Costigan, of course.

And so the unlikely duo team up, getting on each other's nerves and setting each other's pulses racing at the same time.

I love that the build up between these two is not insta-love, that they form a partnership. The story is not about sex either--there is none. I didn't find this romance predictable in the least. It being the first of a series, we got plenty of time and  I like it this way.

I love the heroine. From the moment she sat on her cameraman's shoulders to get a good shot in a roomful of male reporters, I was enamored with the spunky Trixie. She even called the local police force incompetent, wild good-chasing boobs. LOL. And when she's wrong, she admits it. And she doesn't let Sean push her around.

And most of all I enjoyed the humor in this story. I laughed or chuckled more times than I can count and the humor wasn't only Trixie and Sean's parts, but sprinkled throughout the tale in what folks said to each other, under their breath, phone convos, bath-time fiascos...

Lou didn't bother to respond. It was what Carter would have called "rhetorical," and what Lou would have called "Who gives a crap?"

And of course there's a mystery. Who killed Johnny Blue Eyes? Was it his soon to be ex-wife? His lackey? His two-timing girlfriend? A rival gangster? The "key" is in the hands of a little boy named Danny---if Sean and Trixie can keep him safe.

I'll be eagerly watching for the rest of this series. LOVED this book.