Counterfeit Conspiracies, is the first in the Bodies of Art series. Laurel Beacham, works for an art recovery company. When she is on a job to recover a snuff box, her contact is killed and a mystery man, Jack Hawkes, enters her life. As she is ready to take a vacation she gets a new job, to pick up a sword that needs to authenticated as "Arthur's sword" Unfortunately she ends up with Jack Hawkes, for a surprise partner. As she travels all over England, Italy and France the pace is fast. Laurel, loves art and she wants to protect it from the evil and keep it public for everyone to enjoy.

Laurel is a strong character who matches wits with Jack (James Bond reference). This is a fast paced book, that takes you on subways, planes, fast cars, and motorcycles all with Laurel being in danger. She is shot at, a victim of attempted kidnapping and just a little romance sizzling in the background. I did find the beginning a little confusing, but stick with it for a great read.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Dauntless Laurel Beacham marches through this book saving art and foiling attackers while searching for a missing friend. This is the first book in an exciting new series about villainy in the art world, set (so far) in The UK and Europe.

Laurel is a lover of art, and believes that art should be preserved and shared, for everyone to enjoy. The foundation that she works for allows her to investigate claims of fraud and forgery, and righteously recover stolen artworks and artifacts. Along the way, a touch of romance is hinted at in the character of Jack, a worthy adversary who appears to have a similar skill set as Laurel, and mysterious powerful backing. More on that will have to wait until later books, as this book is primarily about Laurel getting the job done.

The pacing is breakneck, and at time the details do not always completely answer my questions of how and why. I would have enjoyed a little more back story on Laurel, the foundation and the other characters. This is a series, so more might be revealed in future books. The second book in the series, Marked Masters, was published in 2015, so I will definitely be reading that next.

This is an enjoyable read, not your typical cozy, being full of action. Three and a half stars, rounded up to four because of the author's commitment to Laurel's character, the unusual premise, and the roller coaster thrilliness of the story.

**eARC Netgalley**








**eARC Netgalley** ( )

An artful mystery

I enjoyed this book, it had plenty of movement and the main character was a strong lead.

Laurel is an art recovery expert who is on assignment in London. Things go south from the get-go. Someone is feeding her false information - is it Back the handsome, eyes-in-the-back-of-his-head, man who seems to turn up everywhere Laurel goes? Or is there a mile in the company she works for. Laurel is used to being in her own but never with this many twists and turns.

Really the biggest thing that kept me from giving this a 5 star is because there were too many unanswered questions. I know it's a series but I (as mentioned in the book) need more closure.

Read if you like a fast-paced, easy read. Don't read if you want all the storylines tied up. ( )

A very fun, fast, non-stop adventure from woe to go. Laurel is supremely capable and holds her own in every situation. Jack is the cliche of international man of mystery, and I like him anyway. Setting a series in the midst of the art-recovery world is equivalent to giving my cat catnip as far as my tastes are concerned.

My two biggest disappointments with this book were Laurel's constant cycle of "I can't trust him. I can't trust anybody." Jack would track her down, she'd run away. He'd find her, she'd run away. Again, and again, and again. It got old long before the book ended. My second complaint concerns the number of typos; Henery Press has spoiled me to this point by putting out books that were almost error free, but I guess the streak had to end at some point. A lot of missing words, a few extra words, at least one continuity error.

Mostly the book was a lot of fun and I'm definitely getting the next book; hopefully Laurel willl pull her head out and stop running away. ( )

http://joannesbooks.blogspot.com/2016/03/counterfeit-conspiracies-bodies-of-art.... ( )