Why are the New Orleans mobs interested in an author of kids books?

Welcome to humorous romantic suspense

I read quite a bit of crime fiction, including notable authors like Peter Robinson, Ruth Rendell, and Michael Connelly. They all write police procedurals and while I enjoy them, I also like ‘cozy’ mysteries. And then, I don’t mind a bit of romance in the stories as long as it doesn’t get in the way of the REAL plot. Think crime with romantic elements. Or as Pauline Baird Jones puts it, “humorous romantic suspense”.

She’s a quirky children’s book author. He’s a homicide detective who prefers silence. What could go wrong?

Nell Whitby is starting fresh in New Orleans—sketching tourists, dodging the past, and living the dream of publishing her veggie-themed, Alphonse the Artichoke picture books. But when she crashes into a carjacking in progress (on a bike, no less) and accidentally saves a handsome off-duty detective, her quiet life turns explosively loud.

Detective Alex Baker has two goals: solve murders and avoid anything that screams “family.” But when bullets start flying, mobsters start dying, and a certain eccentric redhead keeps ending up in danger, Alex realizes he might be falling for the one woman guaranteed to complicate everything.

Caught in a whirlwind of secrets, hitmen, and unexpected kisses, can Nell and Alex survive the chaos long enough to find their own happy ending?

Relatively Risky is the first laugh-out-loud, heart-racing adventure in The Big Uneasy romantic suspense series by USA Today bestselling author Pauline Baird Jones.

👉 If you love lovable chaos, sizzling clean romance, and offbeat heroines who hit back—start reading today!

Relatively Risky is set in New Orleans where the author lived for a number of years. I’ve never been there, so can’t attest to the accuracy, but the settings worked for me. I could feel the steamy climate, see old Man River oozing past, smell the frangipanis (plumerias), nod understandingly at the parking problems, and lust after the luscious food.

The story revolves around New Orleans’s gangster families and their relationships with each other. There’s even a nod to Romeo and Juliet in the plot. With rival crime families, there’s always disputed turf and people with scores to settle and ambitions to achieve. And guns. All of that bubbles through this book via well-drawn characters from the mob families. Alex Baker meets the lovely Nell quite by accident (literally) and soon finds himself wondering why an author of kids books is of interest to the New Orleans gangs?

I’ll admit that this was one of those books that didn’t grab me the first time I tried it. I think sometimes that happens when ‘this is not the book for you at this time’ happens. After a week or two I had another go and just went along for the ride. That worked.

I found myself smiling often and reading other passages with my heart pounding. I loved Alex Baker and his Baker’s Dozen of siblings. His father was a cop and just about all his brothers and sisters are also in law enforcement in one way or another. Several of them are involved in the events surrounding Nell Whitby and the New Orleans mob families. Sort of the good guy family versus the bad guy families.

This is no fluffy romance. There are plenty of dead bodies, plenty of what will happen next, plenty of heart-in-mouth moments. In many respects, the romance complicates the crime scene. In case you’re wondering, there are no sex scenes. That’s not the author’s style, although she’s good at sketching sexual tension. She leaves it to the reader to work out what might have happened next in that respect. And that question – why is the author of kids books of interest to the New Orleans gangs? – is brought to a satisfying conclusion. Which leads into the next book.

Pauline has written a whole series about the Baker siblings, New Orleans, and the crime gangs. They’re always well-constructed mysteries with a romance thrown in. Well worth your time in my opinion. Click on the cover for where to buy links.