Review: Perfect Excuse by A.D. Justice (Mason Creek #11)

Note: An advanced reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author via Wordsmith Publicity.

A.D. Justice isn't necessarily a new-to-me author since I've read her stories in a couple of multi-author anthologies, but Perfect Excuse is my first full-length read from her. This book is the eleventh in the multi-author Mason Creek series, and while each of the books is a standalone, I'd encountered the main characters here in the two other books that I've read, Perfect Embrace by Kaylee Ryan and Perfect Kiss by Lacey Black. There was something about Ryder and Olivia King that piqued my interest. There was the fact that they had once been madly in love and happily married; now, they're in the midst of divorce proceedings and squabbling over custody of their beloved African grey parrot named Kiwi. Living in a small town like Mason Creek means everyone is up in their business, but maybe it takes a village--and honest communication--to save this marriage.

Ryder and Olivia were clearly still very much in love even though they had separated and were in the middle of a divorce. These two, however, had issues that they needed to address, and a lot of it stemmed from a lack of open and honest communication. I swear, there were moments where I wished I could just jump into my e-reader and lock them in a room so they could simply speak and listen to each other. I did love them for their devotion to and adoration for Kiwi the African grey. I know what's it like to consider a beloved pet one's child, so kudos to them for fighting tooth and nail for what they believed was best for Kiwi. All in all, this was a good read, one that had a fair amount of humor with just a pinch of angst. Fairly lighthearted, I appreciated the second-chance romance feels with an established couple, which is why Perfect Excuse receives four stars.

Date Read: 30 August 2021

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