DIRTY DEEDS, while the third story in the series, is a delightful capsule novel that can be read at any point in the arch-narrative. I've read a few other stories in this series and so I really enjoyed checking in on some former friends, as it were, but the ones I hadn't met didn't detract from the enjoyment of this story.

Alex is a bundle of baggage and hope, scared to trust but desperately needing to. She showed up to the garage in Tory, Maryland, desperate to flee from an ex-boyfriend who thought she could be used as a verbal whipping post. In the intervening years, she's found safety and family in the men at the garage, but I wouldn't say she's necessarily found healing.

And thus, on a very real level, this book is about healing from abuse. It's a woman finding freedom from her past and strength in herself when she learns to see herself through the eyes of a true gentleman. So often, I think we peddle the narrative that people can find healing in themselves from abuse, but more frequently it takes other folks to help survivors find the light again. Part of abuse is the total destruction of one's sense of self, and you need folks to be able to find yourself again.

The love story is fantastic as well - I love Spencer in and of himself and how he saw Alex even before she did. If the best romance novels are driven by the heroine, this is a great example of one.

Recommended for folks who like people finding wholeness through love, tribal friends who become family and happily ever afters that come through not a few speed bumps.