The Sweetheart Racket by Cheryl Ann Smith

They used to be on the sidelines. Now they’re out in the field…

Two years ago, Taryn Hall was a pro football cheerleader—until she left her lecherous boss with a bloody nose and a faceful of Mace. Now she’s part of a different kind of squad. An elderly billionaire named Irving has hired and trained Taryn and her two best friends to work as private investigators…

Taryn loves the job, though it sometimes involves boring stakeouts, dog bites—and listening to Irving talk about his golf shoes. Then tattooed, steely-eyed, straight-up gorgeous undercover DEA agent Rick Silva walks into the office and shakes thing up…

Rick needs help finding the con artist who’s taken his lonely mother for all she was worth. With multiple aliases and multiple victims, it will be a challenge to track down the coldhearted gigolo. And Rick insists on accompanying Taryn on the hunt, working closely, day and night.

This could be dangerous. And the case might be kind of risky, too…

Book 1
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
This is a fun private investigator romp. With a wink and a nod to Charlie’s Angels, three female private investigators head up an agency run by a slightly mysterious older man. The first story focuses on Taryn. She’s a former professional cheerleader, a bitter divorcee, and a terrifying driver. She works with Rick, a gorgeous DEA agent, to find the con man who swindled his mother.

Fans of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum stories will recognise the slapstick, silly humour and will love this author’s sense of the ridiculous. A cast of zany characters surround Rick and Taryn and I really loved the author’s imagination. From peeping Tom frat boy neighbours to the hitman houseguest receiving anger management therapy, this story is full of delightful, unexpected moments and characters.

I’m sure serious mystery lovers will pick holes in the plot, but the charm of this story is the characters and relationships. Taryn is a little bit insane but always fun and her approach to crime solving is slightly unorthodox. There is some heat between Taryn and Rick, but also friendship and humour. There are a couple of slightly steamy scenes (including one in a dumpster), but all Rick and Taryn’s intimate moments tastefully fade to grey.

This is a fabulous, light-hearted antidote to the dark and gloomy Scandi noir trend in mystery writing. The author has set the scene for a great series and I’m already looking forward to the next book.


Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
This is a fun read, with a strong nod to a certain billionaire and his three beautiful angel detectives. I am looking forward to getting all the girls' stories!

The pace is fast, the chemistry is energetically heated, and the plot is fun. It made for a good read on many levels – as a mystery, as a gaining redress for women scorned, and a feisty romance. There are crazy student neighbours; the arrival of Aaron and his cooking abilities; let alone the mad woman and her sons...jammed packed with fabulously silly events. It would be difficult not to laugh and enjoy this mad romp of a book.

I like how the issue of location and future was dealt with, and though it was in essence sweet, it wasn't too syrupy. I am definitely looking out for the next installment.

A fan of romance fiction since the dark ages, Cheryl Ann Smith loves to throw her heroines into danger, just to see what they’ll do. She’s currently working on an exciting new contemporary romance series that mixes her crazy sense of humor with the adventures of a trio of female PIs who are the kick-ass heroines Cheryl has always wanted to be.

Cheryl lives in Michigan with her family, and when she isn’t writing, she dreams of living in a grass hut on her own tropical island. Since that’s unlikely to happen, she looks forward to any vacation that gets her near an ocean.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Sweetheart Racket (Brash & Brazen #1) by Cheryl Ann Smith to read and review.