WRONG QUESTION, RIGHT ANSWER (The Bourbon Street Boys #3) by Elle Casey-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 23, 2016

As a member of the Bourbon Street Boys private security firm, Antoinette “Toni” Delacourte is one strong woman, but despite her reputation for being tough as nails, she is haunted by her past mistakes. Now they’re catching up to her, and throwing her for a loop.
Ten years ago, Toni kissed Lucky, her brother’s best friend. Worried it would break apart the group she’d come to see as family, she walked away—straight into the arms of Charlie, and an abusive relationship.

For the past decade she’s tried to keep her feelings for Lucky platonic—he’s her friend, her colleague, and he’s got his own past to deal with. Free of Charlie but unable to shake his memory, Toni finds herself feeling vulnerable and unable to deny her attraction to Lucky any longer.

She’s always thought that kiss was her first mistake, but now she’s wondering whether the real mistake was running away.

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REVIEW: WRONG QUESTIONS, RIGHT ANSWER is the third installment in Elle Casey’s contemporary, adult THE BOURBON STREET BOYS romantic, suspense series focusing on the New Orleans private investigation firm of the same name. This is team members Antoinette ‘Toni’ Delacourte, and Chance ‘Lucky’ Larieux’s story line. WRONG QUESTION, RIGHT ANSWER can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading the series in order for back story and history.

Told from first person point of view (Toni) WRONG QUESTION, RIGHT ANSWER is a story of second chances/friends to lover romance between co-workers and friends Toni and Lucky. Toni and Lucky shared a fated kiss close to fifteen years earlier, and in the ensuing time Toni has never forgotten the man with whom she fell in love. Trying desperately to separate herself from Lucky our heroine ran headfirst into a ten year, abusive relationship that ended with Toni making the biggest mistake of her life. Fast forward to present day wherein Lucky and Toni both work for The Bourbon Street Boys, and one drunken night of sex will change their lives forever. While the team continues to investigate the latest criminal gang activity in the Sixth Ward, Toni and Lucky struggle with their renewed friendship and relationship.

Toni is a strong-willed, physically aggressive and bitterly angry female heroine. She is a woman whose attitude and cold emotional persona is difficult to accept under any circumstance but she is also a woman embroiled in so much crippling guilt it eats away at her heart and soul. Toni’s self-deprecating attitude, and TSTL (too stupid to live) immature actions make for some troublesome and stressful issues throughout the story. Lucky is a man whose past haunts him on a daily basis, and one final straw finally pushes our hero over the edge. The relationship between Toni and Lucky is one of mutual and unrequited love; it will take a major shift in priorities and Toni’s inability to leave the past alone to make our couple understand that what it is lies before them is the most important issue in their life. The $ex sense are limited; seductive and intense.

All of the previous story line couples and characters play secondary and supporting roles. Boss man Ozzie and his girlfriend May (Wrong Number, Right Guy 1) take their relationship up a couple of levels while the team prepares for their upcoming nuptials.

The world building continues to focus on the private investigations and friendship dynamics of the Bourbon Street Boys team. The camaraderie and interactions are reminiscent of family and love. But I did question the direction of the current investigation as the conflict was over rather quickly and in the end the reader is never truly aware of the meatier investigation details or the who, what and why.

WRONG QUESTION, RIGHT ANSWER has moments of romance, humor, action and suspense. The premise is entertaining; the main characters are broken and somewhat tragic; the romance struggles with surprises and revelations, and ghosts from the past.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Wrong Number, Right Guy
Wrong Place, Right Time
Wrong Question, Right Answer

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy