Someone Had to Do It by Amber and Danielle Brown

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I've took a break from reading thrillers for awhile because I was feeling like they were all reading the same. It seemed like every Black thriller was a story about a Black person dealing with a secret society of racists plotting against them. So when HarperCollins offered me this one months ago it was refreshing to see one that was a little bit different.

Brandi is working at prestigious fashion house Simon Van Doren as a intern and is hoping to get an assistant position that includes the trip of a lifetime to accompany CEO and his team in Milan. Her boyfriend Nate used to go to school with the CEO's daughter Taylor and calls in a favor and get's them into one of his charity galas. At the party Brandi overhears Taylor and her friend's plotting to kill Simon Van Doren so she can inherit his fortune.

The authors Amber and Danielle Brown have both worked in fashion and you could tell from the scenes at the fashion house to the mentions of designer duds that they were knowledgeable. There was a period in the 2000s where NY Fashion set stories were very popular and we seem to be cycling back to that with a few upcoming titles. 

It took a little while for me to get into the story because there were way to many sex scenes. And I love a sex scene but these felt so unnecessary and didn't actually push the plot forward. I wouldn't cut all but maybe one of them and used that space to tighten up the mystery a little more and get to the action faster. Plus when they weren't having sex too many convos still turned sexual which was weird. 

While Brandi did annoy me with her naivety and stupid decisions I was still on the edge of my seat turning the pages to hope everything worked out for her. I thought it was ridiculous she caved to Taylor's 10k hush money bribe when that amount just barely covered her tuition with some money left over. Taylor was planning on coming into billions and she took such a small amount plus a couple of dresses and purses from Taylor's friends who she knew not to trust. And Nate was already offering to pay her tuition. And then she was shocked Taylor would actually follow through with the murder after paying her hush money. 

The plot was predictable and a little convenient. But it made for a quick read. Overall I do think Amber and Danielle have promise. If they were to write a sexy fashion set amateur sleuth mystery I would definitely read that.