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[Following is a volunteer review of "Lemoncella Cocktail" by Rene Natan.]

The book Lemoncella Cocktail starts with immediate action, Samantha (Sam) Mcleod is screaming for help while being shoved in the river at an attempt to drown her. Patrick Carter walks by, hears the screaming and leaps into the water and saves the young girl. The men who tried to drown the girl could have been seen by Patrick, therefore he poses a threat and it is decided that he should be eliminated.

The story follows the Mcleod family being put in danger after one of its members Amelia Mcleod, overhears a weapon trafficking deal taking place while spending time with her boyfriend Oscar Calander. It is decided that she has to be eliminated in order to avoid any further complications. This decision leads to the attempted drowning of Amelia's little sister, mistaken for Amelia.

Patrick Carter is dragged into helping the family by the Task Force 101, in charge of catching these criminals, who have posed a threat to the entire country. Nobody seems to be safe from these cold-blooded murderers, as they will kill anyone who might expose them.

The story follows the cat and mouse chase of Task Force 101, with director Des Pres in the lead, his very smart and cooperative assistant Lucien and Patrick, a bartender who somehow manages to become a hero.

Emy Walker, one of the Task Force's agents, steals Patrick's heart throughout the story and brings in some romance between the action. The search continues throughout the story for both Oscar and the missing Amelia. Patrick and Emy are soon acquainted with the Mcleod family, Jessica Mcleod (grandmother) and Justin Mcleod, the little brother. All lives are at stake as nobody can truly be trusted and death could lurk just across the street.

The main concern throughout the reading of the book is : Will Oscar be caught? Will Amelia be reunited with her family? How many lives will be lost in the time it takes to track down a smart criminal, not afraid to kill? Is anybody involved with the Mcleod family safe? How far does Oscar's connections reach?

Patrick Carter's history is questionable, it soon comes out that he is not as good as people first thought. He has a troubled past and wonders if he could ever be good enough for Emy and get the approval of her father.

Arnold Calander, father of Oscar, is portrayed as a typical criminal boss, sends his men to do the job and has a brilliant intelligence very often overlooked in criminals.

Natan portrays a non-typical family bond through the Mcleods. It is refreshing to read of a family having troublesome relationships as opposed to the typical happy family usually portrayed.

Natan wastes no time by making the reader wait for any information. Everything happens fast and uninterrupted. Mystery is not a main factor in this action-packed story.

What I liked most about this book, is that Natan uses a realistic location, she is descriptive of the surroundings and yet managed to still give it a fictional feel.
What I liked least about the book is spelling errors found throughout, misuse of words and incorrect grammar.

I rate this book 2 out of 4. I decided to rate the book as fair, I would not recommend this book to anyone who can be seen as a "grammar Nazi" or who is searching for a book that is full of mystery as Lemoncella cocktail is fast-paced and doesn't leave much to the imagination.

However, if you enjoy fast-paced action, with just a hint of romance and comedy, and you can look past improper uses of language and punctuation,then you might just find this book a fun-to-read.

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Lemoncella Cocktail
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Like Kyla Muller's review? Post a comment saying so!

Thanks for the comments about the descriptive sections of the book and the realistic location. I have taught English as a second language, so the grammar errors are a red flag for me. Nice review!

Thanks for the review. Really appreciate it. I decided not to read this a while back though.