Fatal Scandal (Fatal #8) by Marie Force [Start Date: April 4th, 2016]

[Phoenix (Online Elf), Moderator]

Fatal Scandal Fatal #8, by Marie Force

As a new year dawns in the capital city, dual scandals rock the Metropolitan Police Department—and Lieutenant Sam Holland is right in the middle of them. Chief Farnsworth is catching heat for the way he handled a recent homicide investigation, and Detective Gonzales is accused of failing to disclose an earlier connection to the judge who decided his custody hearing.

When Gonzo's fight for his child turns deadly and he has a shaky alibi, Sam must defend two of her closest colleagues. All while her husband, Vice President Nick Cappuano, settles into his new office at the White House.

Nick begins to wonder if the president is using him for a political boost, and his worries mount over a complication in the plans to adopt Scotty at a time when Sam is being put through the wringer by the always-rabid DC press corps. As the evidence against Gonzo piles up, Sam suspects someone is gunning for her—and her team.

✤ ✣ ✤ ✣ ✤ ✣ ✤ ✣ ✤ ✣ ✤ ✣ ✤ ✣ ✤ ✣ ✤ ✣ ✤ ✣ ✤ ✣ ✤ ✣ ✤ ✣ ✤ ✣ ✤ ✣ ✤ ✣ ✤ ✣ ✤ ✣ ✤

Please feel free to join us. As always expect spoilers .

Chapter Breakdown

Date		Chapters		PPDQs*
April 4 	Chp.01 – ??		 ???
April 5 	Chp.?? – ??		 ??? 
April 6 	Chp.?? – ??		 ???

*PPDQs = Person Posting Discussion Questions

[Phoenix (Online Elf), Moderator]

Reserved.

[ShoSho , Moderator]

I'm in

[Lara]

I'm in

[Silvia]

In!

[ShoSho , Moderator]

I can't listen to my audiobook where I am so I'm going to start this one

[ShoSho , Moderator]

I have to confess , I have read a few reviews from this book and the next and I know (view spoiler)[ a few bad things are going to happen that will continue on to the next book. I think someone is going to get killed, don't know who and if it's in this one or the next book but someone close to Sam. So I'm worried (hide spoiler)]

[Lara]

ShoSho wrote: "I have to confess , I have read a few reviews from this book and the next and I know [spoilers removed]"

Oh no! It does sound like complete drama, though. I may have to read it as an ebook rather than listen so I can get through it faster. I'm not interested in a lot of angst and this one sounds angsty.

[ShoSho , Moderator]

I know I'm not in the mood for too much angst and drama either.I hope it's not too angsty!

[ShoSho , Moderator]

Lily Von Noodle!!! lol

[ShoSho , Moderator]

How crazy is that? They are talking about the case in front of their suspect as if if he's not there!

[ShoSho , Moderator]

This is actually good, I think I'm at about 55 % and it's much better than what I thought

[Silvia]

I'm jumping in now! I read your spoiler ShoSho, yikes!

[Lara]

I'm hoping to get in a chapter or two tonight before going to sleep. I stayed up too late last night finishing up

[ShoSho , Moderator]

I'm almost done. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Just a bit of drama imo.

[ShoSho , Moderator]

I'll be back with comments in the morning but for now I just say this was the best book in the series!

[ShoSho , Moderator]

Serious spoilers
Don't read until you've finished
The mystery
(view spoiler)[
I kinda knew who the killer was from the start. Because I knew he's going to take her hostage. No surprises there. But I liked how they went about the investigation. For once they really investigated and followed their leads logically. Of course Stahl seemed very lucky as everything went as he had planned and Sam ended up alone in Marissa'a house.
I thought the torture would be more gruesome but it was pretty light. LOL I read too many books with blood and gore .
Any guesses who the leak is who gave Stahl all those info?
Overall I didn't have any big problems with this part of the story which is unusual for the series :P
(hide spoiler)]

The relationships
(view spoiler)[
As I said everything was too good to be true for all the secondary relationships and 3 couples had some bad situations in this book.
Hill and Tinker Bell
Why did he have to tell her? Well I know why he told her but I don't think it was necessary . I enjoyed reading their parts though. How he cared for her and showed his and love and how he followed her to Bermuda and proposed. The whole thing was sweet. The only thing that bothered me was that she said she could be carrying his child but she wasn't sure. I've been going with sister in law to her IUI and IVF sessions and I know more about the procedures that I care to know. It wasn't mentioned in the book what method she was using but I'm sure she was using donor sperms. So the doctor should have been monitoring her with ultrasound to see if she has ovulated and everything. Based on her ovulation which she must have known to the day and whether they had sex or not in those days , she could have said if it was his or not! Anyway it doesn't matter too much the whole side story was sweet and I was happy with it.

Freddy and Elin
Well I was worried for a minute there that she had cheated on him.Thank God it wasn't the case. Poor Elin she was targeted by Stahl too and her injuries seemed more serious than Sam's

Christina and Gonzo
Well at least they can rest easy, there's no one around to hassle them for the baby but the trial for custody in the last book was too good to be true so I knew there will be more.

Terry and Lindsey
Well nothing has gone wrong for them yet and they are getting married . I hope it stays that way.
(hide spoiler)]

Sam, Nick and Scotty
(view spoiler)[
Scotty is just too good. I really like his character. I love how he started calling them mom and dad in from of his biological father. I'm glad that the father is not an a*hole which I was expecting him to be.
I skimmed and skipped all the sex scenes,every one of them. I just wasn't in the mood to read them. Did you read them? Is it just me thinking their sex scene are too repetitive and similar to the previous ones?
(hide spoiler)]
I think I have covered everything lol

[Lara]

Done! I was nervous going into this one, but found it very readable. I'm so glad that Sam is tough without being such a jerk in this book.

ShoSho, I agree that there was a LOT going on.
- The custody issue with Gonzales
- News scandals with the department
- Shelby & Hill's relationship
- Nick's new job
- The mystery of the leaks
- Ela & Cruz
- The custody of Scotty (I agree that he's quite the plot moppet and too good to be true)
- The murder mystery
- Sam's father's health
- Plus, Jeannie is about to testify about her ordeal (though that's not this book)

However, I thought this book tied things together pretty well. And while it was everything and the kitchen sink, it also felt like the normal craziness of a group of people's lives for once.

As for the intimate scenes between Sam and Nick, (view spoiler)[ this book picks up the anal play again, which is of absolutely no interest to me. Ugh. And I felt like the little dominance stand that Nick took came out of nowhere and didn't care for it either (hide spoiler)]. I also don't need the detail as I feel like when things are "interesting" it's more to titillate than really part of the character and relationship development.

[Silvia]

Finished! The highlight for me in this book was (view spoiler)[Scotty officially became a member of the Capuano family although it was bittersweet. Obviously his bio father was surprised that he had a son but made the ultimate sacrifice and signed his parental rights away. That had me sniffling. I am glad that Scotty decided to keep in contact with him. (hide spoiler)] This is my fave book of the series so far.

[ShoSho , Moderator]

I really liked that he chose to keep in touch. It made a cute and sweet ending.
It's my favorite too.

[Chris]

I enjoyed this one!

Scotty: (view spoiler)[Glad that turned out so well. I'm glad his bio-dad was a good guy. (hide spoiler)]

Hill: (view spoiler)[I prefer Hill to stay affected by Sam. I like the edginess of that possibility. Shelby gave in way too quickly - she isn't my fave character. (hide spoiler)]

Sam and Nick:(view spoiler)[ Surely she'll be preggers by the next book! (hide spoiler)]

Skippy:(view spoiler)[I thought he'd be up and walking - next book?
(hide spoiler)]

[ShoSho , Moderator]

@Chris

About Scotty: me too
Hill : lol really? We're exact opposite about this. His feeling towards Sam is the only thing I didn't like about him. I like Shelby she's quirky
Sam: I hope so but I don't think it would happen so soon after the ordeal she had in this one.
Skippy : yeah me too. I thought by removing the bullet he'll start walking or have more movement

[Chris]

ShoSho wrote: "@Chris

About Scotty: me too
Hill : lol really? We're exact opposite about this. His feeling towards Sam is the only thing I didn't like about him. I like Shelby she's quirky
Sam: I hope so but I..."

Ha ha, Sho Sho - they're totally headed for a breakup over Hill :-)

[ShoSho , Moderator]

Do you want them to break up and Sam ends up with Hill? :D lol wouldn't that be a twist!

[Lara]

I'm with ShoSho on this one. I don't enjoy the Hill complication. In fact, I found his affection for Shelby to be little more than that. I didn't find his feelings strong enough to really be believable.

Maybe it's because we really don't see much of them together. But I found his thoughtfulness to be a fit for his character and job rather than due to strong emotions on his part.

[Chris]

ShoSho wrote: "Do you want them to break up and Sam ends up with Hill? :D lol wouldn't that be a twist!"

Sure, that would be some trouble in Paradise. I don't think they'll break up permanently, but I think there must be trouble coming. There seems to be too much emphasis on Hill to just have him be a secondary character. Who knows?

I think the whole Shelby thing was strange. It seemed like an excuse to see Sam, then we find him expressing his undying devotion to Shelby. Didn't ring true to me.