May Online Book Club: Shoot the Breeze by Gina Lamanna

Friends, you know of my love for Janet Evanovich . . .

. . . Detective Kate Rosetti could be Stephanie Plum’s Midwestern cousin.

First in a new series, Shoot the Breeze introduces us to Kate Rosetti, a wise-cracking, self-assured young detective. I know very little about Minneapolis/St. Paul and enjoyed getting to see the area from an insider’s eyes. The setup is familiar. A love triangle, a helpful best friend, and the family members who make your eyes roll even as you love them anyway.

Lamanna combines the familiar elements together into her own brand of complex mystery. Detective Kate Rosetti is good at her job and up for a challenge. I especially liked the combat scenes where she gets in some realistic yet entertaining fighting.  

Shoot the Breeze was my first book by Gina Lamanna, but it won’t be my last. I’ll definitely be checking out this whole series. 

Currently listed as a #1 Amazon Best Seller, Gina Lamanna is the author of 6 other series. You can find them listed on her website and sign up for email updates. She’s a much faster writer than I am, and it’s hard to keep up with all of her books.  http://www.ginalamanna.com/

Kelly Brakenhoff is the author of 15 books and a seasoned ASL interpreter. She splits her writing energy between two series: cozy mysteries set on a college campus and children’s books featuring Duke the Deaf Dog.

In 2025, two of her children’s books were selected for the CBC Favorites Award Lists, honored by teachers and librarians nationwide for excellence in children’s literature. Parents, kids, and educators love the Duke the Deaf Dog books and activity guides because they introduce ASL and the Deaf community through engaging stories.

And if you enjoy a smart female sleuth, want to learn more about Deaf culture, or have lived in a place where livestock outnumber people, the Cassandra Sato Mystery series will have you connecting the dots faster than a group project thrown together the night before it’s due.

A proud mom to four adults, head of the dog-snuggling department, and grandma to a growing brood of perfectly behaved grandkids, Kelly and her husband call Nebraska home.