Source: Purchased book on kindle
Genre: Adult, Mystery/Thriller, Action

This book is book one in a series that follows a woman named Miranda who is accused of fraud. She goes through the process of being arrested and everything, and she is found not guilty. She returns home just to find out that her life is no longer the same as it once was. She barley has any money, so she has to move in with her aunt. She cannot find a job because no one wants to hire her based on the run in she just had with the law. So to clear her name she decides to go and figure out what actually went on. She also runs in with an FBI Agent who is researching the case as well, so we follow them on their journey.

This book had a good amount of action, but I felt as though it was too short. The plot and characters could have been developed a bit more. The plot was sped through in my opinion and could have been slowed down and explained more. We are just thrust into the world towards the middle of the book and the characters seem to be confused themselves. The love in the book was a bit instant and under-developed. The love was not slow burning, but just seemed to be lust. I really did not enjoy this book, and I will not be continuing with this series.

Rating: 2.5/5

Fun, fast reads. Good for fans of cozy mysteries who want to expand their repertoire.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Ellie Ashe. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

Early in her thirties and working for a prestigious bank firm, Miranda Vaughn has been accused of fraud in a scheme involving her supervisors. After a hard year and a half fighting for her innocence, she is found not guilty. But this is not enough for Miranda. She has lost almost everything in this last year and a half. Her fiancé has dumped her just after the charges had been presented, and there is no decent company which would be willing to hire her. She wants to clean her name and reputation, and the only way is finding the true culprits of this scheme and bring them to justice. In order to do so she will have to travel to one of the bank international sites in Macau, and find proof of what she believes is true.

'Chasing the Dollar' is a cozy mystery in which the main character is an early thirties woman with great future prospects which crumble overnight due to something she has not been involved in. The novel is fast paced and the characters are well built, and there are a couple of twists totally unexpected. I felt close to Miranda in several ways and felt her desperation about wanting a better future, and the total unfairness of the situation. The plot is well executed and Ashe knows well how to keep the listener's attention.

Something that did not completely convince me was the romantic aspect of the book. I can understand that Miranda missed to have a partner beside her, but I really do not see the need of her involved in a romantic relationship with other character in the book, which I have to say, was not unexpected. I think the romantic story did not add much to the book, but I understand that having a romantic story makes the book work better in general amongst the feminine readers.
Teri Schnaubelt performed very well on this book, not only becoming Miranda, but also doing a decent characterization of the rest of characters. Her tone was clear and pleasant to the ear. I have to note though an audio editing issue around 4:46:18, in which there is a sentence repeated. No other issues were noted.

All in all, it was an easy and quite light listen, and I am looking forward to what else is in store for Miranda Vaughn.

better than I expected

I got this book on one of those sites that has free book days. I like that it wasn’t so obvious when trying to guess how it would end. If you like mystery with a hint of romance this is a solid book to add to your list.

Can't wait for the next audiobook in this series! This book from start to finish was outright fun! The character of Miranda was very easy to relate to, a normal everyday employee. With her luck, she was set up by her fellow employees for fraud. This takes her on an adventure to clear her name, and what an adventure it is. Her partner in all of this turns out to be Jake, the FBI agent that initially arrested her. Great chemistry between the two of them, enjoying the banter between the two,the situations they end up being in and how they get out of them.

Miranda's ex....well, I can't say enough bad about him...from the first time meeting him in the book, he was a character you just love to hate.

Teri Schnaubelt brought this great mystery to life. Her rendition of each character fit the story, moved the book along and made it totally enjoyable(as per her usual narration, she is awesome!)

**I was given this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I've had this book on my kindle for awhile and finally decided to read it since the second book is getting ready to come out and I have to read series in order!

I love mysteries and this one really appealed to me because of the financial aspect. I worked in the financial industry for over 20 years and you see on the news the people that have swindled or embezzled from their clients or ran a ponzi scheme. This is similar but in this case Miranda is innocent and is trying to save herself.

There are lots of twists and turns and who is behind all of this was a huge surprise to me, did not see that one coming. The only part that I wasn't sure was realistic was hopping from country to country (ok well only 2) to try and figure out how she was framed. She was just acquitted of criminal charges and was free to do what she wanted, but was it realistic? probably not. But it was still interesting to see how she managed to track down the guilty parties.

Overall though a good read and enjoyable.

I guess romance- mystery hybrids are now a subgenre of their own. This was a well-executed example. The heroine is reasonably intelligent, and the pace moves right along. It's not written to be humorous. There are a lot of mentions of how the male main character looks in a towel, but no explicit sex scenes. The ending wraps up a little too neatly, but happily.