Say You're Sorry

I have really enjoyed Melinda Leigh's Bree Taggart series and decided to try her legal romantic thriller series featuring Morgan Dane, a character who has made brief appearances in the Taggart series.

I like a strong female main character and with Morgan Dane, a former attorney, I was looking forward to getting a different perspective in this new-to-me thriller series that compliments Leigh's police procedural series. 

Morgan Dane is a former lawyer who has had a devastating loss and is raising her three young daughters with the help of her grandpa and a live-in nanny. The story centres around Morgan's teenage babysitter who is violently murdered and when Morgan's teenage neighbour Nick is blamed, the former prosecutor takes the case pro bono when she firmly believes Nick is not to blame.

It all sounds amazing, and I whole-heartedly expected to love this book. But I didn't.

Like the Bree Taggart series, Leigh gives her characters lots of emotional baggage. It adds depth to the characters, but in this book it's too much with several characters (Morgan, Lance, the live-in, ex-addict nanny, Lance ...) whose issues take up more than their fair share of page time. For the first book in a series it felt like a lot when I picked it up for a thriller read. 

I'm not sorry I read this book, but I was hoping there would be more suspense and with Morgan's legal background, more courtroom scenes and a little less focus on the romance. But while it didn't wow me, I would read the second book in the series. 

My Rating: 2.5 stars

Author: Melinda Leigh

Genre: Suspense

Series: Morgan Dane 1

Type and Source: ebook, personal copy

Publisher: Montlake Romance

First Published: May 16, 2017

Read: March 24 - 27, 2025

Book Description from GoodReads: In a new series from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh, former prosecutor Morgan Dane faces the most personal—and deadly—case of her lifetime.

After the devastating loss of her husband in Iraq, Morgan Dane returns to Scarlet Falls, seeking the comfort of her hometown. Now, surrounded by family, she’s finally found peace and a promising career opportunity—until her babysitter is killed and her neighbor asks her to defend his son, Nick, who stands accused of the murder.

Tessa was the ultimate girl next door, and the community is outraged by her death. But Morgan has known Nick for years and can’t believe he’s guilty, despite the damning evidence stacked against him. She asks her friend Lance Kruger, an ex-cop turned private eye, for help. Taking on the town, the police, and a zealous DA, Morgan and Lance plunge into the investigation, determined to find the real killer. But as they uncover secrets that rock the community, they become targets for the madman hiding in plain sight.