Chatsworth Royalty

Chatsworth Royalty is a well-written book with elements of danger, suspense, romance, and humor. After being let go from his job after a horrible and tragic event, Jake Wood decides that he needs a change of scenery. He decides to go to Sherman Oaks, California to visit his cousin Jana whom he has newly connected with. Being from Iowa, Jake isn’t quite used to the people or the fast-paced culture in the busy cities. The strange thing is, when Jake arrives, Jana is nowhere to be found. He tries calling and texting but does not get an answer so he does the next thing he can think of and shows up at her place. There, he meets her best friend Laurie who explains that Jana’s boss has her all over the place doing things for work.

During this interchange, it is clear that Jake and Laurie click with each other and a little romance is also foreshadowed. This is despite the fact that Laurie has an abusive boyfriend named Danny. Although Jake is a small-town guy, he has no problem putting Danny in his place since he has wrestling experience. I really liked the way Jake and Laurie become friends naturally instead of too much romance all at once. Both characters are likable and really care about Jana’s well-being.

When Jana doesn’t turn up, Jake and Laurie know that something is fishy and they go to investigate her job as Dr. Gregory Mirek’s assistant. Dr. Mirek is “a big shot in the field of primatology research”. This book also ends up having a heavy section about animal cruelty beyond the testing of cosmetics. It is an eyeopener for people who know little about animal research and abuse. It would be great if at the end of the book there were some resources for animal rights groups as well as researched articles about animal abuse and the people who are trying to stop it. There is a character in the book named Hunter who is an advocate for animal rights. While Jake and Laurie are searching for Jana they find Hunter was one of the last people Jana had tried calling before her disappearance.

Jake and Laurie do a great job in putting the pieces of the puzzle together even though neither of them is anywhere close to being a detective. Chatsworth Royalty is fast-paced yet easy to follow and will have its readers chuckling, saddened, and cheering all at the same time. Enjoy the beautiful Southern Californian scenery and the cartload of colorful characters in this book.[amazon text=Buy On Amazon][amazon text=Buy On Amazon]