#QueerLitLoft

It’s been an age since I read The Red Files, and longer still that the follow up novel, Under Your Skin, has sat on my tbr list; but what an awesome sequel Lee Winter has produced.

This series features one of my favourite ice queens – Catherine Ayers; whose witty barbs, razor sharp tongue, and layered vulnerabilities are the perfect mix of icy exterior and hidden melting core.

Under Your Skin picks up a short while after the end of The Red Files and the overarching plot focuses on Catherine and Lauren’s upcoming nuptials in Lauren’s home state of Iowa. A state which Catherine never thought she’d be caught dead or alive in.

Planning a wedding is never easy and with Catherine having promised to play nice with her future in-laws (not to mention their first meeting), things are set to become interesting awfully quickly. If family shenanigans weren’t enough to contend with, the disappearance of a state of the art food food delivery robot, a racist app known as ‘My Evil Twin’, and Iowa’s state senator are, as Catherine and Lauren soon figure out, mysteriously linked to one another.

With separate and yet intermingled stories to chase down and an established romantic couple as the star attraction, Lee Winter has crafted a riveting read that really pulls you into its pages.

Aside from the mystery aspect, what i also loved about this story is that Winter really digs into the depths of Catherine and Lauren’s characters. Particularly with Catherine we learn a lot about her family, the past betrayal that nearly cost her her career – not to mention seriously denting her capacity to trust, These insights really develop the character of Catherine and paint a picture of who she was then, who she is now, and most importantly why and how she became the Caustic Queen.

Under Your Skin is a great story and I’d love at some point for Winter to re-visit Catherine and Lauren and see where they are further down the line, or even to write them as side characters into other stories!