(Review re-posted from Amazon.co.uk - because I know reviews from there don't show up on the US site!)

Fans of Stephanie Plum, meet Tiffany Black, A.R. Winters's new heroine in Innocent in Las Vegas.

I remember reading Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels when I was in my early teens. I raved about them. But then I grew up.

Somehow, Innocent in Las Vegas takes me back to that time, when an innocent enjoyment of books and laugh out loud capers were paramount. I have to say although I can draw parallels between the two characters, I relate more to Tiffany Black, and love her interactions with her clients, suspects, and friends and family. Especially her family. The book is very wholesome, and while it does feature some violence (often with a comedic slant), it is free of bad language and graphic sex - I know this will make some of you doubt its 'realism', but I can tell you it most certainly doesn't.

I can't remember laughing out loud quite so much while reading for a very long time. Winters has a real talent for writing, and gives the characters unique voices that will have you giggling into your book.

A great plot with realistic characterisation and entertainment value, this is definitely not a book to be missed by lovers of mysteries, chick lit, spunky heroines and all things cupcake.

This is the first book by A.R. Winters that I got. I wouldn't call it a cozy - it's not set in a small town. BUT there's hardly any bad language, and no sex or gore. At times there is action, danger and excitement, but not constantly. What I find comforting, I think, in addition to the mystery element, is the humour. This book has some truly hilarious moments that will make you laugh hard. And the protagonist has a tongue-in-cheek style of talking that will make make you giggle and smile in understanding. There is the glamorous world of the Las Vegas casino a little bit, I enjoyed that. There is no real romance as such, but by the end of the book there is the "potential" for some romance and I expect/hope to see that explored.

I found the "who" part of the "whodunnit" quite surprising. I think it wasn't what I expected, so that also pleasantly surprised me.

I would recommend this book to mystery lovers, and those who like a good, heart-warming, funny read.

lots of readers are comparing this series to stephanie plum (janet evonovich # series) and some are comparing it to kinsey milhone (sue grafton alphabet series) but are still giving this 4 and 5 stars?!

i have read every stephanie plum book and every kinsey milhone book and yes this book is not only VERY SIMILAR it is pretty much and complete rip off and knock off of them. just not as funny and not as interesting.

knock off of stephanie plum: stephanie is a bounty hunter that hates guns but loves donuts and is in a love triangle between a cop and a private security guy that has mysterious special forces background, owns a security company, lives on the top floor of his security company, drives expensive cars, doesnt talk much, etc etc. Stone is a COMPLETE RIP OFF of Ranger in the stephanie plum novels. Tiffany Black is a complete rip off of Stephanie Plum with an overbearing mother, a silly grandma that lives with her parents, dinners at their house, obsessed with sweets, hates guns, etc. and then throw in a little kinsey milhone with the lovable old baker neighbor JUST like kinsey's Henry.

if you want to read humorous mysteries go for the originals not this knock off.

This was an e-book that I'd had for a few years now, just sitting and waiting for me to read on my tablet. Well, I finally got around to reading it and thought it was pretty good. Thankfully so, since the last few e-books I've read weren't that good.

I did notice several grammatical errors throughout the story, but thankfully, they weren't that distracting to the story itself. Although there was one error that was repeatedly used that somewhat annoyed me. For whatever reason, the author would say "no one" as "no-one." I have no clue why she thought a dash/hyphen was needed between these words. Overall, this was a cute story, and I'd have to say that my favorite character was Nanna, she was a hilarious old lady.

Questions/Comments:

I didn't get why Tiffany thought her name sounded like a stripper name? An '80s valley girl? Yes.

There's a part when Tiffany is reminiscing about her Nanna. She ends up thinking about how "...she moved here a few years ago to live with her daughter...," wouldn't that have been Tiffany's mother? Just a strange way to phrase it.

Tiffany ends up stabbing "Mr. Beard" in the neck with her stiletto heel: "It went through his flesh...Blood gushed out..." Why did she never consider that she may have killed him? Why did she never report it to the police?

Stone is explaining to Tiffany how she can lose someone if she's being tailed. He starts off by saying that there might be a car ahead of her (who's watching her direction), as well as one OR two cars behind her. Obviously, he simplifies his directions. "So take a turn to throw off the car ahead..." (why would someone be ahead when the person being tailed could easily turn a different direction)? "...then lose the CARS behind you in local streets..." (because that's easy to do), "...then get back on the expressway...By the time you do this, you'll only have one car on your tail." How would she have one car if she lost them in the local streets?

Females are always expected to settle down, get married and have lots of babies, as is the case with Tiffany. Nothing surprising there. Yet, when she takes Stone to her parents' house for dinner, instead of saying he was a good friend, why didn't she say he was something like a coworker? She knew her family's thoughts on her finding a guy. That whole situation was a bit much because she could have easily made it nonexistent had she used her brain.

For dessert, her mother made chocolate lava cake (is that all Tiffany eats? Cakes?) Anyways, Tiffany thinks how "she couldn't possibly stuff any more cake into my stomach," how big was her lava cake? Those are usually pretty small.

When did Mcdonald's ever serve slices of apple pie?

"I did feel a bit naive, but how was I supposed to know which interviews a CEO deems worthy of his time?" Well considering she's been working in the casinos for a good while, you'd think she would have known this already or at least a general idea. Why would a CEO, in general, interview a dealer (someone that every casino has multiples of)?

When Tiffany is fighting with Vanessa, it's described as Tiffany being on top. "I felt her kick me and try to push me off." So, obviously, Vanessa's legs aren't flat on the ground/more like they're bunched up in front of her, and Tiffany's body is on top of them. "...she kneed me in the stomach..." How would that have been possible? Whether her legs were flat on the ground, she couldn't have kneed Tiffany in the stomach, or if they were bunched in front of her (her legs would be bent), I still don't see how that would have been possible.

I never understood why Sophia had hired Tiffany in the first place when Stone was right there, and obviously she and Stone were still on good terms.

As someone mentioned in their review, this story did make me think of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series.

I'm going to keep my review short and sweet. I love suspense, murder mysteries, anything that I have a hard time taking my eyes off of and this definitely did that. I read it in a couple of hours on a whim and really enjoyed it. I will have to read more by A.R. Winters.