Book Nerds Across America

This is the third and final book in the Beautiful Idols series. I was first introduced to the series when I picked up a copy of Unrivaled at BEA shortly before it was released. The book sat on my shelf for quite some time until I needed a book that started with a U a couple of years ago for the the A to Z reading challenge. The concept behind the series is that a club owner in LA, Ira Redman, recruits Tommy, Layla, and Aster to participate in a contest to help promote his clubs. At the end of the first book, an A list celebrity, Madison Brooks, vanishes and everyone presumes she was murdered. 

The second book in the series involves the contestants trying to unravel the mystery of Madison's disappearance to clear their names. Tommy Phillips is linked to the murder because he was the last one to see her alive. Aster is the primary suspect because her dress was found with what appears to be Madison's blood on it. Layla is a celebrity blogger that had a feud with Madison and is guilty by association with the Tommy and Aster. While none of the contestants think any of them are responsible, they do not have any good evidence that suggests who is.

Throughout Infamous, Tommy, Aster, and Layla find a number of clues that lead them to believe Madison is still alive. They, however, do not know where she is or who is really behind her disappearance or the motive behind it. They discover Madison has a secret past that she has spent a lifetime trying to keep buried. Someone is determined to bring to light all of her past indiscretions and does not care who goes down with Madison in the process. Tommy, Aster, and Layla must find Madison not only to clear their names, but to prevent any further harm to Madison. 

Overall, this was an entertaining series. I really enjoyed the characters and how everything connected together. I think, however, it could have been consolidated into two books to eliminate some of the drag and make it a more enjoyable and fast paced read. As I said in my review of Blacklist, the story did not advance much. In addition, there were parts of the third book that I considered filler as well. I get that authors and publishers want to sell more books to generate additional revenue, but they need to take into consideration the readers who are spending their hard earned money and time on these books. I read for entertainment, not to log the highest number of pages read. Keep the readers actively engaged and they will keep coming back for more. If not, they are moving on to something bigger and better regardless of how many books you want to publish in a series. I shouldn't feel like a have to persevere just to see how a story ends. All of the books in a series should be just as captivating as the first. 

If I had it to do all over again, I would stop after the first book in the series. Hindsight is always 2020, so hopefully you will find this knowledge useful.