It has now been a few weeks since I read the final book in the Body Movers series and it's time to share my thoughts. Last we left it, book 11 had me annoyed and despondent. Knowing the upcoming and final book was entitled 12 Bodies and a Wedding, I was not especially looking forward to it. As you may know, if you read my last installment, I was preparing myself for a disappointing and bland ending (ie. Carlotta marrying Coop). So what happened? How did it all end? How is my mental state? Read on to find out!
First off, we will discuss what happened to Wesley and the side characters. Wesley spends the book trying to prove himself to Meg's dad, who does not approve of him. Jack vouches for Wes at his court hearing, which helps him out with the judge. Wes also decides to finally tell his dad he does not want to run the golfing business with him and instead wants to go to college to be a doctor. His dad, surprisingly, says he supports his son. I thought it would be more difficult than that, so good on him I guess. Meg's dad finally gives Wes a break and she goes as his date to the wedding. Throughout, Wes is wary of Jack and his part in the wedding but decides he doesn't hate the man anymore.
Hannah finally tells her parents about Chance and the baby and let's him move in with her. Chance starts working for Wesley's dad, determined to get back on the straight and narrow for his wife and child. The Wrens and Prissy didn't really play a big part in this book besides being around for the wedding planning and festivities. Although Carlotta does decide to approach her half sister to try to form a relationship, she also decides it doesn't matter who her biological father is. Randolph is her dad.
Now for Carlotta and the love triangle (you know, the important part):
We start off a few weeks after the engagement. Carlotta says she and Coop are getting married soon and everyone questions her decision to rush it. She ignores them and sets about planning, albeit slowly. Honestly, I started to have hope pretty early on in this book because Carlotta seemed really disconnected when making all of her wedding plans. She just seemed to agree with the first thing put in front of her when it came to picking out rings and invitations. She even forgot about Jarold Jett offering to make her wedding dress until Jack reminded her. She did blame her distractedness on Patricia's case, something she hadn't been able to let go of, but, to me, it seemed like more than that.
Strangely, Coop asks Jack to be his best man. And look, I know they are friends, sort of, but why wouldn't he ask Wesley over Jack? As later speculated by Carlotta, maybe it was to one up Jack? Or test Carlotta's loyalty? Either way, I found it perplexing. More so that Jack agreed. Also, if Jack is Coop's closest friend, that is sad.
A few things I have been waiting on finally happened. Carlotta follows Jack home one evening and discovers he lives on a boat named Serena. She wonders about this but doesn't ask. Later, Jack comes to tell her that her bio dad is responsible for Peter's death. He then tells her he also lost someone he loved (just as I theorized!) and that is why he works so much and has never been able to tell Carlotta he loves her. She realizes this is the woman he named his boat after. Carlotta also mentions that when Jarold Jett sent her dress, he sent a note with it wishing her and her detective a happy wedding. Weird, she tells Jack, that he thinks we're the ones getting married. (Is it, though?)
The preverbal icing on the cake is when Carlotta tells her therapist her relationship with Coop is easy. That is how she described it. Easy. Which, on the surface, isn't a bad thing to say. But when that's the only way to describe your relationship with your fiancé... probably not good. The therapist also points out how she hasn't told Coop about her father or her continued obsession with what happened to Patricia. Coop doesn't even find out until Jack rats her out for trying to use him to get DNA results.
As far as the case goes, Carlotta convinces Jack to keep investigating and she eventually discovers the very bizarre truth. Patricia had accidentally swapped makeup cases with someone who had intel on a political figure (a used condom) and someone had killed her to get it back. After another confrontation that almost gets her shot, Jack arrests the perpetrators and rushes Carlotta to her wedding.
Throughout, Carlotta dreams about what her future would be like with Coop (the neighbors love him, the kids are organized and well-behaved, life is simple) and then later with Jack (everything is chaos). But the simple fact that she is dreaming about a future with Jack should tell you something. Also, when she sees a psychic at her bachelorette party, the woman tells her she will marry the best man. I mean... that is not subtle.
At the wedding, Carlotta has a bit of an out of body experience. She even stumbles, thinking about how she'll be with Coop until she dies. She looks to Jack for reassurance but he looks like he might faint (also she actually thinks 'if only' about Jack while walking down the aisle). The ceremony has barely begun when Jack interrupts the minister with a simple "stop". Coop responds by punching him in the face and Carlotta responds by fleeing the church. After a little scuffle, the men break apart and are both surprised to find Carlotta gone. Jack apologizes and tells Coop to go after her.
Carlotta, who fled the scene in her car, realizes she can't marry Coop because, and I quote, "her soul yearned for another man". Although quite obvious by this point, she is in love with Jack and, even if he doesn't love her back, she can't commit to Coop while wondering 'what if' about Jack. She sees the limo behind her and prepares herself to break Coop's heart. But it isn't Coop in the limo. It's Jack.
He comes up to the car, apologizes for making a mess of things, and confesses that he's in love with her. He wonders if it is too late for them. It is not, she says, and they kiss. Then comes the surprising bit. Jack asks her to marry him, right now. She agrees and they run off and get married at the court house. We get a final intimate scene between the two of them before Jack is called into work. Carlotta finally calls Hannah (everyone is worried about her, understandably) and breaks the news about Jack. Hannah is shocked at first, but then concedes she should have seen it coming. The books ends with the two of them headed to pick up a body at the crime scene Jack just left for.
So obviously I was happy with the ending. My ship set sail and got hitched. I think it leaves a lot of possibility for the future if the author decides to revisit these characters. I'd like to see Carlotta and Jack solving crime together. I would also very much like to see Prissy's reaction to their marriage as she always said she was going to marry Jack.
I was surprised that Coop and Carlotta actually made it to the alter. I really didn't think Carlotta would break Coop's heart that way. I mean, I'm not mad about it, just surprised. I was disappointed by her decision to purchase a house with Coop. As my friend Courtney pointed out, contracts were involved and it probably wouldn't have been easy to get out of it. Coop may have been stuck with a house, assuming it wasn't in both of their names. I wish she had said 'let's think about it' instead.
I do feel bad for Coop, but even he admitted that he shouldn't have tried to come between Carlotta and Jack. And though Jarlotta (just made that up) were mostly to blame, Coop obviously wasn't completely blindsided. He had to have realized Carlotta wasn't really into planning the wedding. He had to have known something was off. They even decided not to have sex, after that one time, until the wedding, which is sweet in some respects, but also suspicious based on my knowledge of the characters. Maybe Coop will show up in one of Stephanie Bond's serial novels. Or maybe he and Raine will make it work.
Overall, I did enjoy the book but I wish it was longer. Like the last several, it was pretty short. I read the whole thing in about 3 hours. I wish many of the scenes had been longer and that we would have gotten to see some of the things that happened off page (Jack and Carlotta buying wedding rings at the pawn shop, for example). But I have to give it plus 1,000 points because I've been obsessing about it for 6 years and I got the ending I wanted.
Now, maybe, it is time to move on.
At least until one of these characters show up in Elevator Girl, coming this July.
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