American Vampire by J.R. Rain

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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Last night I finished reading American Vampire by JR Rain. This is the third book in the “Vampire for Hire” series, starring newbie vampire, Samantha Moon.

Samantha is living life as best as she can, dealing with her vampirism while still being the best mother she can to her children and working as a private investigator. After years of exchanging candid IMs with someone she knows only as “Fang”, Sam gets the chance to meet him. He’s not what she expected, and the fact that he’s someone she already knew has knocked her for a loop. Sam does not have time to dwell on it, because she receives a mysterious phone call from a young child named Maddie—a girl who has been missing for months. Samantha is determined to find her before it’s too late. On top of everything else, her own child, Anthony, grows terribly sick. Sam fears he’s dying, and she’s faced with a terrible choice.

Nothing in this was predictable, which was both vexing and refreshing. I really felt for Sam, pulled in so many different directions and growing ever more desperate to save both Maddie and Anthony. Along the way, she taps known allies and makes some new ones. Action was fast and furious with barely any down time for Samantha. It made it difficult to set this aside.

Favorite lines:
♦ A relationship should add to your life, not take away from it.
♦ His toes, I saw, were extraordinarily long and hairy, too. He wiggled them at me when he saw me looking at them. They looked like ten frightened mice.
♦ “The guy you found dead in the meth house was murdered.” // “I’m shocked and outraged.”

Exciting and fast-paced. I wasn’t onboard with Fang’s real identity, nor his backstory, and I didn’t like the sad subplot of Anthony’s terminal illness. Nevertheless, a good read. Four stars.

Red Delicious Death by Sheila Connolly

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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I finished my “spare” book this evening. It was Red Delicious Death by Sheila Connolly, and it’s the third in the “Orchard” mystery series. The main character is novice orchardist, Meg Corey.

Meg is learning that there is a lot of work that goes into an apple harvest, and that preparations must begin months ahead of time, such as lining up pickers and finding buyers. Nevertheless, when her friend Lauren calls and says she knows a young couple who want to open a restaurant, Meg helps Brian and Nicky find a venue. Their friend Sam will be the sous chef, and part of his duties include visiting local farmers to source fresh food for the restaurant. When Sam is found dead in a pigsty, the police have reason to suspect it was homicide. Meg is too busy to get involved in any amateur investigation, but she does help out where she can. Sam wasn’t in town long enough to make any enemies, so Meg and everyone else is left wondering who would have wanted him dead?

The mystery took a backseat in this book, which was both refreshing and annoying. Most of the narrative was taken up with Meg’s orchard business, and her trying to help Brian and Nicky launch their restaurant endeavor. Meg’s relationship with Seth is progressing nicely, and it was VERY refreshing to read a cozy mystery wherein the main character neither stumbled over the victim’s dead body nor ended up in peril at the end of the book.

Favorite line: “Houses seem to have this built-in urge to self-destruct, and us hardy homeowners must battle constantly to prevent it.”

I was leaning towards an average score for this one, but my delight in the fact that Meg didn’t find the body or end up in danger at the end bumps the score up to four.

Life's A Birch by Annabel Chase

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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I finished Life’s a Birch by Annabel Chase last night. It’s the second installment in her “Bloomin’ Psychic” series, starring Mia Thorne.

Mia is getting acclimated to the slower pace of life in Newberry, PA, although she still needs a job, and her great-aunt Hazel’s garden still needs lots of work. At least she has some new friends, Scarlet and Patrick, a potential boyfriend in attorney Dane Fairfax, and hellcat Ophelia seems to be accepting her. Things are going well until a body is found in the canal near Scarlet’s home and Scarlet is tabbed as the primary suspect. Determined to clear her friend’s name, Mia starts nosing around in hopes of finding a more viable suspect or two for the police to focus on. What she encounters is a conspiracy-minded birdwatching group, a creepy set of twins, a snarky knitting circle, and a ghost. The police would prefer that Mia stay out of it, because a killer may just kill again to keep a secret.

As fresh and funny as the first in the series. Mia is a hoot, and I love how she rolls with whatever fresh hell life deals her. The plot moved at a good pace, and characters were well-developed.

Favorite lines:
♦ Ophelia appeared in the kitchen, meowing with a sense of urgency. “What is it, Lassie? Did Timmy fall in the well again?”
♦ Chief Tuck peered at me with those Paul Newman eyes and I immediately started to crave salad dressing.
♦ “You should have taken something from him so you can try to do a reading later, like a strand of his hair, although I’d hate to deprive him of what few hairs he has left.”
♦ She was like a geriatric version of Luna from Harry Potter.
♦ Vacating the bean bag chair was like trying to give birth to myself.

Lots of fun, four stars

Killer Mousse by Melinda Wells

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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I finished my “spare” book last night. It was Killer Mousse by Melinda Wells, and it’s the first in her “Della Cooks” series of cozy mysteries. The main character is Della Carmichael, a 47 year-old widow who runs a cooking school.

Della’s cooking school is doing okay, but she’s struggling to make ends meet. Therefore, she jumps at the chance to host a cooking show on a local cable channel. However, during the live airing of her first episode, the woman who volunteers to taste-test Della’s “killer mousse” drops dead. When it’s learned that Mimi died of an allergic reaction because the mousse contained peanuts, Della becomes a murder suspect. Her late husband was a police officer, so Della knows her way around the legal system. Soon, she is speaking to others involved with the cable station, trying to learn who may have had it in for Mimi. In the meantime, the TV station senses a PR opportunity and sends an investigative journalist to interview Della. She finds Nicholas D’Martino (or NDM, as she refers to him) to be arrogant and full of himself. When someone else connected with the studio is murdered and Della is attacked, she realizes she’s running out of time to find out who killed Mimi.

I enjoyed this story. I liked Della, and I appreciated that she was a mature woman. Other characters were three-dimensional and relatable, including the foul-mouthed owner of the station. When Della chose to indulge in a fling, I was both astonished and approving. It was refreshing to read about a woman who took what she wanted. Rowr! There really wasn’t much humor in the story, although Della was possessed of a dry wit. The plot moved at a good pace and didn’t meander.

Favorite lines:
♦ Maybe I was so upset at seeing a woman die in front of me that I was being unreasonable.
♦ She was as pale as a vampire’s entrée.

Very good story, and I look forward to reading others in the series. Four stars.

( Trope Test )

The Pernicious Pixie and the Choked Word by Kelly Ethan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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I polished off an ebook last night: The Pernicious Pixie and the Choked Word, which is the prequel to author Kelly Ethan’s “Point Muse” series of paranormal mysteries. The main character is librarian Alexandria “Xandie” Meyers, who doesn’t know she’s a witch.

Xandie would rather be doing anything but working for her austere father at the library at Andrews College, but she needs a job. As if working for her persnickety father wasn’t bad enough, Xandie stumbles over a dead body in the library. When paranormal investigator Ethan Jackson arrives to investigate, Xandie learns there’s more to this world than meets the eye. Her father won’t tell her anything, and all Ethan will tell her is to go to Point Muse, where her great-aunt Sera lived. First, however, Xandie must survive harmful hexes and murderous pixies if she wants to live long enough to visit Point Muse.

Not a long story, but put together well for all that. Characters came across fine, the plot was sensible and not bogged down with a lot of incidental descriptors.

Favorite lines:
♦ “What scrapbook nut outlines a dead body in glitter?”
♦ “Never threaten a woman with a broom.”
♦ “He’ll poop hell kittens if I don’t wind this up.”
♦ No one should ever have to deal with the horror of zombie underwear.
♦ “Some tea to go with your sarcasm?”

Lite and lively, four stars!

Plaster and Poison by Jennie Bentley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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Finished reading Plaster and Poison last night. It’s the third book in author Jennie Bentley’s “Do It Yourself” mystery series. The main character is interior designer Avery Baker.

When Avery and her boyfriend, Derek, find themselves between renovating flips, their friend Kate asks them to renovate the old carriage house on the grounds of the B&B she owns so she can move into it once she gets married to police chief Wayne. It will be a tall order to complete the job before NYE, which is when Kate and Wayne are getting married. Nevertheless, Avery and Derek dive in. Their work comes to a halt, however, when a dead body is discovered in the carriage house. The victim is someone Kate knew all too well. Now Avery finds herself less concerned about her friend’s future living quarters and more worried about keeping Kate out of prison.

Lively story with lots going on: the murder, a mysterious disappearance, the arrival of Avery’s mother and stepfather for a visit, and an old mystery concerning a love triangle that Avery is determined to unravel. I enjoyed reading about her engaged in activities that did not involve investigating the crime. Avery and other characters were three-dimensional and relatable. I figured some things out early, but others caught me by surprise.

Favorite lines:
♦ “Better to be alone by yourself, than alone with somebody, don’t you think?”
♦ When two unusual things happen right after one another, chances are they’re related.

Fun read, four stars

A Guide to Solving A Murder by Courtney McFarlin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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I just polished off the last of A Guide to Solving a Murder, the first book in author Courtney McFarlin’s “Finn and Briar” series of cozy mysteries. Main characters are Tessa Windsor, along with her border collie, Finn, and her cat, Briar.

Tess is living the high life. She has her own business leading hikes in the Colorado Rockies, her faithful pets by her side, a brother whom she’s close to, and her BFF, Meggie. Her life is shaken up, however, when she and Paul are named as heirs to a woman they never knew—their great-aunt Euphemia. Paul inherits Euphemia’s home, but Tess inherits her magic. Now she can communicate with her cat and dog, which is amazing. Not so amazing is the very real nightmare Tess has of witnessing a woman’s murder. She recognizes the trail from her dream and travels there, only to find the woman’s body. Both Tess and Paul soon dig into the investigation, Tess by asking questions and Paul utilizing his skills and contacts as a journalist. Finn and Briar lend assistance where they can, and when Tessa gets too close to a killer, it will be up to her pets and her newfound magic to save the day.

Apparently, this series is a spinoff of the author’s “Razzy Cat” series. I have a few book in that series but have yet to read any. At least this one didn’t produce any overt spoilers. I loved Tessa’s ability to speak to Finn and Briar. Who among us wouldn’t want to talk to our pets? Characterizations were wonderful, including the pets. I liked how Paul and Meggie continued to dance around their attraction to one another. The plot moved quickly and held my attention.

Favorite lines:
♦ “It’s been my dream to talk to animals since I was a little girl.”
♦ “He couldn’t find his way out of a wet paper bag with a guide dog.”
♦ One never passes up donuts when one doesn’t have to.

Fun read, four stars

( Trope Test )

A Wild Ghost Chase by Elle Adams

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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Earlier this evening I knocked back the rest of A Wild Ghost Chase by Elle Adams. It’s the first book in the “Reaper Witch” series of paranormal mysteries. The main character is Maura, half witch, half Reaper.

After breaking the rules as a Reaper, Maura has turned her back on her paranormal life to live among non-magical people. However, her ability to see and communicate with ghosts continues to plague her. Now she’s been sacked from her job in a morgue and wondering how she’ll pay the rent. Maura is contacted by a teenage ghost blogger who asks her to come to Hawkwood Hollow to lay a particularly nasty ghost to rest. Maura accepts the job, but what she finds in Hawkwood Hollow is unexpected. There are far too many random spirits hanging around, even for a magical town, and she learns that the local Reaper has quit his job and is no longer crossing souls over. Teenage ghost-hunter wannabe, Carey, shows Maura the dilapidated old mansion where the surly spirit refuses to leave. What should be a simple case for a Reaper witch is complicated by a detective who doesn’t want Maura there, a belligerent heir, and her own twin brother, Mart, whose ghost is still attached to her. Maura is determined to get to the bottom of things, if only for Carey’s sake and to show Detective Drew that she knows what she’s doing.

This was a little bit fluffy and a little bit creepy. The ghost of old Mrs Renner was a nasty piece of work, as was her very much alive grandson, Henry Renner. Maura keeps being thwarted by the detective each time she tries to enter the house to communicate with Mrs Renner, and the old harridan is determined to stay put. Maura and Carey were portrayed well, but other characters could have used some fleshing out. The story was almost exclusively Maura’s investigation with some backstory thrown in.

Favorite line: Most magical folk are about as subtle as a troupe of unicycle-riding clowns juggling fireballs.

Not all that substantial, but enjoyable. It deserves 3.5 stars, but since I can’t award halfsies, I’ll bump it up to a four.

The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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Today I finished reading my extra/spare book: The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis. It’s the first in the author’s “Domestic Diva” cozy mystery series. The main character is Sophie Winston.

Divorced event planner Sophie is determined to beat Natasha Smith in the local Stupendous Stuffing Shakedown competition. Sophie and Natasha have been rivals since school, and while Natasha now has her own business and Sophie’s ex-husband, Sophie is confident she can win. Her careful planning is thrown for a loop, however, when she discovers a dead man in a dumpster behind the grocery store. When the police find Sophie’s photo and contact information in the dead man’s car, she becomes a person of interest. Sophie is determined to put the incident behind her and get ready, not only for the competition, but also for a house full of Thanksgiving guests. After one disaster after another befalls not only Sophie, but several people in her orbit, she ends up hosting her ex, Mars, along with his mother, his brother and sister-in-law, Natasha, and Bernie, Mars’ friend. Not only is Sophie up to the challenge, but she’s also determined to figure out who’s behind all the misfortune.

Wow, there was a metric sh*t ton of things going on in this book: murder, attempted murder, house fire, breaking and entering, a stalker, and a peeping tom. It was almost too much. However, the author kept it together, and the individual threads wove into a neat finish. Characters were portrayed well. I liked that Sophie and Mars did not have a contentious relationship (they even shared custody of their dog!). Sophie’s friend/neighbor, Nina, was amazing. The author introduced a minor hint of the paranormal, which I enjoyed. What I didn’t enjoy was the meddling Sophie’s mother did in an effort to get Sophie and Mars back together.

Favorite line: A killer was on the loose and these two were playing matchmaker?

An engrossing read—four stars.

( Trope Test )

Impurrfect Magic by Paula Lester

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


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Last night I finished an ebook. It was Impurrfect Magic by Paula Lester. It’s the first book in the “Unfamiliar Magic” series of paranormal cozies. The main character is Ivy Patterson.

Ivy has ditched her old life in favor of moving back to her hometown, where she works in her uncle’s produce store. Uncle Vincent is training Ivy to take over the business, with an eye on retiring once she’s ready. Things are going well until Ivy finds her uncle dead in the store. While his death appears from natural causes, Ivy can’t help but wonder. When a black kitten emerges into the shop from a secret, back room, Ivy stumbles upon her uncle’s secret. He’s been running a side-hustle—using his magic to do odd jobs for people. It forces Ivy to confront her painful past—her mother once declared that Ivy’s magic was dark and that she must never use it. However, Vince also had dark magic, and Ivy doesn’t believe he ever used it to cause harm. At the kitten’s unspoken urging, Ivy begins to piece together the last few days of her uncle’s life in an effort to find who may have wanted to kill him...and why.

A fun story. Ivy is likable, as were other characters in her “orbit”. Of course, she encountered some unsavory characters over the course of her investigation, but they were only transient. The kitten, Tabby, had magic of her own, but she was not a talking cat. That was refreshing. The narrative unfolded at a sensible pace, although the majority of it was consumed with Ivy’s sleuthing. There were some minor editing errors, such as one character whose name was alternately spelled either Shye or Skye

Favorite lines:
♦ I changed my jeans because the first pair got too tight in the dryer. I swear it was the dryer.
♦ “Hey, didn’t you die yesterday?”

Enjoyable—four stars.

( Trope Test )