Review: After/Life: Denial: A Paranormal Ghost Romance

After/Life: Denial: A Paranormal Ghost Romance by Scarlett Whispers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Available at Amazon

This book is the part of a series. Based on the preview of the next book I have a feeling that each book name will be dealing with the different stages of grief. While the story is complete in itself it leaves enough threads hanging that you know another one was coming even before the preview was shown.
Molly and Sam are sweethearts, she is tough as nails and he is gentle and firm. Molly is a cop and Sam handles the evidence. No one understands why they are together but they are. Molly and partner are after the big drug lord in town and will stop at nothing to get him. Much more of the story would be giving spoilers, so that is not something I will do, though reading the description you know someone dies.

After death, what is there? I am not sure if the author is going after the karma theory of Buddha or the purgatory theory of the Catholic Church. It is not what I believe happens after death but it does make for an interesting read. All those little things you did that hurt someone, how do you make up for them in the afterlife.

Small amount of sexual activity (not in detail) would not make this book safe for children. If you are into serial stories than this book could be for you. I dropped a star because I am not one in favor of serial reads. As I said, this has an ending to it but to me not a satisfying one.


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Review: Flowers Vs. Zombies (Book 6) Native

Flowers Vs. Zombies (Book 6) Native by Perrin Briar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Available at Amazon

I received an ARC copy. What follows is an honest review.

Like the other books in the Flowers vs. Zombies this book can stand alone but leaves hooks into the next book in the series. This makes reading it a little more enjoyable than books that just end in the middle of things.

There are basically four storylines going on at the same time. While that can seem to be a little crowded, each part of the story gets the amount of time needed.

Main story is that of the Flower's family and their struggles to help someone who has come to them and their fight against pirates. While there are some zombies in the story, they are not the protagonist here like they have been in previous books.

Storyline is understandable but you do have to pay attention. With the multiple story lines going on you may have to go back and read some parts again.

Recommended for all ages. There is a little violence in it. But that is what you will have when you are fighting zombies and/or pirates. If you are into zombies and have read the rest of the books in the series it will appeal to you

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Chocolate With a Side of Murder by Meredith Potts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Available at Amazon

I received a copy from Authors XP web site and the author. It was a copy from Audible. What follows is an honest review of the Audio Book.

The audio books take a little longer for me to 'read' shall we say. I have a half hour ride to and from work. In the morning I will listen to my Bible reading plan for the day. In the evening I will listen to what ever book I have in the cue at the moment.

Ms. Potts has started an interesting series here. A barista who likes to solve crimes who happens to have a detective boyfriend. Most of the cozy mysteries I have read follow the same pattern. Heroine, with boyfriend, murder to someone they know, they have to solve. It is a predictable pattern, but it works. If it did not we would not have so many cozy authors out there.

While the pattern is predictable, the story does not have to be. It also has to let you know the clues so you can solve it yourself. It is OK to throw in red herrings but to pull something out of the hat at the last minute is not good. This was a problem here. While the clue that helped solve it was there right from the start of the murder, there was some off camera work that really would have been done by the police already. For that reason I dropped 1/2 star.

The other 1/2 star was because of the various sub stories that were put in the book. They did nothing to advance the story. I feel that they may be used in future Daley Buzz stories in the series. For this story they did nothing to contribute that I could tell.

The reading was pretty good. I did feel once or twice the woman reading it lost track of the character voice she was reading it in, seemingly with the men characters. This really did not distract from the story line.

Being a cozy it is clean. No violence is depicted. So it would be OK for all to read. I would recommend it to anyone wanting a light mystery to read with a little bit of humor thrown in.

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Review: 12 Days at Bleakly Manor

12 Days at Bleakly Manor by Michelle Griep
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Available at Amazon
This book is an interesting Christmas story. The story takes place in the time frame that Charles Dickens would have written and has a Dickens feel to it.

While we kind of know how the book will turn out based on the characters focused on, it is interesting to see how we get to that point. Our basic story is told through the eyes of a woman left at the altar and now is destitute due to the fact that her husband to be who has allegedly stolen money from the family business as well as from the man himself, who is in prison. Both of them are invited to a mansion and if they or one of the other guests can stay the 12 days of Christmas, then they will get what they want the most in life. Only one of the group can get it.

What would you do to get what you want the most in life. Would you kill or hurt someone? One by one the residents leave for various reasons. Who will be there in the end?

It is a clean book with just a little bit of a passionate kiss from a couple who were to be married. For that reason it could be recommended for any age. I would have no problems with recommending this to any one who wants a short interesting read. of a Christmas story.

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