Tomb with a View (Pepper Martin #6) by Casey Daniels

Tomb with a View by Casey Daniels

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Cemeteries come alive for amateur sleuth/reluctant medium Pepper Martin.

Cleveland's Garden View Cemetery is hosting a James A. Garfield commemoration. For tour guide and reluctant medium Pepper Martin this means that's he'll surely be hearing from the dead president himself. And when she's assigned to help plan the event with know-it-all volunteer and Garfield fanatic Marjorie Klinker, she'll wish Marjorie were dead...too bad someone beats Pepper to it.

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I hate writing a review for this series. I am so wishy-washy about it. I really don't like Pepper at times. She is very shallow and annoying. Then she does something to redeem herself in my eyes, for a little while. I am enjoying the mysteries in this series more and more. The characters still need some work. I don't like most of the main characters, like Pepper and Quinn. lol But I will keep reading and ultimately that is what the author wants, I would guess.



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Dead Man Talking (Pepper Martin #5) by Casey Daniels

Dead Man Talking by Casey Daniels

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Move over American Idol. Reality TV has come to Cleveland and Pepper Martin is a part of it!

When Pepper arrives at a down-on-its-luck cemetery to help with a restoration project she learns, to her dismay, that there’s going to be a contest to restore the cemetery grounds. Even worse—it’s going to be the basis of a local reality TV show, Cemetery Survivor. One team will be made up of genteel Historical Society ladies and the other—Pepper’s group—will be convicts on probation. Pepper Martin in day-glo? Now that’s a fashion don’t!.

There’s also a ghost waiting for Pepper. He claims he was wrongly convicted of killing a young woman. But it seems there’s quite a bit he’s not revealing. Pepper agrees to try to clear his name, but digging for the truth could put her in grave danger....

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I just can't decide if I like this series or not. I find Pepper annoying and irritating, but then, she has moments where I think that I might actually be starting to like her. Then something happens to make me change my mind. I enjoyed the mystery of the book. I enjoyed Pepper's interaction with her 'team'. I was even happy about her finally resolving some of the issues in her love life. But then it all blew apart at the end.
I will read the next book, because I just can't stop now. Definitely a love/hate feeling with this series though.



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Learning To Swim by Ann Turner

Learning To Swim by Ann Turner

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A powerful true poetry memoir for anyone who has navigated the troubled waters of childhood and adolescence searching for a way to stay afloat, now in the new POINT.

Unfolding in a series of exquisite narrative poems, this is the haunting true story of a tragic summer in a young girl's life. Annie is supposed to be having a carefree summer -- but instead she must face the unwanted advances of an older boy in the neighborhood, who threatens her if she tells. It isn't until Annie's mother pries out the secret that Annie is released from her horror and isolation and can slowly begin to heal.

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This is a very powerful book. It takes only a few minutes to read but it will stay with you for a long time.

The poems lead us through the struggle of a young girl who has been molested as she tries to deal with what is happening to her. Her struggle to let others know and eventually her attempt to heal. Beautifully written and a true testament to the authors bravery.




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Night of the Loving Dead (Pepper Martin #4) by Casey Daniels

Night of the Loving Dead by Casey Daniels

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Pepper Martin, heiress-turned-cemetery-tour-guide, has her hands full with work, two hotties, and the ghosts who won't let her rest --- or work, or shop --- in peace ...

The last thing Pepper wants during her Chicago business trip is more ghosts seeking her help, as they've been doing ever since she hit her head on a tombstone. Then again, being bored stiff during a seminar might actually be worse than being with bored stiffs.

The specter of Madeline --- a young woman in a lab coat --- wants Pepper's help. Before she died, Madeline worked with Dan Callahan, the sexy, mysterious doctor who once saved Pepper's life. According to Madeline, Dan's in danger. But, little does Pepper know, there's more to the story, including a devious doctor --- and an obsessive, crazy love ...

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I was just about ready to give up on this series. I really don't like Pepper and her relationships are ridiculous. Something about the books just seem so fake. But then, about one third of the way through the book, things started getting interesting.

I actually enjoyed this book. The mystery was interesting, maybe because it was about Pepper and her Gift. But I found myself actually finding excuses to keep reading. Hopefully the next book continues this trend and I can continue on with this series.



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Tombs of Endearment (Pepper Martin #3) by Casey Daniels

Tombs of Endearment by Casey Daniels

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Cemetery tour guide Pepper Martin never imagined she'd get to meet rock legend Damon Curtis, the bad boy poet who made millions of teenage girls scream. After all, he kicked the bucket years before she was born. But thanks to her newfound ability to chat up the dead, Pepper's got a front row seat perfect for swooning over the still-sexy Damon's latest lyrics. He's convinced that his former bandmate Vinnie Pallucci murdered him back in ‘71, and he's promised Pepper she won't get any rest or peace until she helps him prove it.

But when Pepper goes behind the music, she finds Vinnie with a knife in his heart and the rest of the band members running for their lives. And if Pepper doesn't snare the killer soon, Damon's next hit from the great beyond might be her swan song.


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Well Pepper is just as ditzy as I remember her from previous books and on top of that she now has an out of control libido. She seems to have the hots for every guy she meets, including the dead ones. Sigh.

Overall this was an okay mystery. I am not a fan of Pepper Martin, but I am going to continue with the series in the hopes that maybe she grows on me.



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Wild About You (Love at Stake, #13) by Kerrelyn Sparks

Wild About You by Kerrelyn Sparks

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Handsome Howard...
Hunky Howard...
Hot Howard...

It's not every day that Elsa Bjornberg feels delicate, not when she hosts a home renovation show where she can effortlessly demolish a kitchen. But from the moment she meets Howard Barr, this bear of a man makes her feel like a woman. And the way he looks at her, as if she were a pot of honey he'd like to lick...

Howard is not like most men. For one thing, he's a shapeshifter. And he always thought his celebrity crush would never amount to anything more than drooling at Elsa on TV. When his meddling vampire employer gets involved, the star is suddenly within his grasp—and within a hair of her life. For an ancient curse forbids their newfound love, and Howard is suddenly torn between his desire for her and his desire to keep her alive.

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Love to read some cheesy romance every now and then and this one was cheesy through and through. Not quite as much action and involvement in the back story with this book, as with previous books in the series, but still a wonderful romance.

We learn more about Howard, the were-bear, and have a new paranormal aspect added with the Guardians. Overall a nice addition to the series.



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Let Them Eat Stake (A Vampire Chef Mystery, #2) by Sarah Zettel

Let Them Eat Stake by Sarah Zettel

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


It's a dream for a "Vampire Chef"-cater the high-profile wedding of a 200-year-old vampire and a wealthy witch. So why did celebrity chef Oscar Simmons walk away from this gig? Charlotte agrees to take his place, even though she knows this event, thrown by power-hungry vampires and witches, could make (or break) her career, her restaurant, and her life. But when Simmons turns up dead, the groom's family starts vanishing, and the police start asking pointed questions, Charlotte fears she may have picked the wrong wedding to stake her reputation on..


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This was another good read in the Vampire Chef series. I would love to give this series more than 3 stars but for some reason the books just seem a little one dimensional to me. There is not the depth needed to make me really love the books. The story line is always interesting but often a little convoluted. Things don't tie together as smoothly as they should. The characters are interesting, but again don't have enough depth to make them really memorable.

I will gladly continue with this series if there are more. But I hope that they author is able to add that something more that seems to be lacking to make it a really great series instead of just a good one.



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A Taste of the Nightlife (A Vampire Chef Mystery, #1) by Sarah Zettel

A Taste of the Nightlife by Sarah Zettel

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Charlotte Caine isn't called "the Vampire Chef" because she's a member of New York's undead community-she just cooks for them. Her restaurant, Nightlife, is poised to take the top slot in the world of "haute noir" cuisine.

But when a drunk customer causes a scene, a glowing review from the city's top food critic doesn't seem likely-especially when that customer winds up dead on Nightlife's doorstep. Now, with her brother under suspicion for the murder, Charlotte has to re-open her restaurant and clear her brother's name-before they both become dinner.

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This was an interesting start to what I think will be a good new series.

The start of the book was a bit choppy. The world building could have been stronger and the character development was a little 1 dimensional, but the mystery itself and the premise for the book was a good one. The story started coming together a bit by mid way through the book and I am looking forward to reading the next in the series to see where the author goes.



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