REVIEW: Southern Spirits by Angie Fox

Title: Southern Spirits (Southern Ghost Hunter Mysteries #1)
Author: Angie Fox
Publisher: Moose Island Books
Publication Date: January 2020
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: One simple mistake…
For a girl who is about to lose her family home,
Releases the ghost of a long-dead gangster,
And opens Verity Long’s eyes to a whole new world.

When out of work graphic designer Verity Long accidentally traps a ghost on her property, she’s saddled with more than a supernatural sidekick—she gains the ability see spirits. It leads to an offer she can’t refuse from the town’s bad boy, the brother of her ex and the last man she should ever partner with.

Ellis Wydell is in possession of a stunning historic property haunted by some of Sugarland Tennessee’s finest former citizens. Only some of them are growing restless—and destructive. He hires Verity to put an end to the disturbances. But soon, Verity learns there’s more to the mysterious estate than floating specters, secret passageways, and hidden rooms.

There’s a modern-day mystery afoot, one that hinges on a decades-old murder. Verity isn't above questioning the living, or the dead. But can she discover the truth before the killer finds her?

My Thoughts: Originally published back in 2015, the first three installments of The Southern Ghost Hunter Mysteries was offered to me. Though I haven’t read this author before, she has been on my radar for a while as this series and her Demon Slayer series are tropes I am typically drawn to.

This was a fun book that had a lot of interesting elements. Woman betrayed by her fiancé is trying to save her grandmother’s home in Tennessee from being foreclosed. She and her pet skunk, Lucy, are trying to make a life for themselves when our heroine, Verity, inadvertently releases a ghost. Not just any ghost, but the ghost of a gangster with a bullet hole in his forehead. As a result, she can now see and speak to other ghosts.

She is soon hired by none other than her ex-fiancé’s brother, Ellis, to rid his home of ghosts who are becoming destructive and ruining his remodeling. Seeing this as a golden opportunity to acquire the funds to save her grandmother’s home, Verity agrees though she and Ellis are nowhere near to being on friendly terms.

Verity soon discovers that some ghosts are still around because they have unfinished business, usually having to do with their own unsolved murder. It isn’t long before Verity and Ellis become targets and they have to act fast if they are going to solve the murder and save not just Ellis’s home, but her grandmother’s.

This was an entertaining start to a series that is currently at fourteen installments. I liked Verity and Ellis and loved, loved, loved that she has a pet skunk. I really hope that Lucy features prominently throughout the rest of the series. Verity and Ellis have quite a bit of chemistry, but that’s as far as it goes in this story, so there is more to develop and explore there. I’m also looking forward to getting to know Frankie, the 1920’s gangster ghost, better and finding out more about his background as well as the other ghosts.

My Final Verdict: Overall, this is a charming start to a series that I will enjoy reading more of. I recommend this story to fans of cozy mysteries as well as stories that feature paranormal elements. Fans of skunks should give this series a go too because she is just too adorable.

Thank you to the publisher, Moose Island Books, who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

REVIEW: These Deadly Games by Diana Urban

Title: These Deadly Games
Author: Diana Urban
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: February 2022
Genre: Mystery / Thriller / Teen
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: Let’s play a game.

You have 24 hours to win. If you break my rules, she dies. If you call the police, she dies. If you tell your parents or anyone else, she dies.

Are you ready?

When Crystal Donavan gets a message on a mysterious app with a video of her little sister gagged and bound, she agrees to play the kidnapper’s game. At first, they make her complete bizarre tasks: steal a test and stuff it in a locker, bake brownies, make a prank call.

But then Crystal realizes each task is meant to hurt—and kill—her friends, one by one. But if she refuses to play, the kidnapper will kill her sister. Is someone trying to take her team out of the running for a gaming tournament? Or have they uncovered a secret from their past, and wants them to pay for what they did…

As Crystal makes the impossible choices between her friends and her sister, she must uncover the truth and find a way to outplay the kidnapper… before it’s too late.

Author of All Your Twisted Secrets, Diana Urban’s explosive sophomore novel, These Deadly Games, will keep you riveted until the final twist is revealed.

My Thoughts: Wow! I needed several minutes to pick my jaw up off the floor after finishing this book. New to me author, Diana Urban, delivers a very twisty, heart pounding, pulse racing story about a teenage girl who is racing the clock to play a sick and twisted game or her little sister dies. Who is behind this nightmare? Why are they are doing this? How far is Crystal willing to go when the choices between hurting her friends and allowing her sister to die become more painful.

First of all, I really enjoyed the back story of Crystal and her friends all being avid online gamers. I appreciated the detail the author put into this story to illustrate how important the gaming community is to gamers and how focused they are on the game, sometimes to the detriment of other aspects of their lives. No judgment here at all, but the author did a brilliant job of showing how the gaming life can evolve from a fun hobby to an obsession.

Secondly, this story is full of twists and turns that I actually started to wonder if this was really happening or was it all in Crystal’s head. The kidnapper does an excellent job of making Crystal believe a reality other than her own at times and it also got me questioning it.

Thirdly, the games Crystal has to play start out fairly innocent and innocuous. Steal a test and put it in a locker. Make some brownies and go take a drive to a lake. Make a prank phone call. The detail the kidnapper puts into their plan was brilliantly executed and I could feel Crystal’s fear and frustration as every angle she thinks of to get to the bottom of this has already been thought of and blocked by the villain. They can see her. They can hear her. While reading this story, I was giving my cell phone dirty looks.

The plot was so mind-boggling, but so easy to follow. The story switches between the present and five years in the past. The characters were well developed and behaved appropriately and as expected, given the events around them. Everyone was a suspect in my mind at various points, including Crystal. When the reveal occurred, I was shocked, but it didn’t end there. When the entire truth came out, I was floored and this story ends with me wondering if there will be a sequel or some kind of follow-up involving Crystal. You know, like in Jaws, when you think it’s safe to go back into the water? If I were Crystal, I think I would give up all electronics, social media, gaming and live off the grid.

My Final Verdict: Overall, this story was fantastic! Interesting and intriguing storyline paired with characters who are easy to relate to are a booklover’s dream. I highly recommend this story to readers who enjoy mysteries and thrillers. The majority of the characters are teen and young adult and readers in this age group will enjoy it, but also older adults, like me, will be pulled in and have a difficult time looking away.

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

REVIEW: Until Love Do Us Part by Anna Premoli

Title: Until Love Do Us Part
Author: Anna Premoli
Publisher: Aria
Publication Date: June 2017
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Buy The Book: Amazon | Audible

Description: What happens when two people who hate each other are forced to cooperate by law?

Amalia and Ryan met at Yale Law School, from which their mutual dislike for one another was born.

Amalia Berger is a successful, high society New York lawyer. Chicago based lawyer Ryan O'Moore is the eldest of four sons whose chaotic family run a pub in the heart of the Big Apple.

New York beckons after Ryan is offered a promotion. But when the defense lawyer of his first case is the one and only Amalia Berger, things become complicated.

The courtroom clash escalates between them to the point that the judge sentences them both to a punishment of community service, forcing them to spend time together...

My Thoughts: Ryan and Amalia have known one another since their Yale Law School days. Both Amalia and Ryan are extremely head-strong over achievers and that’s pretty much where their mutual commonalities end. Amalia sucked up the courage back in college to ask Ryan out for a drink, for which she was rejected by Ryan in a most condescending manner. Afterward, Ryan gets the coveted spot as the editor for the Yale magazine. It’s safe to say that when Amalia and Ryan meet a decade later in court on opposing sides of the aisle, neither one is happy. Their acrimonious bickering doesn’t sit well with the judge either so he finds them both in contempt and sentences them to 50 hours of community service each, to be served together. This forced time spent together will either result in them killing each other or falling in love.

This was a fun, cute and charming story. Amalia comes from a family of wealth and has a trust fund but she doesn’t want to succeed on her family name or their money. Her relationship with her parents are that of practical strangers. Ryan comes from a large close-knit Irish family that works hard for everything they own and don’t have the luxury of wealth. I was really surprised by how much Ryan resented Amalia for her wealthy upbringing and thought it highly unfair how much he judges her for it.

I was anxious to know how they would resolve their issues to not only work professionally with one another, but also see if the chemistry they are feeling can amount to something special outside the courtroom. The community service they are forced to work was quite entertaining, from cleaning up a park with inmates, making and serving meals at a soup kitchen, volunteering at a kindergarten, retirement home and the Humane Society shelter. I liked that Amalia wanted to show Ryan that she wasn’t above getting her hands dirty or afraid of hard work. I didn’t like that Amalia felt like she had to prove anything to Ryan because of his bias against wealthy people.

In spite of Ryan’s bad attitude, I liked him and understood his feelings about wealthy people were more a self-projection of himself and his feelings of inadequacy and wanting to be successful without a trust fund. I liked Amalia and how she comes to terms with what being in a serious relationship means and whether she is brave enough to take the leap.

These characters were very believable and easy to relate to. I really liked getting to meet Ryan’s family and Amalia’s grandmother. The plot moves at a good pace and kept me engaged and curious to see what would happen. This is my first book by Anna Premoli and I thoroughly enjoyed her writing style and voice. I look forward to reading more of her work.

My Final Verdict: Overall, the opposites attract trope can work if done correctly and this story illustrates that very well. I highly recommend this book to readers of contemporary romance as well as stories involving characters who are outspoken in their opinions and staunch defenders of their positions.

Thank you to the publisher, Aria, who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.