Keepin' it Real on the Journey - 30 Nov 2011

It's been a month since my last Weight Watchers meeting due to shift work and my Team Weight Loss sessions occurring at the same time as meeting times and me forgetting that there are other meeting times.....
Anyway, good news...even through the crazy month of November of my birthday and Thanksgiving, I still managed to lose 3.4 pounds and that puts me at 234.2 for a grand total of ten pounds down since getting back to my meetings and starting with Life Time Fitness.

Pedometer for the last seven days:

23 Nov 8440
24 Nov 5039
25 Nov 6898
26 Nov 7792
27 Nov 6590
28 Nov 7084
29 Nov 13339
30 Nov 14889

Naked to Dressed...Christmas tree that is...

Take one basically naked Noble Fir

Add one table full of 30 years of collecting ornaments

And....ta-da!!!

We don't light our tree since the outlet in the foyer went phhhhht a few years ago. We found that we like it this way. We put lights on the railing and the holiday village pieces have lights, so we haven't gone totally Little House on the Prairie.

Books in the House Monday - 28 Nov 2011

Books on the Nook:
HIRED GUNS – Mark Boss, thriller
HIGH TIDE – Ann Summerville, cozy
A SLICE OF MURDER: Pizza Lover’s Mystery #1 – Chris Cavender
TOO BIG TO MISS: Odelia Gray Mystery #1 – Sue Ann Jaffarian, cozy
A SCREAM OF ANGELS: The Templar Chronicles 32 – Josephe Nassise, UF
A TEAR IN THE SKY: the Templar Chronicles 33 – Joseph Nassise, UF
A KILLING TIDE – P J Alderman, suspense
CHOKE HOLD – Christa Faust, noir thriller

From Mary Ann in New Jersey:
HOLLY BLUES: A China Bayles Mystery - Susan Wittig Albert, amateur sleuth, HB

From Library Thing (http://www.librarything.com):
SWITCHED: A Trylle Novel - Amanda Hocking, YA fantasy, ARC

B&N to see hellah cool Jeanne Stein:
CROSSROADS: Anna Strong Novel #7 - Jeanne Stein, UF, MPB, signed by the author
TRICK OF THE LIGHT: A Trickster Novel #1 - Rob Thurman, UF, MPB
RETRIBUTION FALLS - Chris Wooding, fantasy, TPB

MIND OVER MURDER: A Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery - Allison Kingsley

From the back of the book: Cousins and best friends Clara and Stephanie Quinn run the Raven's Nest bookstore in quaint Finn's Harbor, Maine. It's where people go to find their most coveted reads, having no idea it's Clara who's reading their minds.....

For some time, all Clara Quinn wanted was to get away from Finn's Harbor---and her inherited abillity to see into the future and read people's thoughts, a trait her family calls the Quinn Sense. But Clara couldn't stay away for long, and soon she's helping her cousin, Stephanie Quinn Dowd, in her bookstore, the Raven's Nest.

The bookstore has made an enemy of the town crier, Ana Jordan, who's outraged by the store's occult collection and how it's poisoning the town's youth. Meanwhile, the store's number one employee, Molly, has made no secret of her anger over Ana's antics. So when Ana is found dead, killed by a bust of Edgar Allen Poe----sculpted by Molly---the evidence is stacked against her. Clara knows Molly and the the store are in trouble. Now she must rely on her gift to make sense of his senseless murder.....

****************************************

I mostly liked this cozy mystery. It meets the criteria of interesting characters, set in a town I wouldn't mind visiting, good-versus-whacked-in-the-cranium-mean, with the added bonus a tinge of paranormal.

One issue was that the whacked-in-the-cranium-mean person got whacked before I had a chance to really see why she was so mean and no one liked her.

The story was a little choppy, but I still wanted to find out what was going to happen next and see if it flowed any better as the book continued. It was blurbed by Yasmine Galenorn, one of my favorite authors, so I know it has promise and I will look for the next in the series.

Allison Kingsley is a pseudonym for Kate Kingsbury/Doreen Roberts/Rebecca Kent. http://www.doreenrobertshight.com/

Four voices in the cranium beans....

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM: A Mystery A La Mode - Wendy Lyn Watson

From the back of the book: Tallulah Jones, proprietor of Dalliance, Texas's old-fashioned ice-cream parlor, dishes up luscious ice cream that is simply to die for.....

Unfortunately, Remember the A-La-Mode's profits are melting faster than a snow cone in July---and Tally's stuck scooping sundaes for her two-timing ex-husband and his bodacious new girlfriend, Brittanie, at his company luau. To make matters worse, twenty years after she dumped him in the Tasty-Swirl parking lot, Tally's high school beau, Finn Harper, comes back to town---looking every bit as delicious as a double-dip raspberry mascarpone waffle cone.

The cherry on top? Brittanie drops dead, and Tally's suddenly the prime suspect in her murder investigation. To catch a killer, Tally will have to churn up Dalliance's darkest secrets and dip deep into the past. But can Tally freeze out the real culprit before a murder charge puts her dreams on ice for good?

************************************

I don't know what it is about mysteries or any of the books I've read set in the South that makes me happy. There can be humor, suspense, thrill, Gothic mystery, what-have-you.

Texas, especially, seems prime for crack-me-up humor and twisted wrong-doin's. I have heard a lot about this series and glad I finally have a couple of them on Mt Git'r'Read. The humorous analogies, colloquialisms, and the names could easily coast and go over the top and take over the mystery. Not this one.

Tally has to solve the mystery of the death of her ex-husband's hottie girlfriend or lose her business. That meets my requirement for how the main character gets involved in the mystery. Tally is sassy and funny and loyal to her friends and family, even her ex gets her loyalty where I'd have smacked him upside the cranium.

I look forward to reading more of this series. Check in with Wendy here: http://www.wendylynwatson.com/

Five Texas ice cream is awesome beans.....

WITCH HUNT: An Ophelia and Abby Mystery - Shirley Damsgaard

From the back of the book:
Small-town librarian Ophelia Jensen is finally starting to embrace her lot as one of the "chosen"—a psychic and folk magick practitioner, a.k.a. a witch. Expert loving guidance from her magickally adept grandmother Abby helps—and adopting Tink, an exceptionally talented teenage medium, has given Ophelia's life new purpose . . . until a brutal murder clouds the sunshine of their days.
Ophelia's co-worker and best friend, Darci, is distraught when her cousin is implicated in the small Iowa town of Summerset's most recent murder—the violent death of a biker. Unfortunately for Darci's cousin, it's her fingerprints all over the murder weapon. She claims she's innocent, but it'll take Ophelia and Abby more than a good incantation or two to get to the bottom of this crime—what with ghosts, crooked cops, secret identities, and a small army of outlaw bikers thrown into this devil's brew.

******************************************

There's trouble brewing in Ophelia's neck of Iowa. A motorcycle gang has moved in and the cousin of Ophelia's best friend Darci has been accused of murdering one the gang. She can't remember a thing, but was found in a compromising situation. It's up to Ophelia to help clear the cousin's name.

There's a plethora of schtuff going on in this one: murder, Ouija boards, spirits, outlaw motorcycle gang and one of the gang in particular, Cobra, has pegged Ophelia to intimidate.

I enjoyed this fast moving paranormal amateur sleuth mystery as I have all in the series so far. I look forward to reading the rest of the series, any of those not read yet.

Five ghosts and motorcycle gang beans......

Out with the Old...

DH and I will have our 10 year wedding anniversary in December. We decided to buck traditional gifts and get our new lighting we've both been wanting for the family room, breakfast nook, and dining room.

Above: Old lighting in the family room Above: New copper lighting in the family room
Above: Old 1984 fixture in the breakfast nook

Above: New and improved lighting and ceiling fan in the breakfast nookAbove: Old lighting in the dining room Above: My favorite of the bunch, the lighting over the dining room table

THE DEMON TRAPPER'S DAUGHTER - Jana Oliver

From the back of the book: Riley Blackthorne just needs a chance to prove herself – and that’s exactly what the demons are counting on…
Seventeen-year-old Riley, the only daughter of legendary Demon Trapper, Paul Blackthorne, has always dreamed of following in her father's footsteps. The good news is, with human society seriously disrupted by economic upheaval and Lucifer increasing the number of demons in all major cities, Atlanta’s local Trappers’ Guild needs all the help they can get – even from a girl. When she’s not keeping up with her homework or trying to manage her growing crush on fellow apprentice, Simon, Riley’s out saving distressed citizens from foul-mouthed little devils – Grade One Hellspawn only, of course, per the strict rules of the Guild. Life’s about as normal as can be for the average demon-trapping teen.
But then a Grade Five Geo-Fiend crashes Riley’s routine assignment at a library, jeopardizing her life and her chosen livelihood. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, sudden tragedy strikes the Trappers’ Guild, spinning Riley down a more dangerous path than she ever could have imagined. As her whole world crashes down around her, who can Riley trust with her heart – and her life?

***************************************

YA paranormal can walk a fine line with story content and characters. It can go over the top or sound preachy or condescending. Or it can be one of the well-written versions and hit all cylinders.

DEMON TRAPPER'S DAUGHTER is one of those that has the coolest premise and hits all power cylinders.

Riley lives in the open world of paranormal creatures. Everyone knows about them. Necromancers raise the dead to work for the living and Riley's dad's grave has to be guarded after his death at the hands of demons. Demons who are working together, something that no one has ever seen before and no one believes has happened. But Riley saw it and needs to prove it.

She also has to keep her apprenticeship for the Demon Hunters Guild and that is in jeopardy now that her father is dead.

She guards her father's grave by night and hunts demons in the day as well as go to school as often as she can even though school is now held wherever it can in old Starbucks stores or grocery shops.

I loved this book and cannot wait to read the follow on in the series, SOUL THIEF.

Five can't wait to read the next one beans.....

FIRST GRAVE ON THE RIGHT - Darynda Jones

From the back of the book:
This whole grim reaper thing should have come with a manual. Or a diagram of some kind. A flow chart would have been nice.....

Charley Davidson is a part-time private investigator and full-time grim reaper. Meaning, she sees dead people. Really. And it’s her job to convince them to “go into the light.” But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (like murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an entity who has been following her all her life…and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely. But what does he want with Charley? And why can’t she seem to resist him? And what does she have to lose by giving in?

****************************

A funny, full of thrills book is this! I love Charley Davidson's character and how she handles the ups and downs of being a reaper. There are the dead she helps cross over, some are ready and some not so much. Three need her help with the why so they can move on.

Luckily, Charley is a PI as well as the reaper, so she has the mad skills to git'r'done.

There's a next door neighbor who is her bud, ghosts a plenty not ready to move on and love to mess with her.

There's also a mysterious entity who is invading her dreams and life.

I cannot wait to read the next in the series, SECOND GRAVE ON THE LEFT, to find out what's going to happen next.

Five sparkly I-want-those-shoes-on-the-cover diamonds.....

NIGHT OF THE LOVING DEAD: A Pepper Martin Mystery - Casey Daniels

From the back of the book: Pepper Martin, heiress-turned-cemetery-tour-guide, has her hands full with work, two hotties, and the ghosts of 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 life is in danger. But, little does Pepper know, there's more to the story, including a devious doctor---and an obsessive, crazy love.....

*********************************

Pepper Martin is one of my favorite characters in a book. I can read the books in any order and laugh and empathize with Pepper as she goes through her travails as newly not-rich and with her ability to talk with the dead.

Casey had me at DON OF THE DEAD, the first in the series. Excellent titles and a superb premise.

Pepper has her hands full in this one. She gets to go on a business trip to Chicago for Garden View, the cemetery she works in. She even gets to give a speech, "Reactions to the Resurrectionists in the Planning and Design of the Urban Cemetery". You know Pepper's thrilled as all get out.

Pepper also has a new ghost on her hands and neither living or dead is happy about it. Madeline is as snooty in ghostliness as she must have been alive and Pepper can't stand her, but knows the only way to get rid of her is to help her move along into that light.

It's not an easy trip, but to tell more is to give away the book's story.

I can say I loved this one immensely. Perfectly funny and well told.

Five perfectly funny beans.....

Books in the House Monday - 14 Nov 2011

Been a little while since I've done up the Books in the House and the stack is teetering:

From J's sister:
THE FIRE - Katherine Neville, mystery, HB

From Marie-Louise:
LE FREAK: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco, and Destiny - Nile Rodgers, autobiography, ARC
DEATH IN THE CITY OF LIGHT: The Serial Killer Of Nazi-Occupied Paris - David King, thriller, ARC

Scholastic order:
THE RED PYRAMID - Rick Riordan, YA fantasy, TPB

B&N order:
SANDMAN SLIM - Richard Kadrey, UF, MPB
PLEATING FOR MERCY: A Magical Dressmaking Mystery #1 - Melissa Bourbon, paranormal cozy, MPB

King Sooper:
FLIPPED OUT: A DIY Mystery - Jennie Bentley, cozy, MPB

Target:
MIND OVER MURDER: A Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery #1 - Allison Kingsley, cozy, MPB

High Crimes Mystery Bookshop:
POISON PEN: A Claudia Rose Mystery - Sheila Lowe, forensic handwriting mystery, TPB
MIND YOUR OWN BEESWAX: : A Queen Bee Mystery #2 - Hannah Reed, cozy, MPB
COOKIE DOUGH OR DIE: A Cookie Cutter Shop Mystery #1 - Virginia Lowell, cozy, MPB
DEATH BYT THE DOZEN: A Cupcake Bakery Mystery #3 - Jenn McKinlay, cozy, MPB

In support of Carolyn Haines' Zinnia Store that allows her to help animals (http://www.carolynhaines.com):
T-shirt with a Jitty saying, "I be dead people" (read this superb series and you'll understand)

From Pamala, Our Lady of the Books:

TOMB WITH A VIEW: A Pepper Martin Myster - Casey Daniels
NIGHT OF THE LOVING DEAD: A Pepper Martin Mystery - Casey Daniels
CRUEL AND UNUSUAL INTUITION: A Karma Crime mystery - Claire Daniels
FINAL INTUITION - Claire Daniels
Death on the Lizard - Robin Paige
Death at Gallows Green - Robin Paige
Death at Devil's Bridge - Robin Paige
Death at Epsom Downs - Robin Paige
Death at Bishop's Keep - Robin Paige
Death at Glamis Castle - Robin Paige
Death at Hyde Park - Robin Paige
Death at Dartmoor - Robin Paige
Death at Daisy's Folly - Robin Paige
Death at Whitechapel - Robin Paige
Death at Roddingdean - Robin Paige
The Great Bridge - David McCullough, the epic story of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge
KATHERINE - Anya Seton
THE MIDNIGHT MAYOR - Kate Griffin, UF

THE CULTIST - Mark Boss

From book overview on B&N:
The Cultist: How do you save a lost child no one believes exists?When young yet jaded hacker Takara Murakami meets 10-year-old Tyler online, she doubts the boy's story of escape from a cult group's mass suicide in the New Mexico wilderness. The police find no evidence of Tyler's existence and warn Takara it's a hoax, or worse, a trap.But the death of her younger brother in an earthquake years ago still haunts Takara. As Tyler's laptop computer dies and he loses communication with the outside world, Takara races from high-tech Tokyo to the rugged Gila National Forest to save him. However, cult leader Silas also tracks the boy, determined to kill the only surviving witness to his crime.Who will find Tyler first?

********************************

Tyler is a 10 year old boy whose family is caught up in the noose of a fanatic’s cult. Tyler escapes death and the fanatic. Now he is on his own in the New Mexico wilderness. His only aid comes from a woman in Tokyo, Japan via an online fantasy role playing game called Lair of the Hydra that is about to go defunct.
Time is running out for the boy. The woman, Takara, is doing all she can even though she is half a world away from this boy she knows nothing about except his role playing character. It could be a hoax, but she doesn’t want to take that chance and have anything happen to this boy.
Silas, the cultist, is searching for Tyler. He's the only witness to Silas's evil act of murder.
Tyler is hungry, thirsty, lost and trying to keep out of the reach of the crazed fanatic, Silas. I heartily admired Tyler’s intestinal fortitude in figuring things out as he went. He’s seen Animal Planet and read, so he knew some things about his location and how to survive. The rest he figures out as he goes. He didn’t whine or whimper, he just kept going, doing his best to escape the fate he knows he’ll meet if Silas caught up to him.
I also highly admired Takara for coming to Tyler’s aid when she realized he was indeed in danger. And Tak’s friends, Jiro and Shoda, for all that they did to help. It took a huge leap of faith to go through all that they did.

Mark Boss commented on one of my reviews a month or so ago and asked if I'd be interested in reading and reviewing one of his books. I looked him up and immediately sent him an email saying I'd love to. I love when authors ask if I'd like to read one of their books. I like finding new-to-me authors and adding to the WWBL. I look forward to reading everything else he writes.

Look for Mark here: http://www.chimpwithpencil.com/

Five intestinal fortitude beans....

October 2011 Book Journal

DEATH AT DEVIL'S BRIDGE: A Victorian Mystery - Robin Paige, cozy, MPB, good

THE DIVA HAUNTS THE HOUSE: A Domestic Diva Mystery - Krista Davis, cozy, MPB, good

BEYOND DELICIOUS: The Ghost Whisperer's Cookbook - Mary Ann Winkowski & David Powers, cookbook, ARC from Library Thing, good

GHOST A LA MODE: A Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery #1 - Sue Ann Jaffarian, paranormal cozy, TPB, excellent

THE RESTORER: The Graveyard Queen #1 - Amanda Stevens, supernatural thriller, TPB, excellent

A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES - Deborah Harkness, supernatural, BOCD, good

FIRST GRAVE ON THE RIGHT: A Charlie Davidson Mystery - Darynda Jones, UF, TPB, excellent

AT GRAVE'S END: A Night Huntress Novel #4 - Jeaniene Frost, UF, MPB, excellent

GHOST SHIP: A Port Chatham Mystery #2 - P J Alderman, MPB, paranormal mystery, excellent

FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON - Jeaniene Frost, UF/romance, MPB, good

THE DEMON TRAPPER'S DAUGHTER - Jana Oliver, UF, TPB, good

Books: 11
Audio: 1
Month: 12
YTD: 112

THE HOUR OF DUST AND ASHES - Kelly Gay

From the back of the book: To save her sister, she must stop a silent killer......

Protecting Atlanta from the off-world criminals of Underground is tough enough, but now Detective Charlie Madigan and her siren partner, Hank, learn that the addicts of the off-world drug 'ash' have begun taking their own lives. 'Ash' makes humans the perfect vessels for possession, and something or someone is leading them to their deaths. Charlie is desperate to save her addicted sister, Bryn, from a similar fate. As New Year's Eve approaches and time runs out, Charlie makes a deadly bargain with an ancient race of beings and embarks on a dangerous journey into hellish Charbydon with Hank and the Revenant Rex to save Bryn and make it back before it's too late. Only, for one of them, coming home means facing a fate worse than death....
*******************************
This is one of my favorite UF series. It has grit, action, chemistry between the characters, fae world, Hell and Heaven creatures, just about everything for the perfect story.

THE HOUR OF DUST AND ASHES had me claustrophobic, tense, happy, sad, a super mix of emotions that had me turning the pages in the need to find out what was going to happen next with Kelly Gay's excellent pacing.

I know the story was mostly about Bryn's addiciton to 'ash', the off-world drug, and Charlie trying to get her off of the drug and keeping her safe, but the fascinating aspect of the book for me was learning more about Hank, Charlie's partner. He's always been easy-going, hottie, funny and action-oriented in the first two books and the reader gets more of Hank's background and it is fascinating. And now I can't wait to read book four in the series, whenever it comes out.

Visit Kelly at http://www.kellygay.com/

Five c'mon Kelly write faster please beans.....

FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON: A Night Huntress World Novel - Jeaniene Frost

From the back of the book: From the New York Times bestselling author of the Night Huntress series comes a breathtaking new journey to the dark side of desire.

The night is not safe for mortals. Denise MacGregor knows all too well what lurks in the shadows---her best friend is half-vampire Cat Crawfield---and she has already lost more than the average human could bear. But her family's past is wrapped in secrets and shrouded in darkness---and a demon shapeshifter has marked Denise as prey. Now her survival depends on an immortal who lusts for a taste of her.

He is Spade, a powerful, mysterious vampire who has walked the earth for centuries and is now duty-bound to protect this endangered, alluring human----even if it means destroying his own kind. Denise may arouse his deepest hungers, but Spade knows he must fight his urge to have her as they face the nightmare together...

Because once the first drop of crimson falls, they will both be lost.

*************************************

I was so into reading about Cat and Bones, that I grabbed up this one from Mt Git'r'Read after finishing AT GRAVE'S END and started in. Another one that was a quick read-in-one-sitting story. A little more of the hottie action between the sheets than on the streets, but still good. And I kind of figured that would be the case from the 'come bite me, you hottie hunka glowy-eyed creature of the night' cover.

I really liked Denise's spitfire demeanor. Her husband was killed in a supernatural fight, her family is under attack from a demon and she is demon-marked to keep her in line while she searches for an ancestor who escaped the demon.

Through all of this, Denise fights back. She enlists the aid of Spade, who she remembers from the supernatural fight a year ago. She doesn't know that Spade remembers her rather fondly too and is willing to help out however he can.

The chemistry is pretty fiery and interesting to watch. They work well together, even while fighting the attraction.

I'll keep reading this series as well as the Night Huntress series since Jeaniene Frost mixes it up with characters, dialogue and action (street and sheet).

Five fiery beans......

AT GRAVE'S END: A Night Huntress Novel - Jeaniene Frost

From the back of the book: Some things won't stay buried....at grave's end...

It should be the best time of half-vampire Cat Crawfield's life. With her undead lover Bones at her side, she's successfully protected mortals from the rogue undead. But though Cat's worn disguise after disguise to keep her true identity a secret from the brazen bloodsuckers, her cover's finally been blown, placing her in terrible danger.

As if that wasn't enough, a woman from Bones's past is determined to bury him once and for all. Caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful vamp, yet determined to help Bones stop a lethal magic from being unleashed, Cat's about to learn the true meaning of bad blood. And the tricks she's learned as a special agent won't help her. She will need to fully embrace her vampire instincts in order to save herself---and Bones---from a fate worse than the grave.

**************************************

Usually I run in the other direction when I see anything in the back cover description "..with her undead lover...", but I make exceptions when it comes to Bones and Cat as written by Jeaniene Frost. This series is more urban fantasy than paranormal romance, so more action on the streets and only some between the sheets.

Cat is working on her hybrid half human/half vampire and working with the government's paranormal unit. She also has a friend who wishes for more even though said friend knows Cat's with Bones.

And, yummy, the reader gets to hang with Spade, Mencheres and Ian, part of Bones's past. Everyone works together to beat back the big bad, each in their own way. Some are serious, some are smartass, all get the job done.

I dig when I remember why I loved a series in the beginning after finding one on the back of Mt Git'r'Read and getting the chance to read it in practically one sitting since it's just so damned good. Night Huntress series is one of those for me.

Five damned good beans.....

GHOST SHIP: A Port Chatham Mystery - P J Alderman

From the back of the book: RITA-nominated author P J Alderman's delightful new mystery series blends haunting ghosts with hunting criminals as therapist Jordan Marsh dives deep into the past to solve a modern murder.

A recent transplant to Washington State's charming seaside town of Port Chatham, Jordan is still getting used to sharing her slightly run-down but historic lodging with ghosts. As if living with the long-deceased isn't enough of a challenge, she's just found a corpse: The town's notorious womanizer Holt Stillwell is lying on the beach with a bullet in his head.

Before Jordan can reel in a suspect, another victim surfaces. And this one isn't taking murder lying down. Holt's ancestor Michael Seavey, the Pacific Northwest's most infamous shanghaier, has materialized in Jordan's house, seeking to solve his own death in a suspicious shipwreck in 1893. With two murders to solve and a killer on the loose, Jordan faces yet another equally terrifying prospect: her growing attraction to the very alive and criminally attractive pub owner Jase Cunningham.

*****************************************

Port Chatham is one of those towns so well-drawn in a book that I want to move there immediately. I want to live in Jordan's neighborhood. Heck, I want to live her ghosted-up house.

GHOST SHIP is the second in the Port Chatham Mystery series and set more in the present day than the first, HAUNTING JORDAN http://iyamvixenbooks.blogspot.com/2011/05/haunting-jordan-port-chatham-mystery-p.html. There are two mysteries going on, one in the past and one in the present, but the one set in the present seemed more predominant. Which meant more time with ghost whispererJordan, hottie pub owner/lawyerJase, police chief Darcy and the ghosts of sisters Hattie and Charlotte.

I like how the townspeople of Port Chatham accept Jordan's newfound ability to see and talk to ghosts. They all wish they could do the same. Jordan only has to accept it herself and not live in denial or try to hide her ability. She does feel compelled to solve the past and present murders or she'll have problems with the extra ghosts who keep appearing in her life.

The books in the series are thicker than your average paranormal amateur sleuth/cozy mystery. That's not a bad thing, by any means. It's that much more to enjoy of this superb series.

Five superb bigger than normal beans....

All Hail The Spider Queen

Lady K was The Spider Queen this year for Halloween. Her scepter is one of DH's walking sticks with two big ol' sparkly spiders rubberbanded to it. And we attached little spiders to one of her tiaras for her royal crown. We had a good time putting it all together and trying to figure out how to get her blonde hair tucked under the black wig...not exactly successful, but we had fun.