Karen MacInerney

Tolerable, but doubtful if I'll ever pick up the other books in the series. This is actually book three in a series, but it seemed to stand by itself. Although it referenced a situation from an earlier book twice or so, and the ex-boyfriend makes an appearance, the only thing that might be said to suffer is the world view. Apparently there is magic in the world now, as Sophie's mom is a witch, and there are were-animals, as reference is made to a were-cat late in the text. But most people don't know anything about them, so magic must be in the closet still. I don't see how, as Sophie seems fairly indiscreet, as her "best friend" knows about being a were and her main goal is to become one. Additionally, midway through the book, her ex- becomes aware of weres as well, and Sophie outs the werecat to both of them. Very surprising since she tells Lindsey, "if the wrong people find out about me... They might kill me or stick me in a cage."
Definitely a book for the paranormal romance fans due to three lust interests and multiple sexual encounters. I'm not much of a paranormal fan, and I'm sensing a disturbing trend in authors focusing on sexual incidents in lieu of emotional development. We see very little depth in the relationship between Sophie and Mark, except for heated sexual exchanges, flirting over the phone and one dinner. Yes, he's "hot," but this is the emotional point she's at after breaking up with her almost-fiance? Didn't seem plausible, but if it was, it's a person I don't care much to know. Sophie's interests in both Mark and Tom seem to be largely sexual, Health's partly nostalgic, and it's only midway through that more of an emotional attachment starts to develop with Tom.

Sadly, the emotional relationship with Lindsey, her "best friend" is also lacking as well. Lindsey is begging Sophie to make her into a werewolf, and Sophie refuses. The reason for Sophie's reluctance that seems to do with self-loathing, but really aren't well explored on either part. Lindsey show up for the occasional brainstorm and to bring Health back into the picture, but I'm not feeling the friendliness between them, unlike the female friendships in Chloe Neill's Chicagoland series.

Surprisingly, the challenge of figuring out the real killer is a good mystery. Not particularly good or tension building in the process of solving, but in the final solution. Most of the tension comes from the threat of her father's (fixed) trial. Sophie makes attempts at trying to solve the mystery, but ends up mostly providing the emotional leverage to involve other people in helping her. The final solution had an unexpected twist that made a great deal of sense without being too obvious.

Upshot: this is the Hershey bar version of guilty pleasure readings. Tolerable when you can't find any better chocolate.… (more)

Good first volume of a series involving a woman who has moved to the small town where she visited her grandmother in the summer. The original farm has come up for sale and she has been getting it back into shape. Then she finds that the woman who sold it to her has retained the mineral rights and is having it tested for oil. When the woman ends up murdered Lucy is primary person of interest and sets out to find the real killer. There's some humor, a bit of romance and a few very dramatic scenes. Will read more.… (more)