Review: The Chocolate Bear Burglary by JoAnna Carl

To attract more winter tourists, the town of Warner Pier is putting on a Teddy Bear Getaway promotion this year. Most of the retailers are participating and that includes TenHius Chocolade’s owner Nettie TenHius and her niece Lee McKinney. Besides filling the display cases with tons of teddy bear shaped chocolates Nettie has several antique molds decorating the store on loan to her by Gail Hess who owns the local antique store.

In the middle of the night Lee’s ex-stepson, Jeff, interrupts a burglary in progress. Knowing the only thing of value in the store are the molds Nettie promptly sends them back to Gail and the next day Gail is dead and Jeff is found standing over her body.

This series is so refreshing. I said the same thing about book one but I’ll say it again about this one. This is not your typical cozy. Heck there wasn’t even a dead body until about 100 pages in. The story is so focused around Lee, Nettie and other Warner Pier residents that you forget that someone is going to die and Lee is going to solve the murder. It’s all so natural.

I was a little disappointed that the relationship between Lee and Joe that looked so promising at the end of book one remained flat but I can live with that if the next book in the series follows the same unconventional cozy formula. This is a must read if you’re a fan of cozy mysteries.

It looks like I'm going to miss the 999 completion bonus date of today 9/9/09 by just one book. Oh well, I'm still completing the challenge in the next week or so, so it's not too bad. I'll just have to plan my categories better next year.

Review: The Chocolate Bear Burglary by JoAnna Carl

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2009/09/review-chocolate-bear-burglary-by.html

Review: The Chocolate Cat Caper by JoAnna Carl

Fresh from a divorce, Lee McKinney returned to the small Michigan town of Warner Pier to help her aunt run her chocolate shop, TenHuis Chocolade. When Lee takes a $2,000 order for custom chocolates she’s ecstatic. That is until her aunt Nettie finds out the chocolates are for Clementine Ripley. Clementine is a high profile defense attorney who successfully defended a drunk driver who then went on to kill Nettie’s husband in another drunk driving accident five years ago.

Hired as a business manager Lee convinces Nettie to accept the order regardless of how she feels about the lawyer but when Clementine ends up dead by cyanide laced chocolates both Lee and Nettie start to look like murder suspects.

I’ve had almost all the books in this series sitting on my shelf for about two years. Now that I’ve come down to the wire in completing my 999 challenge by the bonus date of 9/9/09 I decided to read this and mark it off as one of my cozies and I’m so glad I did. In fact I just might round out the last 2 spots in my challenge with the next to in the series.

The Chocolate Cat Caper wasn’t your normal cozy. Lee wasn’t running around questioning people and trying to solve the murder. The story flowed naturally around several characters not just one person with a penchant for snooping. That alone made this read very enjoyable but I also liked the way Carl left us hanging with Lee’s relationship with another local boy that returned home after life in the big city. I’m looking forward to seeing how that turns out in The Chocolate Bear Burglary.

Review: The Chocolate Cat Caper by JoAnna Carl

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2009/09/review-chocolate-cat-caper-by-joanna.html

Review: Barely Bewitched by Kimberly Frost

Just a week after she was fired and learned that her magical powers are finally coming into existence, Tammy Jo Trask learns that she has a new set of problems. It seems that the World Association of Magic found out she’s been using her powers without their permission and she can be in some big trouble for it.

They’ve set up a challenge for her to pass so that she can become a level one witch. The problem is that Tammy Jo still has no control over her power and the one person she can ask for help, Bryn, is forbidden to assist and warned to stay away. Instead the WAM sends two wizards to train her, one a weak wand-wielding warlock and one a ruthless killer who can command fire with a flick of his wrist.

When a spell the two warlocks use to learn the truth behind last weeks trouble leads to a magical mishap, pixie dust is released throughout the town and the residents of Duvall begin running amok. Torn between training for the challenge, helping the townspeople and tracking down her pawned and accidentally sold family jewelry Tammy Jo runs into even more trouble when she casts a spell that makes all the plant life in Duvall have a years worth of growth in just a couple hours. Soon she’s dodging fireballs, fairy spells and plants that rival Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors.

You know that saying that if it wasn’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all? Well it could have been invented for Tammy Jo. This poor girl gets into more trouble that she can handle all in just a few days. She’s got maniacs chasing after her and she’s still caught in a love triangle with her ex-husband Zach and the super rich Bryn. The good thing though is that through it all she has her pet ocelot Mercutio to help her through these trying times. In fact the cat is so smart I’m wondering if in later books in the Southern With series we learn that he’s a human trapped in the wild cats body. Hhhhmmm??

The beginning of the book was a little scattered with a whole lot going on but the good thing was that I just finished reading Would-Be Witch a few days ago so it was easy enough to catch up. I would recommend reading book one first but it does stand alone if you missed out on the laughs in that one. This is a must read if you love zany and light paranormal books.

Review: Barely Bewitched by Kimberly Frost

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2009/09/review-barely-bewitched-by-kimberly.html

Review: Lifeguard by James Patterson and Andrew Gross

After an embarrassing accusation ruined his teaching career in Boston, Ned Kelly fled to Florida and took a job as a lifeguard and part time caretaker of a posh Palm Beach mansion. One afternoon on the beach, he meets a beautiful woman, Tess, who he instantly connects with.

They meet for lunch and have a wonderful afternoon but soon he has to leave her. Ned’s cousin and a few good friends have an easy score and Ned is in. All he has to do is trip a few house alarms with some minor vandalism. Hoping to keep Tess as pampered as she deserved something goes terribly wrong and soon enough it’s clear that Ned’s life is in danger from more than one source.

As far as the James Patterson collaborations go this one was pretty good but not great. Ned wasn’t an endearing character and his adventure was pretty mellow compared to most of his other suspense books. Save this one as a library read or borrowed from a friend if you love suspense thrillers.

Review: Lifeguard by James Patterson and Andrew Gross

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2009/09/review-lifeguard-by-james-patterson-and.html

Review: Would-Be Witch by Kimberly Frost

Tammy Jo Trask comes from a family of witches but Tammy Jo herself has no magic in her whatsoever. Her family always thought she was a late bloomer but at twenty-three she’s already given up hope for good.

The one paranormal thing going for her is her ability to see the ghost of her great-great aunt Edie who lives in an heirloom locket. The only other person in their small town who can see Edie is the gay hair-dresser Johnny Nguyen so its easy to believe that her ex-husband, who is currently on-again, Zach thinks she’s nuts.

When Tammy Jo’s locket gets stolen in the middle of a city-wide crime spree, she has no choice but to turn to the only other magical being in their town, Bryn Lyons for help in locating the locket before Edie’s next appearance in less than a week. Normally it would be great that she has someone with power to turn to but Zach and Bryn hate each other and Bryn is on “The List of Nine” . It’s the list of families Tammy Jo and members of her family aren’t supposed to associate with for fear of the family being destroyed for all eternity.

Now Tammy Jo has more to think about than their macho egos. She has werewolves chasing after her and she feels a small tingle of power that suspiciously feels like she’s finally inheriting her family magic after all.

Tammy Jo is such a flaky nut. She’s hilarious at times and brilliant at other times. She has a lovable personality and the wit to match. The love triangle between her, Zach and Bryn is cute. Two good looking men who will do anything for Tammy Jo makes for a wonderful side story.

This is a great paranormal read and I can’t wait for the next book in the series, Barely Bewitched.

Review: Would-Be Witch by Kimberly Frost

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2009/08/review-would-be-witch-by-kimberly-frost.html