Book Review: Homicide In Hardcover by Kate Carlisle

Title: Homicide In Hardcover

Author: Kate Carlisle

Series: A Bibliophile Mystery #1

Release Date: January 1st 2009

Publisher: Signet

The streets of San Francisco would be lined with hardcovers if rare book expert Brooklyn Wainwright had her way. And her mentor wouldn’t be lying in a pool of his own blood on the eve of a celebration for his latest book restoration.

With his final breath he leaves Brooklyn a cryptic message, and gives her a priceless—and supposedly cursed—copy of Goethe’s Faust for safekeeping.

Brooklyn suddenly finds herself accused of murder and theft, thanks to the humorless—but attractive—British security officer who finds her kneeling over the body. Now she has to read the clues left behind by her mentor if she is going to restore justice…

It has been a while since I read a cozy mystery, and I missed them so much. Homicide in Hardcover has raving reviews..so it was the perfect candidate to get my cozy vibes again.

Brooklyn Wainwright loves books, that's why her job is to restore old books. She's one of the best in the field, thanks to her old mentor. It has been a while since they talked, but the night they finally did (and left all hard feelings behind), he was murdered and died in her arms. Of course she's the main suspect and wants to clean her name, but she also wants to find the murderer.

I don't know why, but I couldn't stop thinking that Brooklyn looked as Sheldon's girlfriend from The Big Bang Theory tv show. I just couldn't help it! But anyway, Brooklyn is a great character. She's independent, very funny, loves to eat, and she's good at what she does. She has a curiosity for books that I can relate to... although mine haven't got to the point of stealing.

While trying to figure out who is the murderer, she becomes involved with hot and drop-dead gorgeous..oh, and British! Derek Stone. He's in charge of the security of the Goethe's Faust (the book her mentor was restoring when he was murdered), and he's going to follow Brooklyn because she's the main suspect, and maybe exchange some kisses :P

I had a good time reading this book. I thought it was very funny, with lots of LOL moments, many crazy/great characters and an acceptable mystery (but still easy to have ideas of who was the killer), I definitely recommend it!

BTW, have you read this book? Can you remind me how Brooklyn really looks like?

More about this book at www.katecarlisle.com, Goodreads, Amazon, The Book Depository.

Book Review: How to Party with a Killer Vampire by Penny Warner

Title: How to Party with a Killer Vampire

Author: Penny Warner

Series: Party Planning Mystery #4

Release Date: October 4th 2011

Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)

Age: Adult

Mixing fun and fundraising seems like the perfect job for Presley Parker, which is why she started her event-planning business to raise money for charities. But when a film soiree goes awry, it could mean THE END for her business… Presley Parker’s event planning business is really rolling. Her newest gig is a film wrap party for big-time producer Lucas Cruz. He’s celebrating his latest release—a vampire parody—by throwing a lavish party in a graveyard. It’s a pretty gloomy venue for Presley, but she’s hoping to make it so much fun that partygoers won’t even notice there are more dead than living guests… And the number of dead grows when an entertainment reporter crashes the party, trying to dig up dirt on an actor, and literally digs his own grave. Presley’s reputation is seriously on the line if she doesn’t unearth the killer soon. But with a growing list of shady characters and crew members, someone has to match the role of murderer, or it’s going to be Presley who won’t make the cut…

I love cozy mysteries, and the Party Planning Mystery series is one of my favorites.

This time, Presley Parker is organizing a vampire party at a cemetery to promote the new Hollywood movie. It's going to be fantastic, with hot actors and awesome special effects, except that a dead body is found the night before the party.

Presley is such a fun character. She's independent and has a need to resolve every mystery, specially the ones that involves her parties. She wants to discovers who is responsible for this death, and of course she has the help of Detective Luke and her boyfriend, Brad.

I loved to read more of Brad. He's a very realistic boyfriend, even with his weird job. But I wanted to read more of Presley's friends from her company, it was a shame they didn't appear very much, but maybe in the next books?

Also, I didn't know who was the killer. It did surprised me in the end, which isn't easy to do.

I really like the party tips every book in this series has. This one, of course, has tips to your vampire party, which would be cool if you are organizing a Breaking Dawn party...

Overall, How to Party with a Killer Vampire didn't disappointed me. It was easy to read and fun, and I highly recommend this series.

More about this book at www.pennywarner.com, Goodreads, Amazon, The Book Depository.

Book Review: Absolutely, Positively (Lucy Valentine #3) by Heather Webber

Title: Absolutely, Positively
Author: Heather Webber
Series: Lucy Valentine #3
Release Date: February 2011
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

“Exposed” by a Boston Herald reporter, Lucy is suddenly the talk of the town. Long back-story short: Even though the rest of her Valentine ancestors were blessed by Cupid with psychic abilities, Lucy’s only special power lies in her ability to find things. This skill has proven quite a blessing for those who come to her matchmaking agency in search of finding their long-lost loves. Now that Lucy’s secret is out, she has more new clients than she knows what to do with. But soon a certain man of mystery steals Lucy’s spotlight…
No, it’s not Sean Donahue, the sexy fireman-turned-private-eye who’s stolen Lucy’s heart. It’s a masked man in a cowboy hat, dubbed “The Lone Ranger,” who’s been throwing handfuls of cash across the Common. Now all of Beantown’s abuzz. Can Lucy unmask the mysterious money man, track down all her clients’ old flames, and turn up the heat on her love life? Absolutely, positively…

I really adore these books, because they are always funny, mysterious and romantic. Absolutely, Positively didn't disappointed me!

Lucy is, as always, fun. But this time, she's very busy between her friends, family, clients, Preston and her relationship with Sean. Besides, she has to find a missing old man, a possible criminal, take care of a lost dog and discover what's going on with her mother. At least there is The Lone Ranger, tossing money at the streets and then disappearing.

I loved to read more about Lucy's family, they are so much fun! Also, the romance between Lucy and Sean took another level, Lucy is more concerned about the curse that runs in her family and Sean's heart.

Overall, I loved it and I really can't wait until the next book of the series.

More about this book at www.heatherwebber.com, Goodreads, The Book Depository, Amazon.

Book Review: Deeply, Desperately (Lucy Valentine #2) by Heather Webber

Title: Deeply, Desperately

Author: Heather Webber

Series: Lucy Valentine #2

Release Date: August 3rd, 2010

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

The irrepressible star of "Truly, Madly" is back in business. This time, Lucy Valentine will go to the ends of the earth to find true love for her clients...and maybe even herself.
Lucy wants to breathe new life into her family’s Boston-based matchmaking company. But how? Even though she comes from a long line of ancestors blessed by Cupid with psychic abilities, a freak accident left Lucy with only one special skill: finding things. Car keys, socks in the dryer, needles in haystacks...and now, in a stroke of professional genius, lost loves
It’s not long before Lucy’s on a winning streak, helping old flames reunite and create new sparks. Business is booming. But when Lucy finds herself involved in a possible case of murder, she realizes she’s in too deep. Enter Sean Donahue. Lucy’s handsome fire-fighter turned private-eye neighbor, Sean is just the man she needsto help her on the job. Could he also be the man she’s been looking for all along? When it comes to Valentine, Inc., falling in love is always serious business...

Deeply, Desperately is the second book of this series and it's just as good as the first one! This time, Lucy is reuniting old lovers and suddenly, she's involved in a case of murder.

I don't want to give spoilers so I'm going to keep it simple. The mystery in this book wasn't so deep that I could't realize what was going on, but still it's interesting. Also, I was glad to read more romance between Lucy and Sean, their romance is slow but so cute. I think it's more realistic than most of the romance book I usually read.

Overall, I loved Deeply, Desperately because it's was a fun and happy read. Perfect for a light reading. This series is quickly becoming one of my favorites so I recommend it to any paranormal romance / cozy mystery lover.

More about this book at www.heatherwebber.com, Goodreads, The Book Depository, Amazon.

Book Review: How To Survive A Killer Seance (Party Planning Mystery #3) by Penny Warner

Title: How to Survive a Killer Seance

Author: Penny Warner

Series: Party Planning Mystery #3

Release Date: March 1st 2011

Publisher: Penguin Group

Mixing fun and fund-raising seems the perfect job for Presley Parker, which is why she started her Killer Parties event-planning business. But her previous parties pale in comparison to a spooky séance and a creepy crime...

Presley's newest gig is a séance party at San Jose's famous Winchester Mystery House. Her client, Jonathan Ellington, plans to use the event to unveil his new "4-D" holographic technology, which will bring former owner Sarah Winchester "back from the dead."

But the stunt backfires when a disembodied voice accuses Ellington of infidelity in front of his wife and business associates, and the techie who's monitoring the holograph is found murdered. Suspicion falls on Ellington, but as Presley tries to get at the truth, she doesn't need a Ouija board to tell her someone wants to scare her to death...

How to Survive a Killer Seance is the third book of this series, and I was dying to read it. This time, Presley is almost obligated to plan a party for Jonathan Ellington at the Winchester Mystery House, but of course, nothing goes as planned.

Dead and infidelity are the protagonists in this story, and Presley is going to be in the middle of it. As always, she starts to investigate who is the possible murderer, which was one of the party attendees. This time, the mystery wasn't so intriguing, and I suspected from the character almost since the beginning, but still it was fun to read how Presley would discover it.

I was glad to see more of Presley and her boyfriend Brad, which I love. And I loved the detail of that new character in the detective department.

Overall, I love this series and this book wasn't the exception. It was light, funny and easy to read. Perfect for a relax day.

More about this book at www.pennywarner.com, Goodreads, Amazon, The Book Depository.

Review: Truly, Madly by Heather Webber

Title: Truly, Madly

Author: Heather Webber

Series: Lucy Valentine #1

Release Date: February 2nd, 2010

Publisher: St. Martin's

Pages: 305

Lucy hails from a long line of matchmakers known as Valentine INC. According to family legend, the Valentines have been blessed by Cupid with the ability to help couples find true love. Trouble is Lucy’s powers were zapped away by an electrical surge and now all she can find are lost objects.

But what good is that in the matchmaking world?

Lucy is about to find out when she tries to solve a murder and winds up falling into a romance of her own.

Lucy's a young women whose family runs a match-making service. She has to run the family business for a couple of weeks but she isn't sure she can do it. Her family can see auras and that's why their business is so successful. But she doesn't have the same powers.

So what happens when she uses her powers to help her first client and sees a dead body? And what about those new visions when she touches sexy Sean's hand?

I really liked this book. It was full of humor, and Lucy is a great independent protagonists. Truly, Madly isn't exactly a cozy mystery, but there is lots of mystery. The paranormal aspects are little but interesting, and there is some romance that I'm hoping to be continued in the next book of the series...

Overall, it was a great and fun read and I'd recommend it for everyone who likes a a chick lit mystery with some romance.

More about this book at www.heatherwebber.com, Goodreads, Amazon, The Book Depository.

Review: How to Crash a Killer Bash (Party Planning Mystery #2) by Penny Warner

Title: How to Crash a Killer Bash

Series: Party Planning Mystery #2

Author: Penny Warner

Release Date: August 3rd, 2010

Publisher: Signet

Pages: 320

Age: Adult

Presley Parker is hosting a Murder Mystery party thrown by a notorious yet benevolent curator, Mary lee Miller. But when the role play becomes terrifyingly real, and Mary Lee is found dead, Presley kicks her sleuthing into high gear-only to find that someone wants the life of the party dead too...

How to Crash a Killer Bash is the sequel to How to Host a Killer Party. The protagonist, Presley, is still organizing parties, and this time, she's hosting a Murder Mystery party. Everything is going great, until Mary Lee Miller, the hostess, is found dead, and Delicia, Presley's best friend, is a suspect.

Of course she knows she didn't do it....but who? Nobody seems to like Mary Lee Miller at all...

Presley is still the same funny girl. What I most like about her is that she's independent, and doesn't get scared easily.  But her main problem is that she is compulsive, and sometimes doesn't know when to stop.

I still enjoyed reading about her, but I wished sometimes wasn't so repetitive about her disorders. She tends to use them as an excuse for her actions.

Anyway, I absolutely loved Brad. He wasn't a suspect, and he helped Presley more this time. And finally, he started to make some moves with her. Besides, we get to know more about him, but he's still mysterious. And sexy.

I liked that we get see more of the other characters - as Presley friends, her mother, her cats, and even the super sexy but annoying detective - but still, the main character was Brad. I was really glad, because in the first book I wanted more of him, and in this book, my wishes were granted.

The mystery was more complex this time, because there were lots of suspects and none of them seemed to have a motive (at first). There were many clues that didn't mean anything, and others that meant more; and some nice twists. I had a couple of suspects in my mind, but didn't discover the killer until the end. I wished Presley wouldn't have been so naive sometimes, because she was barely telling the killer every important detail.

Overall, I really enjoyed it....even more than the first one. I love this series and I can't wait to read the next book, How to Survive a Killer Seance, which is going to be released March, 2011.

More information about this book at www.pennywarner.com | Amazon | Goodreads

Review: How To Host a Killer Party (A Party Planning Mystery #1) by Penny Warner

Title: How to Host a Killer Party

Series: Party Planning Mystery, Book #1

Author: Penny Warner

Release Date: February 2nd, 2010

Publisher: Penguin Group

Pages: 320

ISBN: 0451229304 (ISBN13: 9780451229304)

Synopsis from goodreads.com:

Don't let murder crash your party.

 Presley Parker was just happy to get her party planning business off the ground. Now she's gotten the gig of the year, planning Mayor Davin Green's sumptuous "surprise" wedding for his socialite fiancée, to be held on Alcatraz.

But when the bride is found floating in the bay and the original party planner is found murdered, Presley becomes the prime suspect. If the attractive crime scene cleaner, Brad Matthews, doesn't help her tidy her reputation, she'll be exchanging her formal wear for prison stripes...

A surprise party, Alcatraz and a murder...

Presley is just starting as a party planner and all of the sudden she's planning one of the most important parties ever, Mayor David Green's surprise wedding. If this party goes as planned, she will be the most famous party planner in the city! But of course, parties never goes as planned.

The bride is dead, and everyone thinks she did it. When the Detective doesn't believe her, she starts her own investigation, looking for the murderer. After all, this may be just like one of those Murder-Mystery Parties.

Presley. the protagonist, is fun and fresh. I'm not sure about her age, but she sounds young and happy with herself. I liked that even being a suspect, she didn't get depressed or "I'm too stupid to think". She is independent, intelligent and sometimes acts a little immature. She's also a psychologist and likes to evaluate everyone, even herself and her cats. It was easy to relate with her, mainly because of the lack of description about her, but also because she loves chocolates and cats, and who doesn't love at least one of them?

The secondary characters were acceptable. Maybe a little bit more about them could have been better, but they were nice. My favorites were the mother, and Brad, the cute guy/maybe a cop/maybe a suspect. I'm hoping more of these two in the next book, and a little bit more romance. They would be a cute couple.

It was fun and easy to read; and I was suspicious of everyone. They all seemed to have a possible motive, and even while sometimes I was very sure about who was the murderer, I didn't have a clue of why or how. Of course the cops didn't seem to be doing a good work finding this murderer, and I could have thought about a couple of other characters besides Presley to be the principal suspect...but it worked for the plot.

I also enjoyed the Party Planning tips you can find at the beginning of every chapter, and at the end of the book.

As my first cozy mystery, I loved it. I'm going to keep reading this series...but maybe you can recommend me another one?

Rating: 

More information about this book at www.pennywarner.com | Amazon |  Goodreads