Book 154: Wicked Appetites

Wicked Appetites by Evanovich is the first in the Lizzy and Diesel series.  Lizzy is enjoying her quiet life and her job at the bakery when Wulf, then Diesel crash into her life.  Both are looking for one of the stones of the seven deadly sins, and naturally Lizzie just happens to have a magical talent that helps her find enchanted objects.  First up is the gluttony stone, but locating it first requires the finding of four charms held by four different individuals in Salem.  The race is on to see who will end up with the first stone.

I enjoyed the main characters and thought the one-eyed cat was cool.  The monkey, however, needs to go.  He detracts from what otherwise is an entertaining tale.  3 stars. (4 without the monkey).

Book 153: Southern Spirits

Verity Long had enough problems in her life, and then she accidentally dumped the ashes of a ghost in her roses gaining not only a supernatural sidekick but also the ability to see ghosts.  When Ellis Wydell discovers her new ability, he hires her to solve a ghost problem at a historic site that he is renovating just outside town.  If the rampaging poltergeist wasn't enough, the duo stumble upon evidence that a very human someone has been excavating in a tunnel below the property.  Now they just have to stay alive long enough to put all the pieces together and solve the mystery.  4 stars.

Book 152: Any Witch Way You Can

Bay Winchester, the editor of Hemlock Cove's paper, is not excited about covering the local corn mazes, but finding the body left in the center of the maze missing its heart was a complete shock.  With her ability to see ghosts, Bay attempts her own investigation with the help of the newly departed, her cousins, and a little help from the rest of the witch family. 

Any Witch Way You Can was an interesting mystery.  I felt like there was too much time spent on the family bickering, which wasn't really humorous to me, that could have been better spent on the murder investigation.  3 stars.

Book 151: A Shift in the Water

Cade Bowman is waiting to die.  Trapped in his wolf form for months on a concrete pad surrounded by scorching ground by a crazy fire elemental and nearly dead from starvation, he gets one last chance to escape while she is away for a couple of days.  Climbing in the open trunk his only way to escape the island.

Mara Taylor is saying goodbye.  One last swim in the ocean before the mysterious blood disorder becomes so severe that the transfusions will no longer keep up.  Arriving back home she is shocked to find the emaciated wolf in her trunk.  She had prayed for the chance to make a difference, and helping this wolf seems to be the answer.

A Shift in the Water by Eddy was an entertaining werewolf tale of hate, hope, and second chances as these two battered souls find a chance to save each other.  4 stars

Book 150: Carpe Noctem

Alyssa unwisely chooses to walk home alone one night when her friend is unable to meet her for coffee.  Attacked by two human males, she is rescued and turned by Lysander.  Still trying to navigate the basics of being a vampire, Alyssa's life becomes even more dangerous when she is threatened by the ancient head of a large vampire clan who was once Lysander's mate.  At the same time, Santino, a vampire who specializes in hunting and killing other vampires for the Catholic church arrives in town. 

A entertaining and quick read.  4 stars.

Book 149: Still Life

Still Life by Penny is the first book in the Chief Inspector Gamache series.  In the quiet town of Three Pines, Canada the body of Jane Neal is found in the woods shot through with an arrow.  Gamache and his team arrive and set up for an investigation expecting the final verdict to be an accidental death, but it is not.

A well written murder mystery with a surprising villain.  5 stars.

Book 148: Swamp Team 3

The fifth installment in the Miss Fortune mysteries, Swamp Team 3 by Deleon, continues the hilarious exploits of CIA assassin Fortune Redding with her entourage of former spies Ida Belle and Gertie.  Someone tries to set fire to Ally's house, so the intrepid trip band together to find the culprit.  The investigation is complicated when Ally's next door neighbor is found murdered in her back yard shortly afterwards, and the FBI barge in to take over the homicide investigation.  Much hilarity ensues as usual.  Another 5 stars.