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Wedding planner Kelsey McKenna takes on some clients planning a Napa County wedding a month before their big day. While Babs, the wedding planner they had been using, is very professional about these clients leaving, her assistant, Stefan, isn’t. Still, Kelsey is shocked to find a dead body in the office when she comes to pick up her new client’s file. With her reputation on the line, Kelsey has to find a way to clear her name.

I loved the first in this series, and this book is just as wonderful. Kelsey, her friend Brody, and her assistant Laurel, make a wonderful trio, and their friendship and banter is a pure delight. The suspects introduced here are just as strong, and make it hard to distinguish clue from red herring until Kelsey figures it all out at the end. This is a wedding you’ll be glad you crashed.

NOTE: I received an eARC of this book.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/04/book-review-dying-on-vine-by-marla.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
Flashes
Flashes
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
3.5 stars.

This is something like my sixth/seventh, maybe even eighth, book by the author and I've liked some more than others.

He always writes different stories, stuff I've never seen or read before, and blends paranormal, a bit of horror/gruesomeness and a splash of romance. His books tend to be very English in language and setting, and being from England and reading most books set in America, they're a nice change.

Now for the story. I had an inkling as to who it might be from about the 60-70% mark. Things just started to add up. <spoiler>Child crying. Mum being dead. It suddenly clicked</spoiler> so I wasn't too surprised by who was behind it but the lengths he was going to go to was quite disturbing.

It was a good story as usual but because I kinda figured out the bad guy before it was revealed at the end it wasn't quite as good as some of Tim's other works which keep you guessing.
  
    Zombieville USA 2

    Zombieville USA 2

    Games and Entertainment

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    The definitive zombie shooter returns, reborn with stunning new graphics, gameplay and more! ...

Johnny and the Dead (Johnny Maxwell #2)
Johnny and the Dead (Johnny Maxwell #2)
Terry Pratchett | 1993 | Children, Fiction & Poetry
7
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The late, great, Sir Terry Pratchett is probably better known for his Discworld novels.

Which, primarily albeit not exclusively, are aimed towards a more adult audience.

However, during the 1990's, he also wrote a trilogy of novels that were aimed at the younger audience, starting with Only You Can Save Mankind and ending with Johnny and the Bomb, with this one tucked away nicely in the middle. These novels have become known as the Johnny Maxwell trilogy, following the same core characters as Johnny Maxwell (obviously) and his friends Yo-less, Wobbler and Big Mac.

In this one, Johnny learns that the local cemetery is about to be demolished, which comes as news to the residents of said cemetery (who only Johnny is able to see - I kept waiting for the 'I see dead people' gag, before realising this was released before the movie 'The Sixth Sense'), and leading to a local outcry over the same.

It hits different now, 30 years on from when I first read it (due to life events).
  
    Cardiograph Classic

    Cardiograph Classic

    Health & Fitness and Medical

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    Cardiograph is an application which measures your heart rate. You can save your results for future...

Haunted House Murder
Haunted House Murder
7
7.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Cozy Halloween Hauntings
This collection of three novellas focuses on Halloween. The book opens with the title story featuring Leslie Meier’s protagonist Lucy Stone. A couple has moved into the old abandoned house in town, but they are rebuffing efforts from Lucy and others to welcome them to town. Then strange things start happening and rumors start flying. What is happening? Up next is “Death by Haunted House” by Lee Hollis which takes up back to 2009 and shows us what life was like for Hayley Powell while she was married. When the house next door, which is rumored to be haunted, gets a new family, Hayley’s husband Danny is certain that they are up to something. The discovery of a dead body in the nearby woods just confirms his theory – at least to himself. Is he right? Finally comes “Hallowed Out” from Barbara Ross. The local Haunted House tour is gearing up for Halloween, trying to bring some more people to town in the fall. However, when a reenactment of a crime leaves an actor dead, Julia Snowden must figure out what happened.

As you might expect in a collection of stories by various authors, some are stronger than others. Personally, I found the opening story to be the weakest – I think it might have worked as a short story, but even as a novella is was too long. The middle story was better, with some fun scenes and a good twist to the mystery. I adore Barbara Ross’s Maine Clambake mysteries, so it was the reason I picked up the book. It also means I found the third story to be the best, with some good twists and a very fun sub-plot. While each story has plenty of fall atmosphere, these stories aren’t that spooky – they are by cozy mystery authors after all. Still, fans of these authors will enjoy picking up the book.