REVIEW by @_Shoe_Girl_ : First Grave On The Right by Darynda Jones (@Darynda)

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Good morning everyone! Before I get to this review, I wanted to introduce you all to Heather from www.shoe-girl.com. She is a friend of mine who runs a blog called Shoes-n-More, which is exactly what it sounds like – shoes and a little bit of everything else! She has done her first book review ever and has graciously let me post it here on http://puretextuality.com! A big thanks for Heather and I am looking forward to more reviews (hint, hint)! Be sure to pop on over to her site to check out what she’s got going on over there! 🙂 On with the review!

Charley Davidson is a part-time private investigator and full-time grim reaper. Meaning, she sees dead people. Really. And it’s her job to convince them to “go into the light.” But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (like murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an entity who has been following her all her life…and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely. But what does he want with Charley? And why can’t she seem to resist him? And what does she have to lose by giving in?

So, as I mentioned in my “A New Direction” post, I will OCCASIONALLY be posting books that I like and possibly a quick review of them. I just finished First Grave on the Right, by Darynda Jones and it was SO good that I had to share! Darynda is a relatively new author, so I don’t think many have heard of her yet, and I want to help spread the word!

Ok, I’m a “girlie” reader. You know….contemporary ”romance” novels, typically. Not the “Fabio” romance novels (you know, the ones with guys that have long, flowing hair and a woman whose cleavage spills over her dress on the cover), but the modern-day romance novels. Every once in awhile, something new catches my eye. This was the case with Darynda Jones’ First Grave on the Right. My first thought was “that’s dumb”, and I passed right by it. After not seeing anything else that looked good, I went back to it and read the back cover: “This whole grim reaper thing should have come with a manual. Or a diagram of some kind. A flowchart would have been nice.”

Can I just say….I am SO glad I gave the book a 2^nd look?!?! Basically, the main character, Charley Davidson is the grim reaper. However, it doesn’t work like the stereotypical grim reaper stories (ie: no black cloak and sythe). Charley is a sexy, coffee addicted, accident prone chic with a Ph.D. in Sarcasm (ok, so no degree, but if it were a major, she would have aced the program!). She can see and speak with dead people who have not “crossed over” yet, and works with local PD to catch the bad guys (hey, its easy to know who the killer is, when the victim tells you who murdered them).

That’s all I’ll say, as I don’t want to give anything away!! I definitely recommend this book, it was good from beginning to end, and I WILL be purchasing the sequels, Second Grave on the Left, and Third Grave Dead Ahead (when it is released in Jan 2012)!!

Visit Darynda’s site here: http://www.daryndajones.com/ and check out her books on Amazon!

Click here to get your copy of First Grave on the Right from Amazon.com!

Click here to get your copy of Second Grave on the Left from Amazon.com!

Click here top pre-order your copy of Third Grave Dead Ahead from Amazon.com!

Thanks again to Heather for the review! Check out her site at www.shoe-girl.com or follow her on Twitter @_shoe_girl_! The original review for First Grave On The Right can be found on her site by clicking here!