L. C. Evans

From Lilac Wolf and Stuff (follow the link if you'd like to win a copy of this or We Interrupt this Date)

The cover is cartoonish, honestly I love all these cartoon covers. I think they are cute and so much less serious than the ones using real people. I especially love the dog. In the story, Nora adopts Chance just before he was put down. He was supposed to be her guard dog, since she was back to living alone. Chance is not a guard dog...he's a lover, happy to see anyone.

When she gets back home she finds Triskam hiding in her shed, and as they are talking in her kitchen, some real bad guys show up. Nothing like getting held hostage to really bring people together. There was amazing chemistry between them from the beginning. Really from the moment Triskam laid eyes on her.

Since Nora had recently broken up, her friends weren't real supportive of her "dating" a new guy. But really, it was too late to spare her feelings...I think her friends should have minded their own business.

Minimal mistakes in this one - I love seeing that in the indie books. Plus L.C. Evans seems to write whatever she damn well pleases. This book has similar flow to We Interrupt This Date, but the characters and location and even the plot are all unique. She does write, strong and independent women...even if the women don't realize they are.

This book has about 469 pages, and I read it in a day. Can we say very fast pace? I started it on Saturday and finished early Sunday morning before I went to work. I would encourage anyone who likes romance with some humor thrown in to get this book...and I'm someone who doesn't really like romance as a genre.… (mais)

From Lilac Wolf and Stuff

Goodreads had a different cover, actually pretty bland, a large white house. I like this cover, with the 2 chihuahuas. The dogs are actually very annoying, and are her Mama's babies. Her sister shows up with a Golden-Doodle, completely untrained and full of fleas and matted fur. Poor guy, the sister doesn't take care of him and Susan or "Nic" is not attached to any of the dogs moving through her house.

The story starts off with Susan, living alone after her divorce now a year gone by. She hates her job, but after being a stay at home mom for the last 20 years, doesn't have a great skill set to offer in this competitive market. That's one thing I like in this story, maybe it will date it but L.C. Evans didn't sugar coat what our economy is like. In fact, the character realizes that considering her options, the miserable job at the pawn shop is better than some alternatives.

Then her friend Victoria shows up and offers her a job running her new Ghost Tours operation. And sweetened the deal saying Susan could live in her Bed & Breakfast and either sell or rent the house that is just too big and expensive for 1 person. Susan wasn't about to gamble and lose the only steady paycheck she has. But her boss finds out and uses it as the excuse he's been looking for to fire her and hire his niece. This part bothered me because she really should have stopped taking his abuse right then. After all, he'd already fired her.

Then her sister shows up with a baby, a huge dog and no money. Moves in with Susan. Then Mama falls and sprains her ankle...and moves in with Susan. Then her son comes home for the weekend with a girl-who-is-a-friend from school. The girl is all piercings, purple hair, grunge but proves to Susan that there's a responsible person underneath it all. So when Jack shows up, he is frustrated to discover the same old "drop anything for her family" Nic he used to know. Susan is in tears because she can't figure out what is wrong with Jack until FINALLY she blows.

So, will the Ghost Hunting job be a success? Who knows, but you'll see what offers Victoria gives her to keep her interested. Will she smooth things over with Jack? Maybe...you'll have to read and see.

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll want to shake sense into Susan. lol… (mais)