Cate Dean

Excellent cosy mystery with good characterizations, fine imagery, and a solid plot with twists. But the ghost thing felt like a contrived add on required by the publisher. And the romantic aspect was fine until the end where it kind of felt like someone else patched it in. But don't let my irritation stop anyone from reading this enjoyable escape!
Lukas Arnold was the perfect choice for narrator with his smooth cadence and easy to listen to voice.

I'm an old 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' fan from when Daughter #1 was a young adult, so whenever I come across a book that's got many of the same elements, I do this little happy dance before passing the book along to Daughter #2 and #3.

[*Yes ... I'm talking censorship. I censor what I allow my YA kids to read.*]

Alex Finch: Monster Hunter is a fast read that will suck you right into the storyline of a Junior in high school who finds herself smack dab into a strange little Paranormalville. In show more this installment of the story (I do hope there will be another?), Alex gets attacked (view spoiler). Thus starts a death defying race to figure out the town's sordid secrets, who is a paranormal, and which can be trusted versus which ones are homicidal.

Unlike many (unfortunate) stories these days where supernatural creatures are romanticized, these monsters are monsters, even when the monster is one of the good guys in their supernatural form. These paranormal creatures share the Jekyl/Hyde lack of control of the origin-stories of these paranormal creatures, and even the good paranormal creatures do not sparkle!

Another nice element is that while Alex is wary of involving her parents in her troubles, it turns out her parents (especially her father) are really cool (though she still gets grounded). It's nice to see a book where the kid realizes they can go to their parents for help (and it's believable) and the parent actually does help without sloughing off their concerns. And there are other 'stereotypes' that turn out not to be so stereotypical after all.

I'm looking forward to the next book in this series. The book has been passed down to Daughter #2, and when she is done, Daughter #3 is champing at the full moon to read it. I would feel comfortable allowing ANY young adult (age 13-17) to read this book. While there are violent animal attacks, there is little gore and the horror element, while present, is not overstated.

I received this book for free in exchange for a fair review.

A Howling Good 5-Stars show less

The Doctor Falls for Her Gargoyle by Cate Dean

From the Kindle World of Kristen Painter, this is a story that takes place in Nocturne Falls, the town that celebrates Halloween year round so that paranormals can live openly.

Instant engagement. I liked the characters immediately and felt their pain, empathy and embarrassment. Yes, very average and standard feelings everyone shares at times. These are not the perfect people. It's the working class. And it's us.

Minor detail. A lot of show more interaction with Lidia, the neighbor that's not wholly explained. To read more of that background, read The Witch Rescues Her Werewolf, which is Cate Dean's first Nocturne Falls Universe kindle world book.

Excerpt:
“She glanced up at him—and her heart skipped. With his dark blonde hair falling over one eye, and the sheepish grin, he looked like an oversized teenager. A gorgeous, incredibly sexy, oversized teenager.
“I need to know everything in order to help you. Got it?”
“Got it, Doc. Is the lecture over?” Humor edged the question, so she knew he was teasing her.
“For now. Go and make an appointment.”
“Thank you.” He paused next to her, and laid one hand on her shoulder. “I mean it. I’ve been more than a little freaked since this happened.”
“I can imagine.” She sounded remarkably normal, considering her heart threatened to pound right out of her chest.
Endless seconds later, Elias let go of her and walked out. Sophie managed to make it to the chair next to the door before her knees gave out on her.
“Heaven help me,” she whispered.
Her hands shook as she lowered his file to her lap. She had an idea that any contact might affect her; she had not been prepared for the absolute need that roared through her the moment his hand touched her shoulder.
How was she supposed to function around him, when he set her off with a simple touch?”
Excerpt From: Dean, Cate. “The Doctor Falls For Her Gargoyle.” Pentam Press show less

This e-book was difficult to get through. It seemed to start in the middle of a story, with multiple story-lines and characters with not a whole lot of development or explanation before just jumping in. Once I got into it and figured out who was who and what was going on, it got better. There was a twist at the end, which leads me to want to read the rest of the series, although I'm hesitant at this point to do so. This was a free e-book, so you kind of get what you paid for. The book/story show more wasn't bad, I did end up enjoying it, it just took a while to get there. It could have used a little more development and backstory at the beginning so you could get a feel for the author's style of writing and a better idea of the characters and how they related to each other. I would recommend if you enjoy witch, supernatural, or fairy-type of stories. show less