I'm ten years late to this party. I'm looking for new series to follow. I missed this one when it came out and the five novels in this series are already in print so I gave it a try.

'Omens' starts with an unusual twist on the 'a woman's perfect life is shattered' premise. Has the woman seek refuge in a cute but spooky small town that has 'We're hiding something' written all over it. Introduces a cast of larger-than-life characters, some of whom are more interested in our heroine than they should be. Teams our heroine up with an unconventional and hard-to-like lawyer to investigate an old murder, which sets up a relationship that starts as a tense 'We don't have to like each other to work together' thing and slides into a 'Let's just keep this professional and ignore the slowly emerging unresolved sexual tension' thing

The premise is a doozy: Chicago heiress, on the brink of marriage to a being-groomed-to-be-a-senator, handsome-on-the-outside-but-beige-on-the-inside, fiancé discovers via the tabloids that she was adopted at the age of two following the imprisonment of her ritual serial killer birth parents.

While she's dealing with the shock of this, various spooky individuals corral her into Cainsville, a 'Gilmore Girls' style of small town with added gargoyles and a slightly 'Rosemary's Baby' vibe to the residents, some of whom have a surprising predilection for the Welsh language.

'Omens' reads more like the Pilot of a new TV series than a self-contained novel. Still, it was an entertaining Pilot that made me want to watch the next episode, so it worked. I'm glad I don't have to wait a year for the next episode book.

It was a fun read that did more than set up a foreboding-filled situation. Our heroine and her lawyer conduct an unorthodox, violent, dangerous and frequently illegal investigation into one of the murders her birth parents were convicted of and uncover dark secrets linked to the CIA of the 1960s and shadowy but threatening figures who are willing to kill to protect those secrets.

The writing style was light and swift without being spare or hackneyed. The tropes are used well and the characters are engaging.

I think this is going to be an entertaining series to escape into. ( )

Not really Urban Fantasy, more like a quietish thriller with the barest hints of paranormal. Seems like it's going to be a pretty slow burn (for the mystery and for what looks like a potential romance). This volume wraps up nicely, but it is not at all resolved.

Nothing at all like the Women of the Otherworld series, which is ok by me, but if you are looking for more like that, look away from this series. ( )

I read the novella Lost Souls a while back and loved it. Since I never read any of the Cainsville books before I Lost Souls was I eager to get my hands on the first book in the series (and the second and third).

As a big fan of urban fantasy was I curious to see how this series would turn out. Luckily the first book is really good and it was great to get the backstory for the characters in Lost Souls.

Olivia has it all, that's until it's revealed that she was adopted as a child and that her real parents are serial killers. Now, her mother can't stand her, her fiance is (or mostly his mother) hesitant about marrying her and the press is after her. She needs a job and somewhere safe to go. And, through weird events does she learn of a town called Cainsville...

Omens is a great book. I love the mix of paranormal and crime and Olvia is a very likable character. Cainsville intrigues me, you can really feel that the town is hiding things. That it looks normal on the surface, but underneath ... well, there is definitely something weird about the town and the ones living there. Then, there is Gabriel. Olivia doesn't know what she will make of him, he used to be her real mother's lawyer, but now there is bad blood between them. Now he wants to help her, well for a price of course.

Omens is just the kind of book I love to read. I love weird little towns in the middle of nowhere and Cainsville is just the kind of town that I just know have a lot of secrets. The first book managed very well to introduce the characters. I'm curious to learn more about Olivia, her parents, Gabriel etc. If you like urban fantasy will you love this book! ( )

ITs OUT NOW. I wants it.


"The main character is 24-year-old young woman who has led a very privileged life, until she discovers she was adopted...and her birth parents are convicted serial killers."


I am hooked. Now for the wait... :/

Update:

Its got a cover now...and its awesome!

This was a mish mash of genres. I wish she had just stuck to mystery/crime. ( )