Ghost of a Chance

I like this story. I like the strong females, I like the fact that the heroine is not some teenager saving the world. I like the very real struggles with everyday life. I like the magic and I like the town.

But! I thought it would be a little more...ehm...cosier. More fun times with talking while drinking tea out of magnificent china, that kind of thing. The struggles are sometimes a bit much. That said, I immediatly went for the second book, so the lack of coziness is not something that will stop me from wanting more. It did stop me from giving the fourth star though.

I can't decide if I enjoy this or not. This is mostly because the book is full of contradictions, almost like the author couldn't make up her mind about anything. Such as:

The main character, Emerald, keeps saying she wishes she knew more about how to deal with ghosts, but she hasn't bothered to read through her grandmother's diary that's essentially a how-to guide.

Her children are the most important thing in the world to her ("Take care of my babies!") but she spends the whole book yelling at them, being disappointed in them, or pawning them off on other people.

Emerald doesn't want to get into a relationship too quickly, but on the first pseudo-date she brings the guy home to meet her kids. And after the third date, she dumps her four show more cats on him. And then rather than visit the kids she just loves so very much (and dumped on somebody else) she instead spends time gettin' it on with the guy. But as it turns out, sex makes the ghosts stay away...so it's ok?

She is warned not to trust anything the ghosts say, but all of her actions are based on trusting what the ghosts are telling her.

Emerald has a tea shop, owns umpteen numbers of tea pots, but just drinks standard bagged herbal teas. And she keeps stopping at Starbucks for coffee.

Don't break the bottle! It will be a huge disaster! But let's leave the bottle where it's just so easy to knock to the floor and shatter. Ugh.

These, and many other contradictions, have prevented me from really enjoying the story. show less

A new fan is born

I have not read this author before, but have become a fan. I certainly loved this book. I received book 4 in this series as an Amazon First Reads freebie this month. As soon as I started reading I wished I could start at the beginning of the series. When I signed up for the author’s newsletter, I received book 1 of the series! I had a hard time putting it down. I loved the characters. I loved the locale, set in the Northwest US. I loved the mix of Native American spirituality with traditional folk magic. I loved the descriptions of the various teas and meals. Wow. Now I will read the rest of the series and move on to the other series! Thank you Yasmine Galenorn.

Meh, hopefully I enjoy the future books more since I bought the first five at once.

I like the paranormal aspect - the protagonist is already familiar and comfortable with her abilities. She has a successful tea shop in a small town, which isn't as interesting as you'd think - she mainly sells china pieces and sets, but it's fun to see her randomly drink tea throughout the book, make it an important ritual with what pieces she chooses for the tea, but besides that it's in the background.

I think my main issue is this character got on my nerves. She spends a lot of the book being a 'good mom' by disciplining her kids and trying to teach them lessons. She grounds her son for a serious mistake, but she takes it too far by removing from him show more the one friend he has. He committed the crime to look impressive in front of his friend, but it wasn't the friends fault. Taking away a friend should never be a punishment. Then she turns around and tells her daughter her next punishment will be sending her away to live with her father, pointing out the father doesn't want her there, if she argues with her brother again. Who the hell does that? It's just weird.

Also her and her friends keep calling each other 'babe'. That's another small thing that didn't sit right with me either. Seems unnatural.

Small irritations aside, I just found the protagonist too high on her horse with lecturing a man who losing his temper slightly, going over board with not giving her kids tea with caffeine but then turning around and being ridiculous with punishment all the time - it felt like the author was on a soapbox with lectures on parenting and it became the main focus of the book. She also jumped in bed way too quickly for my tastes with the love interest so I didn't care at all about the relationship. There is a clumsy attempt at a weird love triangle at the end that didn't come across well.

The mystery itself is good. I didn't see it coming, the villains worked well, the ghost stuff was awesome, and there was definite tension when it should have been there. Stakes were high, pacing strong enough, the and theme intriguing.

I hesitate to call this is a cozy - instead let's say a regular mystery series. Cozies usually shy from language and detailed sex - this one wasn't vulgar but it wasn't cozy material (which is not a flaw at all, of course, but something important to point out.)

First novels in series can be rocky, so I'll be continuing with the second and hope it works better at winning me over. show less

I read the first few chapters, then skipped to the end. Definitely not my thing. It looked promising, since the main character is a psychic single mother who runs a tearoom called Chinz 'n China, and the cover has a cat next to a teapot full of roses. Seems like it would be cozy, right? Nope. Semi-hard-boiled narration, demon possession, brutality. I really, really disliked the the main character's narrative voice. Probably fine if you like that sort of thing, but it's not for me.

Emerald O’ Brien is mother of two and owner of the Chintz ‘n’ China Tea Room in the small village of Chiqetaw, Washington. The store’s specialty is higg-end teas and china tea ware. She also does tarot readings and has inherited psychic abilities from her grandmother. The village nick-name for her is the “witch of the village.”

One night a spirit appears in Emerald’s bedroom. Unable to be heard when she speaks, the spirit manages to write a note. “I was murdered by my husband but nobody knows. Help me.” Detective is not one of Emerald’s callings but knowing the spirit was not at peach, she knows she must help it.

A few days later, a dark spirit appears. One who has no good motives, but instead is out to destroy show more Emerald’s world.

Investigating the murder charge, Emerald is confronted with lies, deception and secrets that need to be unraveled to put the killer in jail and give the spirit peace. Along the way she has to protect her family from the dark spirit and the evil it puts out.

This is the first of the cozy series “Chintz and China.” A little romance, some ghosties, family life and small village life. It is a light read that is quite enjoyable. show less

if you aren't into "woo woo witchy stuff" you won't enjoy this
much. I'm usually not put off by such things (after all, I'm a tarot reader
myself) but this author writes with a somewhat heavy hand, if you get my
drift. The story seemed to move along in jerks and starts. The whole "new
love" thing seemed to me to be nothing but a distraction and served no real
purpose. Probably because I wasn't attracted to the characterization of the
man involved, but also because it just didn't ring true to the character of
Emerald (I thought) and it moved along too fast. One minute they are
discussing facts of the case and the next, they are in a steamy clinch full
of throbbing and gasping and all like that. I think that bothered me more
than the "woo show more woo witchy stuff" did! LOL show less