“The Second Coming of Lucy Hatch” by Marsha Moyer

I’m what you would call a born again Texan.  Yes I was raised in San Diego, but Texas has always felt more like home. I’d so much rather tube down the river in my pink cowboy hat than jump through the waves in the Pacific Ocean. I’ll take a chopped brisket sandwich over a fish taco any day! Shoot I’d even pass up on a trip to Disneyland to go fishing at the Sabine River. Yep, I’m a red dirt country girl through and through.  And that’s why I can’t resist books that take place in the South. When I came across Marsha Moyer’s Lucy Hatch series, set in a town that seems identical to my grandparent’ s stomping grounds in Gladewater, Texas – I  knew I was in for a treat!

 Here is a little taste of “The Second Coming of Lucy Hatch,” the first book of the series.    

After her husband’s horrific death by tractor, Lucy Hatch returns to her sleepy little hometown in the piney woods of East Texas.  For 14 years, she lived the simple life as a farmer’s wife, spending her days gazing out the window at her silent, passionless husband as he plowed the fields. 

 Thrust into widowhood at the tender age of 33, she tries to rebuild a  life of peace and solitude. With some help from her wise old aunt Dove and her brother and sister-in-law Bailey and Geneva , she gets herself a delivery job at the local florist shop and saves enough money to rent a little house.  And just when she starts to get her bearings, a new wrench is thrown into the works. 

When she catches the eye of the local country music star, Ash Farell, she discovers a tingling in her belly she never knew existed.  Bewildered by her attraction to the brooding bad boy and her lack of grief over her husband’s death, she must come to terms with her past and figure out what she wants for her future. Will Ash be a part of it?

Beautifully written, this sweet southern yarn explores the complexities of love, loss and coming home again.  I  fell in love with all the colorful characters, including the town of Mooney - a character all in itself!  I could practically smell the wood smoke from the roadside BBQ stand and see the crowd of boot-scootin’ couples shuffling to Ash’s soulful strummings at the local honky tonk. Marsha is a truly gifted storyteller with a knack for atmosphere and insightful prose. Like a hearty platter of Texas smoked brisket, this book stuck with me long after I devoured it!  So thank you, Marsha,  for transporting me back to a place that always feels like home.

Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead

Georgina Kincaid has a supernatural ability that most women would gouge out their left eyeballs for. In the blink of an eye, she can morph into a Victoria’s Secret model.  Heck – she can order a full-fat white chocolate mocha without ever having to worry about fitting into her size-2 micro-mini. Come on ladies, you know that would rock!  But there’s just one little catch: To charge her shape-shifting batteries, she must suck the life force out of unsuspecting men.

For centuries the demonic seductress has captivated men with her preternatural feminine wiles, luring them into bed to slowly drain out chunks of their lives. Sure, she may seem like a diabolical villain in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but really she’s just like any girl who dreams of falling in love and becoming a mother. But given her insatiable need to feed off of men in the throws of passion, she must steer clear of potential Mr. Rights.

A lonely bookstore manager by day, Georgina fills the void with good books and white chocolate mochas. And when she needs a quick soul-sucking fix, her boss – a slimy corporate bookstore tycoon – is always on hand for a romp. It isn’t so bad if she drains the philandering husbands, right? Everything seemed to be going just fine until bestselling author Seth Mortenson becomes the bookstore’s resident writer. When Georgina inadvertently catches the eye of the sexy author, who just so happens to be the mastermind behind her favorite book series, she must do everything in her power to turn him away.  Her self-control is really put to the test when she accidentally ropes herself into a date with Roman, a smooth-talking linguistics professor with a mysterious past.

Life really gets chaotic when Georgina discovers someone –or something – is committing a string of murders in Seattle’s demon underground. And all eyes are on her when her boss- a middle-management demon who bares an uncanny resemblence to John Cusack –  points out that all the victims are on her naughty list.

Who – or what – is attacking Seattle’s most despicable supernatural beings? Is it an amateur Van Helsing? Or is something more sinister at work? With some help from her vampire sidekicks, Georgina probes into the mystery and discovers a whole new breed of evil is coming their way – and it’s up to them to stop it!

To be honest, I expected sex as the main plot-point in a book titled “Succubus Blues,” but this just goes to show you should NEVER judge a book by its cover! This fast-paced, supernatural thriller – chock full of witty dialogue and a bevy of  intriguing paranormal beings –  is mesmerizing reading indeed! Richelle Mead, well-known author of the Vampire Academy, really knows how to create a strong, sexy heroine with a heart of gold.  Fans of Laurell Hamilton’s Anita Blake looking for a less intense version of the supernatural seductress should definitely check out this series!

Sex, Murder and a Double Latte, by Kyra Davis

 Lured by the premise of a mystery writer/amateur sleuth with an addiction to caramel brownie frappaccinos, I couldn’t resist delving into this mystery. How could I bypass a pink book cover depicting a stiletto-heeled woman clutching a double latte in one hand and a smoking gun in the other? 

The thrill ride begins when Sophie Katz – a heavily caffeinated San Francisco hipster –prepares to indulge herself in a long bubble bath after completing her novel. But just before she could pop the champagne, she discovers that Alex Tolsky, a famous movie producer who was interested in transforming one of her mysteries into a blockbuster hit, was found dead in his bathtub. Though the police chalked his mysterious death up to a suicide, Sophie can’t shake the feeling that something doesn’t add up.

Unable to resist her sleuthing instincts, Sophie probes  into the case and discovers the hotshot filmmaker’s murder was eerily similar to a death scene in one of her books. She also finds out that  a famous rap star was snuffed out  in the same manner that was described in one of his hit singles. Although both cases seem unrelated, Sophie can’t help but wonder if a copycat killer is on the loose – turning fiction into cold-hard facts! Is this a sick case of life imitating art? Sophie’s determined to find out.

When she and her friends become the target of a bizarre string of attacks, she realizes that she must catch the killer before she becomes the next victim in one of her own mysteries! Surrounded by a slew of sketchy characters, Sophie isn’t sure who to trust. Could the killer be Anatoly Darinsky, a sexy Russian bad-boy with a mysterious past? Or is it the mentally challenged boy next door who’s always lurking around her apartment?

Part J.B Fletcher, part Miranda from Sex in the City, this sassy gumshoe is a fantastic female lead! Her witty one-liners literally had me laughing out loud, which can be rather awkward when smooshed between two people on an airplane! I especially enjoyed the witty banter between Sophie and her gang of sidekicks, which consists of a ditzey makeup artist, an endearingly sarcastic sex shop owner, a flakey artist who thinks he’s part vampire, and a fabulous gay hairstylist who just can’t let Sophie die until he can give her hair some new sexy highlights!

Chock-full of zany, wisecracking characters, red herrings and (be still, my heart!) coffee stimulation – Sex, Murder and a Double Latte provides the perfect escape. If you’re a fan of the witty dialogue in Sex in the City (the show, not the movies) or the quirky characters in the Stephanie Plum mystery series, you’ll get a kick out of this one!