A Grim Reality Novel
Boone Brux
Paranormal Humor
Red Hot Publishing - October 2013 - 250 pages
Cover by Jennifer Meyers & Hot Damn Designs
Available at Amazon
Blurb
What do you get when you cross a hockey mom with the grim reaper? Me, Lisa Carron.
If being a depressed, frumpy, widowed mother of three wasn’t bad enough, I just found out I’m a grim reaper. I know what you’re thinking. Wow, that’s kind of sexy and full of awesomeness. Hardly. Oh, and my clients? Stupid people. Like I don’t get enough of that from the living.
Since Alaska is big and angels of death are few, I’ve been partnered with reaper extraordinaire, Nate Cramer. He’s strong, silent, and way too good looking for my recently widowed state. Oh, and he reaps violent criminals, so that should be interesting.
Forget the danger and the hours of self-analysis it will take for me to find my reaper mojo. My biggest problem? Hiding it all from my overly attentive family and nosy neighbors. Now that’s going to take a miracle.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Excerpt
“You’re not welcome
here.” He took a step forward and I slapped my hand against the wall, blocking
his path with my arm. If he was a grim reaper then maybe he couldn’t enter my
house until he was invited—like vampires. “Be gone.”
He smirked. “I’m not a
vampire.”
“I know you’re not.
There’s no such thing.” I rolled my eyes, trying to give the impression I
hadn’t totally been thinking that. “What do you want?”
“Give me ten minutes.
Then I’ll leave and never bother you again.”
It sounded too good to
be true. “Never ever?”
“I promise.”
He didn’t do any kind
of scout’s honor hand gesture, so I didn’t know if I could completely trust
him. “Ten minutes.”
In that amount of
time, he could have me sliced up and vacuum sealed, but what choice did I have.
I spun and walked into my kitchen. The idea of he being a grim reaper was the
lesser of two evils made me want to laugh. Not in a haha, ironic isn’t it way. But a deeply disturbed things keep getting weirder and weirder way.
His footsteps
followed. I cursed myself. He’d probably leave big, stupid dirt marks all over
my sparkling floor. I scooped up my glass and turned to face him. My upbringing
forced me to offer him a drink. “Would you like a glass of wine?”
He held up a hand and
shook his head. “No, thank you.”
Hmm, very polite—for a killer. I pulled out the chair and sat,
indicating he should do the same. I sipped slowly, wishing it was something
stronger. “Okay, speak.”
He lowered himself
into the chair and propped his elbows on the table, leveling a stare at me.
“You are a grim reaper.”
“So you’ve said.” I
took another drink and set down my glass. “Are we done?”
“Hardly.” He eased
back and sized me up, his gaze narrowing. “All right then, you explain what
happened at the Holiday station this morning.”
I considered giving
him Vella’s explanation, but those reasons sounded even more ridiculous than
reaping a soul. I decided to change tactics. “Let me ask you this. Why do you
think I’m a reaper?”
“We recently lost one
of our own and you came on our radar as the next reaper in line.”
“Lost one of your
own?” I didn’t like the sound of that at all. “You mean one of your reapers
died?”
He shifted in his
chair. “Yes.”
“That’s a bit ironic
isn’t it? The angel of death dying.”
He shrugged. “We’re
mortal, tools for the greater good of mankind.”
I refrained from
telling him how much of a tool I thought he was. “Isn’t the grim reaper
immortal?”
“You watch too many
movies.”
That was true but I
didn’t confirm his statement.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*My Review: I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
To Catch Her Death is a cute paranormal tale that at times made me laugh out loud. It's very fast-paced, heavy on the dialogue and action. Overall I enjoyed this story of a young mother finding life again after the death of her husband.
Lisa is a character most people can relate to. After the death of her husband, she pulled herself together for her kids, but when they were gone, she vegged out lost in grief. But when she decides to pull herself out of this hurtful cycle, boy does she do it. I have to admit, I was impressed with her attitude shift. Especially when confronted with all the overwhelming paranormal information and her new position as a reaper.
While I enjoyed Lisa quite a bit, I couldn't quite wrap my head around the plot. Reaping souls makes perfect sense to me, but what doesn't is reaping souls while visible to everyone around. It seems these reapers are human and though the souls are invisible to most people, the reapers are not. This could lead to some interesting problems.
This appears to be the first book in perhaps a series about Lisa's adventures as a reaper. There were some minor romantic sparks between Lisa and her reaping partner, Nate. Maybe something will blossom there. I'm assuming there's a next book since some important questions were left unanswered. It seems Ms. Brux is setting up some kind of conspiracy, perhaps within the reaping company.
If you like a light read that will make you laugh, add To Catch Her Death to your to-read list. My favorite scene is the obstacle course. I just about died laughing and wanted to cheer out loud for Lisa.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
About the Author
A former nanny, Boone has lived all over the world, finally settling in the icy region of Alaska, where she writes full time. Always looking for the next adventure, it’s not unusual to find her traversing the remotest parts of the Alaskan bush. No person or escapade is off limits when it comes to weaving real life experiences into her books or blogs.
Author Links:
Hey there sweety :)
ReplyDeleteI nominated your blog for the Liebster Award!
It's a way to find new friends and make blogs with under 200 follower on bloglovin a little bit more popular. There are some Qs for you and I hope you enjoy it :)
The other rules and my questions are on my blog :) (http://zabbielicious.blogspot.com)
Have fun!
Yours Zabbie
PS: I love the topic of your blog :) can't wait to read more from you :)