Camilla ChaferRezensionen

Told in first person through the eyes of Stella Mayweather a woman with uncontrolled powers who doesn’t know she is a witch. She’s hunted by the ‘Brotherhood’ and rescued by Etoile another witch, and taken to safety in the United States. There she learns about her powers.


This book started out interesting but turned predictable. When Stella was attacked at the party with the leaders of the Council, I knew who the attacker was immediately from the clue in the photograph of her parent’s wedding picture. When we find out who the evil perpetrator is at the climax, the character is over-the-top crazy. There was no subtlety of insanity, which made the character a bit laughable.

I didn’t get much of a feel for Stella’s personality. I’ve noticed authors seem to think that telling a story in first person will draw readers in. I’ve found for me, that an author has to be very good at showing in order for me to feel for the protagonist; else the character comes across as ‘bland.’ Unfortunately, Stella came across as ‘bland,’ although not as bland as I’ve read in other first person books.

I did like the fact that the author had Stella learn about her abilities and how to control them. Stella just didn’t suddenly turn into a superhero. I give points to the author on this.

There were so many secrets in this story. No one wanted to tell Stella anything and she let it go. Why do characters (authors) think that keeping the protagonist blind to what is happening around them helpful? Is it supposed to make the story more mysterious? I find it very irritating. It’s like the other characters treat the protagonist like a child and we end up finding out nothing about the secondary characters. The secondary characters could have had much richer personalities if Stella found out a little about them during the story. In fact, it would have added to Stella’s personality to find out how she dealt with finding out that Meg was a vampire while Stella interacted with her instead of when she was fighting Eleanor. That Kitty told Stella about Meg during the stand-off had me guffawing. I couldn’t believe the author stuck the info about Meg during that segment. It slowed the action down tremendously.

Another section that I found awkward was after Stella had sex with Evan the first time. She’d informed him she was a virgin and they had a long, strange conversation about how Stella didn’t lurk outside men’s doors to have sex. I don’t know if the author was trying to make this a humorous section or not. If she was, I think someone needed to proofread it more for her, because instead it came out odd and awkward. If fact it would have been better to eliminate the conversation all together and left it with just the sex.

The author has a good eye for detail, but unfortunately over uses her ability which slows the book down a lot. The author goes extensively into what clothes people wear; the details of food and even the look of the china. In the last chapter the author stretched the drive from the seaside home where Stella had lived, to Stella’s family’s home to excess. There was no need to go into such detail such as Stella eating her sandwich, marking the route on a map, stopping to get her cars and so forth. The last chapter plodded along. It was like the author didn’t want to stop writing and so kept adding detail.

The ending was unsatisfying. No one came back for Stella, or even to tell her what had happened to Kitty or to Evan. You’d think that someone would notify her, even a short note that said they’d be in contact, or nothing had changed with the health of her friends.

One technical detail that needs to be fixed. In my epub version, all thoughts voiced by Stella show up in a much larger font than the font size for the rest of the story. It looks strange.

The things that saved this book for me, was the concept of the Brotherhood, the mystery of the Council, Evan, learning about Stella’s powers, and the author’s good descriptive ability, although it was overused and should be reined in. I give this book three stars.

This book was better when it didn't try to be a version of the Plum mysteries--the good cop/sexy not really a cop bit was totally Evanovich fanfic. But it was *good* fanfic, at least, so I'm planning to at least read the next one.

I started reading this because I needed a book with a title that starts with J for a A-Z Title Challenge I joined the challenge to discover new cozy series that I’d enjoy. So far I found this book and The Wonkiest Witch and I still have 7 more books to find before I’m done.

This was good but I was looking for a new series, and while this is a series per se, it’s a series of stand alone novels with different main characters all set in the same town “Calendar”. This book was built around Sara the town librarian, the next book is going to be about Ally a restaurateur. I think some of the characters may appear in multiple books but I believe the main character will change in each.

Anyways this was a pretty good book, I liked Sara and Bree right away but I pretty much guessed at about 1/3 of the way through that Tom was the killer. I’d hope that it was just a red herring but no I was right. Something I did like a lot was that Sara used her librarian skills to help her investigate the murder.

Cozies Reading Challenge

Well, I always have to have a book on my Kindle, so as I was browsing through my books on my list, I decided to pick up a cozy mystery. I got bonus points for me that the cozy mystery is about a library.
Sarah is our main character that finds her coworker murdered in the library.
In a battle to keep the building open to the public, Sara is continually confronting the man who wants to raze it. His company wants to replace it with condos. On another level, she investigates the crime that put the library into the center of a treasure hunt. Also, another good-looking man has come into her life for pleasure.
The mystery was unraveled in a pleasant way, with a wiff of romance. Liked the inhabitants of Calendar.
The whole small town setting is a nice backdrop, and the villain turned nice-guy subplot heartwarming. The hiding place of the sought-for plunder from the original crime is not hard to figure out, but since none of the characters in the book can find it, the suspense keeps going.

This book is good, when i started it i was sucked back into Lexi and co.
Lily is really funny, i felt some of the dynamic is missing with Solomon, 'a spark' although he's perfect for her and i love him, the author doesn't really delve too much into their romance.
I had an issue with a few things in the plot...
Why didn't the police find the clothes in the alley on their search, even if they needed to return in daylight, as a gun was missing i thought the search would have been very thorough.
Also what happened to the background search on the fiance? if Lucas is such a wizz he would have discovered when he did this who the ex was when he researched the fiance
Also was the loose wire in the alarm an accident and how did the 'perp'
remove the bulbs from the outside lights at the back of the house.

That said i enjoyed the book, taking it for what it is.

This is the second book in this series.
In this book, Shayne continues with her career and relationships are developed from the first book.
Again we have a mystery but also some humour and laughs along the way.
It's best to read book 1 first as this story builds on that.

So funny. Great additional characters.

Don't miss this one if you are reading the series.

A fabulous addition to the Lexi Graves series.

It is best to read the previous books in the series to get the best from this book as although each book contains an independent case to be solved, the series follows the lives of Lexi and her friends and family and their relationships develop during the series.
The case is discussed in the blurb for the book so I won't restate that but while she's investigating we catch up with Lily, who has baby Poppy now, and it's hilarious and so realistic and Lily is so funny, the scenes with her are fantastic.

We see how Lexi and Solomon are getting on as they progress towards wedding plans. They are obviously intimate but there is no detail or sex scenes to offend younger readers. Solomon is a dream in his treatment of Lexi, he is loving and supportive but we are no closer to really getting to know him on a personal level.

Maddox also makes an appearance, I am always a bit sad when we read about him, Lexi is very happy with Solomon and he encourages her to chase her dreams where as when Lexi and Maddox were in a relationship he became some what exasperated with her and her bee line for danger.

He and Lexi have a very interesting conversation, one that I have been wondering if they would EVER have, it raises some questions I have asked as I have read previous books. I am surprised that considering how curious Lexi is that she has not asked certain questions about Solomon and his past and some events during their relationship and sadly this is not resolved in this book. At the same time she does know him and trusts him but just not much about his past.

There are some very, very funny scenes that made me laugh out loud, her mother is funny and the quick, witty answers Lexi responds with are so clever.
An interesting case as the main theme of the book, a few red herrings and although it's not rocket science it is not easy to solve until the answers are revealed.
An excellent addition to the series and followers of the Lexi will not want to miss this book.
Looking forward to the next one already and hoping for more details on our mysterious Solomon.

A sweet story, well apart from a murder, but no violence or details.
A new series introducing lots of new characters for future stories.
A few funny moments. I would have liked more character development but maybe that will be left for each person's book.

I loved it, the dynamic between Lexi and Lily is hilarious as always. The plot has several mysteries to it. Fabulous to learn about Lexi's past through her ex and how it affected her and her family which hadn't really been explained until this book.
There is also a suprise about Solomon near the end and it makes you think we make learn more about him in the next book.
Maddox makes an appearance as a 'good friend' but i did feel there was a bit of stirring on his part about her relationship with Solomon.
Another good read, an excellent addition to the Lexi series.

This is an excellent addition to the series, I would highly recommend that you read the previous books first as this book answers questions about Solomon that were asked before.
Solomon has been a bit of a mystery. In the last book Maddox and Lexi had a conversation that highlighted that Lexi didn't really know much about Solomon's past.
It has it's sad moments but also some humour. It's well written.
ARC.

This wasn't my favourite but f you are reading the series you won't want to miss it.

Another fabulous book. It amazes me the author has managed to keep this series fresh.

Fantastic book.
Love the way Lexi and Solomon's relationship is developing and the confidence he shows in her.

Love Lexi but also the additional characters. Esp Solomon and the whole Graves family.
Some funny moments and some touching too.

Love this book and I have re-read a few times. For me this book turns things on its head esp for our view of Solomon.
Poor Maddox.

Love this book. Lexi and Lily are hilarious.

This is a sweet series.
Each book tells the story of a different couple, dropping breadcrumbs for later couples in the series.
No cheating, HEA.

This is a sweet series.
Each book tells the story of a different couple, dropping breadcrumbs for later couples in the series.
No cheating, HEA.

This isn't my normal genre but I loved Camilla Chafer's Lexi series so I tried this too.
It is a good story. Rather than talk about the plot, I am going to say that it is a good book.
Shayne is a strong female character who also shows some vulnerability. It's a mystery book as she is writing an article but gets involved in a suspicious death.
There are some funny moments, some touching moments and a good group of supporting secondary characters.
The mystery isn't all that hard to work out but the journey to get there is entertaining.
A good start to a new series.

It's great to be back with Lexi again.
Plenty of funny moments.
Lots from Solomon and the gang, some from the past and even Maddox.
Good solid plot.
There are 2 main cases, well 1 main one and a Lexi "hunch one", which she is famous for. They were interesting and although the book has humor there was a serious undercurrent.
I liked that the investigating was up to date using social media accounts etc to find out small details about the case.
I also liked we got to see a little bit of Lexi in her army days.
No cheating. Clean read, no intimate details.
Lexi and Solomon move forward towards their wedding.
I was in a real book slump. It was like a breath of fresh air.
I have giggled, snorted and laughed out loud.
I 💞💕 Lily, she is so funny.
I adore her mother.
It was beautifully written and has made me want to start from book 1 and reread the whole series.

💖💓💕


HFN.
Next book please....

Another good story in this series.
I would strongly recommend that you read the previous books in the series before starting this one.
Although each book solves a case or two, the relationships in the series build from book to book.
In this one Solomon and Lexi are starting out married life.
All the usual gang are in this one. Lexi's mum is hilarious and so is Lily.
Maddox pops in from time to time.
No intimate scenes with anyone, it a clean romance, there is intimacy between Solomon and Lexi but it's off page.
The only small issue I had is Lexi and Solomon have just got married, around a month ago, and Lexi sees Maddox and in the first interaction there is a tiny bit of flirting and some suggestive comments said and in her head.
I was uncomfortable with this, it's only small but she's just got married, Maddox is her ex and I felt it was inappropriate.
I felt if it had been Solomon who was flirting or eyeing another woman the reader would have been on his case.
Later interactions are innocent and no sexual connotation to them at all.
The family meal was hilarious, really, really funny.

ARC.

It's great to be back with Lexi again.
Plenty of funny moments.
Lots from Solomon and the gang, some from the past and even Maddox.
Good solid plot.
There are 2 main cases, well 1 main one and a Lexi "hunch one", which she is famous for. They were interesting and although the book has humor there was a serious undercurrent.
I liked that the investigating was up to date using social media accounts etc to find out small details about the case.
I also liked we got to see a little bit of Lexi in her army days.
No cheating. Clean read, no intimate details.
Lexi and Solomon move forward towards their wedding.
I was in a real book slump. It was like a breath of fresh air.
I have giggled, snorted and laughed out loud.
I 💞💕 Lily, she is so funny.
I adore her mother.
It was beautifully written and has made me want to start from book 1 and reread the whole series.

💖💓💕


HFN.
Next book please....

I loved this book, it is really funny. Lilly her best friend is hilarious.