It's rare that I won't finish a book, no matter how bad it is. But this one is truly awful. I began reading it because of the first paragraph which reads that a ghost was trying to kill the protagonist. I should have stopped there. Unfortunately, this book is truly awful.

Jennifer Shane is annoying, self-centered, and obnoxious. She treats men like dirt but for some strange reason she's so attractive to them they're falling over their feet to get to her anyway. (She has a guy in love with her but finds him annoying because (gasp) he wants to spend time with her). Are there no other single - nice - women in this town?

Her aunt Lillian steamrolls over her every chance she gets - which explains why Jennifer's brother doesn't like her much; and I'm also surprised she doesn't weigh a ton considering she eats nothing but take-out and fast food and never works out - she doesn't even take walks and complains when her aunt wants to take one! This woman needs to learn to cook.

So a friend of hers dies and her brother - the police chief - tells her about it right after the accident. Shouldn't he be trying to find family to notify first? Nothing like not following protocol. But when she shows her brother a card that Maggie sent her - one that states someone was trying to kill her, he blows her off. He says it was obvious it was an accident. Really? He's not even going to look closer at the 'accident' to see if something was off? He's not a very good cop.

But what got me was the fact that she moves into an apartment with a ghost (no spoiler, it's in the blurb) and the day she moves in she leaves her two cats alone in the place while she goes to clean her old apartment. For hours. And is surprised when she returns late at night and her cats are in their carriers and won't come out. Honestly? Would it be that much trouble to have taken them with? Sorry, but this irritated me.

At this point, I was too frustrated to finish the rest of the book. I have better books to read than waste my time with this series. ( )

I liked this a lot, since I am also a paper crafter. I hope there are more in this series ( )

Jennifer Shane with her own shop, Custom Card Creations, is battling to stay a float with her new business even though Aunt Lillian is still "volunteering" her services in exchange for supplies. So when Aunt Lillian finds her a new studio apartment she signs on the dotted line before she is told about the resident ghost.

Jennifer learns to live with "her" but has other difficulties - an overzealous neighbor, a stalker, and an ex-fiancé trying to get back together. Then one of her best customers and a friend, Maggie, dies in what appears to be an auto accident. But Jennifer doesn't believe it because she received a handmade card from her dead friend stating that someone is trying to kill her.

Jennifer and Lillian work to figure out who killed Maggie while fighting off her various admirers.

This was an entertaining and delightful cozy mystery. I'm ready to dive into the next one. ( )