From a Lighthouse in Maine

I'm not in the lighthouse, unfortunately.  I think it would be really cool to live in one though!  Today's book, Dead Man Talking, centers around a lighthouse in a magically gifted town called Everlasting, Maine.  The small town is on the coast, and it seems within a few hours of the Portland area, but we don't see a whole lot of the town itself.  However, it has some amusing citizens that we meet in snippets, a friendly neighborhood bar, a Cranberry Festival, and a half naked ghost living in the lighthouse!

Dead Man Talking, by Jana DeLeon, is a publication from just last month!  It's the first in a series by four different authors (all four books are out!) that take place in Everlasting.  In the book, Zoe Parker, a meteorologist, rushes home from LA to take care of her Aunt Sapphire, who had been injured in a fall in her lighthouse.  When Zoe arrives, she finds a few things that don't quite add up.  Like the fact that Sapphire was found at the bottom of a very twisty staircase with landings in her nightclothes.  According to Zoe, Sapphire never leaves her bedroom without dressing.  So Zoe's mystery, while Sapphire is in the hospital, is to figure out what happened to her aunt.  Zoe's partner in crime is Dane, a former fling who is working on the remodel of the lighthouse.  Together they start to piece together the answer, and it all comes down to a magical emerald that is supposed to be the source of magic for the town.

Here's what I liked about this book.  Jana DeLeon is a new author for me and her sense of humor is contagious.  I was chuckling every few pages.  She managed to bring just the right amount of paranormal in and weaves it in a believable way.  An emerald was touched by Merlin.  Okay.  Someone brought it to Maine and it saved his life.  Okay.  That emerald was hidden and shares it magic with the town and some of the townspeople have gifts.  Okay.  The power of belief is an incredible thing. I'm down with it.  I also really liked the relationship between Zoe and Sapphire.  There's a lot of caring there, and Sapphire didn't push for Zoe to return to Everlasting or change her plans; instead, she let Zoe spread her wings and come home when she was ready.  That is such a great dynamic to see.

There were a few things that I wasn't as happy with.  I never got the romance between Dane and Zoe.  Sure, they'd hooked up in the past.  They still have the hots for each other, but it didn't feel like a romance to me.  It felt like the start of one and that it was finished in a rush.  I also guessed who the "villain" was pretty early on despite the red herrings to point you in another direction.  That bummed me out a bit.  Neither of these things are the end of the world though.  I still really enjoyed the story.

I look forward to reading the other three books in this series as I can afford them.  I'm a little strapped for cash with the holidays (who isn't?) so I'm going to be in the library a lot!