Second Grave on the Left

Second Grave on the Left (Charley Davidson #2) By: Darynda Jones
When Charley is rudely awakened in the middle of the night by her best friend who tells her to get dressed quickly and tosses clothes out of the closet at her, she can’t help but wonder what Cookie’s up to. Leather scrunch boots with a floral miniskirt? Together? Seriously? Cookie explains that a friend of hers named Mimi disappeared five days earlier and that she just got a text from her setting up a meet at a coffee shop downtown. They show up at the coffee shop, but no Mimi. But Charley finds a message on the bathroom wall. Mimi left a clue, a woman’s name. Mimi’s husband explains that his wife had been acting strange since she found out an old friend of hers from high school had been found murdered a couple weeks prior. The same woman Mimi had named in her message. Meanwhile, Reyes Alexander Farrow (otherwise known as the Son of Satan. Yes. Literally) has left his corporeal body and is haunting Charley. He’s left his body because he’s being tortured by demons who want to lure Charley closer. But Reyes can’t let that happen. Because if the demons get to Charley, they’ll have a portal to heaven. And if they have a portal to heaven…well, let’s just say it wouldn't be pretty. Can Charley handle hot nights with Reyes and even hotter days tracking down a missing woman? Will Cookie ever get a true fashion sense? And is there enough coffee and chocolate in the world to fuel them as they do?
I didn't expect to like this book, as I really couldn't stand the first one. I only read it because I'm one of those people that can't walk away from something until it's finished. So I started reading this book, and was shocked that I actually really liked it. I started to love the characters (especially Reyes ;] ), and Charley's jokes made me burst out laughing. I still think Charley is a complete FAILURE as a PI, and I have no idea why the characters keep praising her for it. I mean, yeah, she see's dead people. She has a definite advantage. If she COULDN'T see spirits or ghosts or whatever you prefer to call them, she probably would never have solved a case. Let's not give her too much of the credit. There isn't much to talk about while reviewing this book. It's a funny read with hot guys and a sometimes annoying main character. If that's your thing, pick this book up :)

First Grave on the Right

First Grave on the Right By: Darynda Jones
A smashing, award-winning debut novel that introduces Charley Davidson: part-time private investigator and full-time Grim Reaper Charley sees dead people. That’s right, she sees dead people. And it’s her job to convince them to “go into the light.” But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e. murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an Entity who has been following her all her life...and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely
I did not like this book. It was a pretty big let down, because I thought it seemed really interesting. I was a big fan of The Mediator series by Meg Cabot and I kind of thought this was going to be an adult version. Nope. Charley is a private investigator, but I'm pretty sure she should have her license taken away. She's constantly getting herself almost killed, and she only hasn't died so far because of other people protecting her. Another thing I couldn't stand about this book was her humor. I like to laugh and found her style of humor to be similar to Lorelei's on Gilmore Girls. Similiar, but not the same. I just thought Charley was pushing it the majority of the time. The third thing that I didn't like about this book was the two different story lines that just didn't seem to weave together very well. They just weren't balanced. I felt like I was reading a completely different book when I got to the last few chapters. As much as this book drove me crazy, I'm one of those people that can't start a book and not finish it. Since this book is the first in a series, I had to read the rest of the series as well. I will say the series gets much better, and I'm glad I continued reading them. So if you don't mind reading the first book to get to the good stuff, I recommend this series. Two Stars.