Me And Sharon Stone

I know. It's been nearly a week since my lost blog entry.

But it's like this; last week sucked. Really, really sucked. It was one of those weeks where I was either going to:

1. Quit my job
2. Start sobbing uncontrollably
3. Punch someone in the face
4. Drive an ice pick up my nose

So I didn't blog because I was too busy tamping down my homicidal tendencies. Maybe I should have blogged. I could have worked through my anger. I also could have scared the bejebus out of innocent bystanders - and really, I didn't need to do that!

I did wrap up Killer Chameleon by Chassie West over the weekend. Don't get me wrong, it was very good - but it's the first book in her Leigh Ann Warren series that I didn't absolutely love. It's also the first book in the series that didn't land in my coveted keeper stash. Still, it's a strong read and I ended up rating it a solid B.

Leigh Ann Warren, retired Washington D.C. cop thanks to a knee injury in the line of duty, is getting ready for her impending nupitals to Dillion Kennedy (AKA "Duck"). She's also been busy setting things up for her new job - starting a police force in a small Virginia coastal community home to a horde of her relatives. So she doesn't notice at first that something is very off.

Leigh soon realizes though that she has a stalker. A stalker who has stolen some of her personal financial papers right out of Duck's apartment, almost run her down in the street, spray-painted her car, stolen her wedding dress and cancelled her honeymoon tickets to Hawaii. Who is this nut job and what the heck did Leigh do to set them off?

West has a wonderful knack for writing warm, funny, endearing characters. Gosh if I don't just plain like them! I also enjoy the fact that Leigh is self-sufficient, smart and kicks butt, even with a bum knee. The final showdown is fantastic!

However, I had to wait a long time for this book (a couple of years) and I had forgotten some of what had occurred in the last book. And, I naturally didn't go back and reread - so Killer Chameleon doesn't stand alone entirely well. I also found the mystery a bit slow moving. It takes several chapters for all the shenangians to get under way.

Still, it's a very strong read. I cannot recommend West enough. But start with book 1, Sunrise. Lucky you, the 3 previous books in this series were recently reprinted - so they shouldn't be too hard to come by.