I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Seeing is Believing
by
Erin McCarthy
It is part of the Cuttersville #3 series and is a contemporary romance, paranormal romance in a paperback edition that was published by Berkley on March 5, 2013 and has 271 pages.
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Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include High Stakes, My Immortal, Bit the Jackpot, An Enchanted Season, Fallen, The Taking, Bad Boys of Summer, Bled Dry, Flat-Out Sexy, Sucker Bet, Hard and Fast, Hot Finish, When Good Things Happen to Bad Boys, First Blood, Slow Ride, The Chase, The Night Before Christmas, Out of the Light, and into the Shadows, Jacked Up, A Date with the Other Side, Heiress for Hire, Bad Boys in Black Tie, True, Believe, Shatter, Sweet, Burn, Gone with the Ghost, Murder Drama with Your Llama
Third in the Cuttersville paranormal romance series set in Cuttersville, Ohio, and revolving around friends and family. The couple focus is on Brady — it’s twelve years later! — and Piper Tucker.
The Murphy Sisters short stories are entangled in Cuttersville. Which explains why it hasn’t turned into a full-length series, dang it.
My Take
I do enjoy this Cuttersville series. It’s small town life where everyone knows everyone else’s business with the usual assortment of characters from the nasty to the acerbic to the sweet. Thankfully, it’s the sweet who predominate.
Although…McCarthy has slipped up on a few points. Maybe Brady has dropped the painting until reinspired, but where does it go from here? Is he really planning on making a career as a waiter just to stay in Cuttersville? Rachel’s violence was totally unexpected — and we never do get a reason for it. Or why Rachel and Brady I never connected even though they’re in the same house. Even a guess would have been useful. And Piper’s reaction to Trina…gimme a break! I thought Piper was smarter than that! McCarthy has slipped on this one…and it’s not what I would have expected of her.
Whoa, makes me happy for our more stringent policework in these days, as Rachel got shafted in so many ways. Then there’s the name of the bludgeoned fiancé! Another whoa on that one!
It is, however, a sweet read with a nice blend of humor, tension, and drama as two people dance around each other, paying too much attention to what others are saying to them.
The Story
After escaping town to make his mark on the art world, Brady Stritmeyer shambles back into town, ashamed. Only to discover all the reasons why life is better in Cuttersville.
The Characters
Piper Tucker is Danny and Amanda‘s grown-up daughter (Heiress for Hire, 2) — she’s a schoolteacher now who still sees ghosts. The farm is doing well, and Amanda is keeping busy. Logan, 13, and Jack are her half-brothers. Marcus is the younger half-brother who didn’t get as lucky as Piper; Trina claims to be his girlfriend. Cameron is Piper’s best friend. Stuart is Amanda’s art gallery-owning friend in New York City.
Brady Stritmeyer is Shelby’s artistic cousin. The one who was going to take the world by storm and hasn’t picked up a paintbrush in years. Heather is the sister who moved to Cincinnati. Jessie Stritmeyer is his outspoken grandmother, and yes, she still owns a bunch of houses around Cuttersville. Good thing, as Gran has no intention of letting Brady move in with her. It’d cut into her Saturday nights with Richard.
Emily and Lilly are Shelby and Boston‘s eight-year-old twins (A Date with the Other Side, 1). Zach is their fourteen-year-old.
Rachel Strauss is the some-hundred-year-dead ghost executed for the murder of her fiancé, who haunts Shelby and Boston’s home. Betsy Chambers is the maid who discovered the body. Dr. Cyrus Drummond was pretty advanced for his time.
Brady’s old girlfriend (and psychic) Abby is now married to Darius Damiano. Bree Murphy-Carrington, Abby’s sister, is the librarian, who reads tarot cards (Magical Christmas Cat: Christmas Bree (Murphy Sisters, 2)). She’s having a second baby with Ian; their first, Alistair, is ten.
The Cover and Title
The cover is sweetness and innocence with the fresh spring green of meadow grass and the hazy view of the forest in the background and a happy dog with a huge flower in his mouth in the foreground while the near foreground finds a barefooted lass in virginal pink in the classic pose — up on her toes with one leg bent at the knee in the arms of her khaki-clad lover.
There’s a lot of seeing going on in this story, and the title could well be referring to Brady rediscovering Piper or together their discovering the truth about Rachel’s guilt or simply realizing that Piper truly can see ghosts, that Seeing is Believing.
