I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
Eye of the Storm
by
Alyssa Day
cozy mystery, paranormal romance in a Kindle edition that was published by Holliday Publishing LLC on September 21, 2019 and has 138 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Wild Thing, Atlantis Rising, Atlantis Unleashed, Atlantis Awakening, Atlantis Unmasked, Atlantis Redeemed, Atlantis Betrayed, Vampire in Atlantis, Heart of Atlantis, Dead Eye, "Travelling Eye", Private Eye, Evil Eye, Eye of Danger, Eye on the Ball, Apple of My Eye, A Dead End Thanksgiving Disaster, Blink of an Eye, “William's Witch”
Fifth in the Tiger’s Eye Mystery paranormal romance, cozy mystery series revolving around a sweet pawnshop owner with a psychometric gift based in a small town in Florida.
My Take
Tiger. Red dress. CPR. Yep. Day pulled me right in. I couldn’t wait to find out how those three things went together.
It’s a first person protagonist point-of-view from Tess’ perspective, so we learn everything through her.
Hurricane Elvis has a lot to answer for — inspiring all those Elvis song puns, lol. I do enjoy reading the Tiger’s Eye Mystery series, if only for its coziness and all the laughs. Another reason I love the Tiger’s Eye Mystery series is how supportive the primary characters are of each other. The love between Tess and her aunt and uncle, although there are the conflicts of a woman who wants to be seen as a grownup. As for that Aunt Ruby, she’s a pistol in this one, lol.
It’s an interesting concept, a town where their laws supersede those of Florida and the US. It’s not to say the citizens don’t go along with ‘em, but there are those situations that provide leeway. Dead Enders have known about the supernatural forever and they’re welcome in their town. Yep, did I mention supportive?
Jack. Oh, yeah, Jack. I wouldn’t kick him out of bed for eating crackers *grin*.
An easy fun read with plenty of action and a wide range of characters in this quirky little town.
The Story
Fear stalks Dead End with a series of break-ins and robberies, all of it leading to increases in insurance premiums. Now that’s a fearful thought!
The Characters
The psychometric Tess Callahan inherited Jeremiah’s pawn shop, Dead End Pawn. Uncle Mike and Aunt Ruby Callahan raised Tess since she was three on their farm. The rescued nine-year-old Shelley is a recent addition to the family (Dead Eye, 1). Bonnie Jo is their very old horse. Eleanor Wolf is Tess’s valuable employee.
Jack Shepherd, a tiger shifter and a former soldier in the rebellion (Heart of Atlantis, 8), is Jeremiah’s gorgeous nephew, who inherited Jeremiah’s PI firm, Tiger’s Eye Investigations.
Dead End, Florida, is . . .
. . . a very small backwater town that’s been in existence forever with its own rules. Emeril and Harold Peterson, brothers, own Dead End Hardware. Mellie runs the bakery — Dallas Fox likes her. Lauren’s Deli. Lorraine is a waitress at Beau’s — the only place in town to grab a bite to eat — for some fifty years. She was also the mayor once.
Susan Gonzalez is the sheriff. Stephen is Susan’s ex and the vampire who turned Carlos when he came to rescue her. Deputies include Andrew Kelly and the offensive Baker. Special Agent Alejandro Vasquez is with the FBI’s Paranormal Operations (P-Ops) division.
Molly, the front woman for a popular band, is Tess’ best friend who’s dating Lucky Tremaine. Ronald Ratbottom, an insurance sales agent, is the sleazy, handsy mayor — according to Lorraine, that’s all he has going for him. The Wizkowskis like to summer in Canada. Dave Wolf is Eleanor’s son who runs a construction business. He’s also Jack’s best friend. Zane is Dave’s adopted son. Mrs Quindlen handles her walker like a pro. Rooster Jenkins captures gators; the stuffed Fluffy is now Dead End Pawn’s mascot.
The Fox brothers, Austin and Dallas; Lucky Tremaine; and, some others are all former military dealing with PTSD who operate an airboat business, Swamp Commando Airboat Rides, in the swamp. Buddy is a teenager hired to help out. Laurie Raab-Hunsaker (the Raabs claims they have Fae in their ancestry while the Hunsakers have a weird fixation on Disney World). Mrs Frost. Mr Washington, a snake shifter, had been Tess’ chemistry teacher in high school. Larry runs Dead End Towing.
Carlos Gonzalez, Susan’s brother, is Tess’ new vampire neighbor who owns a vampire club — Bram’s. Ivan, who claims to be an old friend of Carlos’, and Trinity are some of the attendees. Mrs Gonzalez is Susan’s and Carlos’ grandmother. Nico is Mrs Gonzalez’s deceased husband — who’s visiting her at night.
Hurricane Elvis is on its way. Daniel is a famous vampire with whom Jack had worked in Heart of Atlantis.
The Cover and Title
The colors on the cover are intense — as is the dark gray twister roiling up the landscape in the background. In the foreground, in a golden field of tall grasses, the red-haired Tess in jacket and jeans is turned toward the storm but her head is turned to the right. In front of her is Jack, as a Siberian tiger, in profile to us but his head turned to watch for the bad guys. At the top is the author’s name in a golden orange. Below Jack is the title in white with the series info below it in a pale yellow.
The title is both the hurricane and events in Dead End, as its inhabitants face the Eye of the Storm.
