Paisley Ray

I really love Rachel, and her friends, and the predicaments that ensue while Rachel is just trying to make decent grades, keep her scholarship, and have some hot times with a lad (or two).

And also negotiate her family- her dad's aerobics-instructor girlfriend, and her mother's bus full of New Age whackiness, completre with obscure forbodings.

I really like that mostly this series is about navigating young adulthood, with all its pitfalls, and the mystery aspects tend to be almost afterthoughts- but entertaining ones!

The mystery plot in this one is pretty obscure, and definitely not the main focus. It's fun, though! and brings out people's true characters.

I am looking forward to the next one! I just wish they were not so pricey per ebook- that's the only reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars.… (meer)

This is the second novel in the series- but it's more of a novella.

Anyway, this covers Rachel's summer between her freshman and sophomore years of college, when she is back at home, working in her family's restoration biz, and her absconding mother returns bringing a girlfriends and a LOT of questions.

Repercussions from the first book do show up, so I'd recommend starting there. And this was very short.

Still, I liked knowing what Rachel was up to in the summer, and immediately started reading #3.

These are really more about growing up than they mysteries... but the mysteries are fun.

Even better, though, are the people and the relationships. These have me totally hooked!

I love Rachel's voice- she is very much her own age, with its charms and flaws. She is not at all generic. I look forward to reading more of her adventures.… (meer)

Rachel is one of the best renditions of an 18-year-old college student that I've read. Her voice is a lot of fun, and she does not hold back on either her own or other people's foibles.

The college aspect works wonderfully well. It is just as insane as college can be, especially for people on their own for the first time! it doesn't help that her roommate comes from a hard-partying town, and likes to have Rachel visit on weekends and breaks... and for Rachel, it's a whole different culture from the one she grew up in.

Add to that Rachel's parents getting separated as soon as they dropped her off, with her mom off to join a psychic cult; her dad stays home, but takes up aerobics and starts dating the instructor.

I am not sure that they mystery really held together; I particularly wonder how Bridget hooked up with the forgery gang. The rest of the ring made some sort of sense. Although it does seem that the people buying the forgeries may notice something when their insurance appraisers report multiple "originals" of a single painting- and serious art buyers DO get their artworks appraised and insured.

Still- it was a very fun novel to read, and I'd read more in the series if the ebooks were less pricey.… (meer)