Monique ~ Sinfully Sexy Book Reviews

What makes this series so AMAZING is Lou Harpers effortless style of writing, captivating yet understated with no clutter and she has a way of endearing us to even the grumpiest of characters… her ever present humour with an element of mystery is just perfect… THIS IS JUST A BLOODY GOOD STORY!!!

Dead in the Desert is the second book in the L.A. Paranormal series, and it is one complete story and not a collection of novellas, which I loved! In all honesty it can be read as a standalone, which was exactly how I intended to read it… however a few pages in and I had fallen in love with the characters and I had to go back and start from the beginning… I wanted more, so I stopped mid flow, downloaded Dead in L.A. and started from the beginning and didn’t stop till I had finished both books… YES! They are that good… I couldn’t put them down!

So we first meet the boys In Dead in L.A where Andy is a ray of sunshine to Jon’s life filled with storm clouds and rain. Andy is a psychic who finds things, cats, dogs, missing jewellery, he is adorable and such an unassuming character, where as Jon on the other hand is grumpy to say the least, racked by guilt over the death of his wife, trying to put his life back together, attending college but unable to drag himself out of the darkness that consumes him, preferring solitude and self imposed isolation. As a pessimist he doesn't allow himself to feel for fear of the unknown, of what might happen if he lets down his guard and allows someone into his heart again… I got the impression he was subconsciously punishing himself, but Andy’s easy manner and self confidence wormed his way into his life and Jon was no longer able to distance himself from the vibrant sparkle that was Andy and it had all happened without him having realised it

Dead in the Desert takes place ten months after they had become room mates and seven months into their friends with benefits relationship.

Detective Lipkin makes another appearance to call on Andy’s psychic services to locate a dead body, but the main story line is locating a missing person. Andy is hired by a lawyer to find Ethan Novak, the son of the serial killer Clive Riddel.  Clive’s Uncle has left a vast fortune in his will to Ethan, a boy he didn’t know, for no other reason than to piss off his family, only Ethan has been missing for seven years and needs to be located before the family have him declared dead.

This is not a detective thriller and neither Jon or Andy are investigators per se, they actually sit on the periphery of the actual investigations…with all the pieces falling into place in the background and the boys just contributing a small part, well actually it is Andy and his psychic abilities that are in demand, but over protective Jon is non too happy about him being involved without being there himself… just in case! I would say this is more of a mystery and Lou Harper keeps us engaged throughout… seeing the boys dipping in and out and the threads all coming together, I was hanging on every little piece of information!

Andy can’t resist helping, it’s who he is… he is just a kind and generous soul, who also happens to be hilarious, his banter with Jon, addiction to food porn and obsession with books had me laughing out loud, he is just a fun and zany character, modest with a casual approach to his gift, learning as he goes along, to him it’s a living and definitely not something to be abused, and Jon is on hand to make sure no harm comes to his man! Jon is possessive and protective of Andy, but not in a suffocating way, he cares about Andy but finds it hard to express his feelings and emotions and his mother hen ways are just his subconscious affections coming to the fore.

“I’d learned the hard way that the only thing you couldn’t lose was what you didn’t have. A fear of Andy flickering out of my life as abruptly as he’s entered it had burrowed into a corner of my heart”

We also see Jon battling with his emotions, coming to terms with the fact that Andy has indeed broken down the barriers that have for so long guarded his heart, looking at Andy as part of his future, but insecure… unsure of what he means to Andy, he wants more than friends with benefits which was Andy’s idea in the first place, and although we don’t get a glimpse as to what is going on in Andy’s head, only having Jon’s POV I got the impression he was holding back not wanting to push Jon or force the issue of a relationship, knowing how emotionally damaged Jon is.

The romance develops at a sedate pace all enhanced by the investigations, it is a subtle blend of romance and mystery and the whole package is combined perfectly… it’s just an excellent read with engaging characters and fascinating plot lines that will have you chuckling all the way through!

There is an epilogue to this… and so very clever, I loved it! I am also wondering if it might be another direction the lovely Ms Harper may be taking us in?!?

This is and EXCELLENT book and I defy you not to love it!