Body Movers by Stephanie Bond

I picked up this book because I had read Bond's In Deep Voodoo earlier this year. I was looking for something funny, along the lines of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels. There are so many jokes to be made about working in "body retrieval," right? I was disappointed on the humor front, but I did enjoy the book nonetheless.

Carlotta's parents skipped out of town to avoid facing legal charges when she was 17 years old, leaving her in charge of her 9-year-old brother Wesley. Ten years later, Carlotta works at Neiman Marcus, rarely dates, and lives with 19-year-old Wesley. Her parents send an occasional postcard, but have otherwise been absent since they skipped town. Wesley is a computer whiz and gambler in debt to multiple shady characters.

When one of Carlotta's customers and high school classmates drowns under suspicious circumstances, Carlotta decides to do her own investigation. She runs up against the handsome Detective Jack Terry, who warns her to stay out of his investigation. Meanwhile, her brother takes a job moving bodies with the yummy Coop Craft, a former medical examiner. She also ends up entangled with her former fiance, the husband of the woman murdered.

I was honestly kept guessing the whole book about which of the three men Carlotta would end up with. It still wasn't resolved at the end, although the crowd was narrowed from three to two. I am not sure which I would rather Carlotta end up with either. I definitely want to find out what Carlotta is up to next and who she decides to date, so I'll certainly be reading the next book in the series.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy a good mystery, and who like fashion.

Dogs and Goddesses by Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart & Lani Diane Rich

What a fun book this was! Three ladies, Abby, Daisy and Shar meet each other at a dog obedience class. They are greeted by the mysterious Kammani, who shares the name of a goddess no one knows much about. She gives them some punch, and all three wake up the next day with their dogs talking to them! These three ladies discover love while working to defeat Kammani, who actually is an ancient goddess. They unravel an archaeological mystery and discover that they are descendents of ancient goddesses as well, and have powers of their own!

I love books where women find their inner goddess, and I love books where people can talk to their pets, so this book was a great read for me. I am more of a cat person, so the only thing I would have liked was for it to be Cats and Goddesses instead! I don't think that would work out as well since people don't really take their cats to obedience classes. I have one that I would definitely take if I knew where to find a cat obedience class!

I was also impressed by the fact that these three authors worked together to write the book. I was expecting three shorter stories within the book, but I was surprised that it was one complete story. I can't imagine what it must be like to work with one other author during the writing of a book, let alone two other authors! Then again, it may help with writer's block. You get stuck, just send it along to someone else for some writing! Check out what the authors have to say about working together at their blog, Dogs and Goddesses, And pick up this book for a fun romantic read!