Author: Lyla Payne
Publisher: 257 Pages (April 1st, 2014)
From: the Author
Format: eARC
Add to: Goodreads
Order a copy: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository, Amazon UK
NOTE: This is a "New Adult" novel. Due to mature content this title is recommended for ages 17+
Synopsis: A broken engagement sends Graciela Harper crawling back to Heron Creek with her tail between her legs, but finds the sleepy little town too changed to set her life right. Not even her budding drinking problem can obscure her Gramps’s failing health, or erase the mental picture of her first love happily married to her childhood best friend. To top it all off, she’s having a heck of time convincing the town’s dashing young mayor of her unfit-for-dating status.
When the ghost of 18th century lady pirate Anne Bonny starts insisting on a near daily audience, Graciela has to confront something else she never expected—being certifiably nuts at twenty-five years old.
Her brand new "I don't give a crap" attitude makes it easy to dismiss the mysterious threats that seem to be tied to her search for more information on the long dead pirate, but when her family becomes a target, Gracie knows she needs to find out why the ghost insists on being a constant, reeking companion.
If Graciela can put aside her prejudice against people without a pulse, she may discover that Anne Bonny’s problems are intricately linked with her own. The past harbors answers could help the cantankerous spirit find closure, but she is, after all, already dead. If Graciela doesn’t move fast, she might find herself doing the haunting, instead of the other way around.
Review: 3.5 Stars - Not Quite Dead is the first title in A Lowcountry Ghost Story series by author Lyla Payne. As this author breaks away from contemporary writing she takes readers on a new path filled with ghosts, mystery, intrigue and pirates!
Graciela Harper is some what of a mess returning home to take care of her grandfather. She's been dealing with issues since she left her for college and from the small town she's called home. With years of history surrounding her and her closest friends, her elderly grandfather (who's worse than she thought) and things she needs to come to terms with with being home... yeah, she has a lot on her plate.
It's not usually something I like, having a character be this much of a mess but there's something about Gracie that you want to root for pretty quickly in the story. She has a huge heart and wants to grasp on to her grandfather with both hands and not let go. Coming home was a double edge blade for her yet it couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.
I've loved everything I've read so far from Lyla and I couldn't wait to read something different from her previous series with intertwining characters. It was a nice change seeing what she's created when it comes to her ghost story with touches of history and talk of pirates there was never any doubt that I'd love this one too which is where the hard part of this review comes in.
The book has it's good points and its rough points. The story itself was great and I liked the touches of history that were incorporated later on in the book. I liked Gracie and town Mayor Beau. I liked most of the secondary characters as well and all the history they held to unlocking Gracie’s past.
The main thing that I had a hard time getting through was it was sometimes hard to read. The traditions were fine, it was the inner dialogue, which is a good chuck of the book.
I believe that the second half of the book picked up so much more and felt more finished and smooth than the first half and that might be in part because of everything that was going on in the beginning when it came to back story and set up, yet once you read past about the halfway mark things picked up, answers started to come to light and extremely interesting questions started to come up for me as a reader.
Another thing I liked a lot was the history, which is staying something because I'm not a fan of anything historical, real or not. I find myself lost in the world of the past and Lyla has written the history which in this novel tales place in the 1700's extremely well, it had my attention and then some.
In the end I was happy where the story left me as a reader. It made me interested to see what was next and what Gracie, Beau and her friends might come to fast in the next installment.
If you like a good ghost story with a touch of romance and a character who's channeling her own inner “Nancy Drew” than I suggest you look no further than this title right here. It's classed as “New Adult” due to the age of the characters and it does have a few issues that are questionable for younger readers such as drinking and physical abuse that should be taken into consideration when purchasing. Now it's your turn to read this title and see what YOU think. Be sure to come back and let me know in the comments. Enjoy!
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