dereadergal's review against another edition
5.0
I've never read any other books by Ms. Jaffarian, but I can confidently say that this first book in her new series is a refreshingly sweet, yet mysterious, and easy read. It's not just a mere mystery because it goes beyond the normal "who dun it?" and adds a splash of humorous paranormal entertainment and a bit of romance to the mix. The characters were solid, believable and likable, even the "bad" ones were well described and kept your attention, of course granny was a great character and it even made me want to have a friendly ghost/granny (who gives off that sassy no nonsense vibe even from the "other side") following me around assisting me with my daily activities! This is a must read for not only those who are fans of the mystery genre and it even goes beyond a traditional paranormal genre too by not taking either genre too seriously, almost on the lines of the "chick lit" genre, with fun characters and an equally pleasant plot that shouldn't be missed. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book in the series, and maybe you will too once you read this story.
afro8921's review against another edition
2.0
I think this was a decent cozy mystery. I don't think I need to read the next one though.
andimontgomery's review
1.0
I couldn’t finish this one. There were too many typos, and I just didn’t enjoy the characters or the plot.
lbrychic's review
4.0
The first book in a new series by Sue Ann Jaffarian. Emma Whitecastle finds out that she can see and speak to ghosts. Her "Granny Apples" comes to her for help and boy does she.
Nice light quick read. Enjoyable. A little bit of flirty romance thrown in the mix of trying to solve a 100 year old mystery.
Nice light quick read. Enjoyable. A little bit of flirty romance thrown in the mix of trying to solve a 100 year old mystery.
addy1991's review
3.0
As much as I like Emma, she periodically makes dumb choices. While I understand her wanting to figure out what happened to her relative, her tendency to ignore warnings from ghosts and people made me question her intelligence. I didn't figure out who and partly figured out why but that's okay ... the story is entertaining and Granny Apples is a hoot!
bfagioli's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this book. Its a page turner. Kept my interest the entire time.
wildflowerz76's review against another edition
2.0
This is another one of those free offerings from Amazon. I picked it because it looked cute and was free. After I got it, I realized it was by the same author as another book on my to-read list. THAT one I read a few days ago and liked well enough, though I didn't love.
This one? It was pretty awful. First off, "Granny Apples?" Really? I'm quite a fan of supernatural books. I don't mind ghosts in my fiction. But there's a way to go about it and there's a way to suck at it. If it's presented as if the main character believed all along, fine. If it's a different world where a lot of people believe, great. Even if it's one where the main character doesn't believe, but comes to believe, that's fine too. But not within just a few days of their first "experience." It's too unbelievable. Emma felt entirely too quick to just start believing in ghosts and be staunchly a believer. Her "conversion" wasn't believable at all to me.
The story was alright, I guess, but a little on the dull side. The people didn't feel very believable and I never quite warmed up to Phil like I think we were supposed to. A lot of the characters seemed to be portayed as one way, but they'd all then do something that seemed out of character.
Anyway, I didn't care for this one, but it was free, so I'm only out a few hours of time it took me to read it, so I guess that's fair.
This one? It was pretty awful. First off, "Granny Apples?" Really? I'm quite a fan of supernatural books. I don't mind ghosts in my fiction. But there's a way to go about it and there's a way to suck at it. If it's presented as if the main character believed all along, fine. If it's a different world where a lot of people believe, great. Even if it's one where the main character doesn't believe, but comes to believe, that's fine too. But not within just a few days of their first "experience." It's too unbelievable. Emma felt entirely too quick to just start believing in ghosts and be staunchly a believer. Her "conversion" wasn't believable at all to me.
The story was alright, I guess, but a little on the dull side. The people didn't feel very believable and I never quite warmed up to Phil like I think we were supposed to. A lot of the characters seemed to be portayed as one way, but they'd all then do something that seemed out of character.
Anyway, I didn't care for this one, but it was free, so I'm only out a few hours of time it took me to read it, so I guess that's fair.
achadamaia's review against another edition
4.0
Most enjoyable cozy mystery. I loved the idea of solving a mystery from the past.
sidewalk_pirate's review against another edition
3.0
I got this book as a free Friday offer from B&N. It was nice to get it for free, as I don't have the money to buy books these days.
At first the book was a bit slow going, but it is the first in the series and characters have to be intorduced, so that will take a bit of time. The author does a great job in making her characters rather likable
I like ghost stories and I like mystery books. Ghost a la mode combines my two favourites. How could this not be fun to read? As a matter of fact, I pulled it ahead of the line. I have about 250 books on my to read list and usually try to read them in order, but this one was just too tempting.
I am glad I did.
Emma is a 44 year old woman, in the middle of divorce from a rather rich TV talkshow host. Thankfully we are not bored with the details of either her life with the star or the divorce too much. The author just gies you enough to have the right insight in the charecters and their motivation. I really appreciated that!
Emma finds out she can see and hear ghosts after going to a seance with her friend Tracy. This ghost is her great great great grandmother. Not only famous for her apple pies, but also for killing her husband and being hung from an oak tree in return. At first you think it's all about getting Granny off the hook for the murder of her husband, but in the end there is more to come.
Once the book finally gets going, it is really sweet and you get to like Emma and her great Granny a lot. I also like the bald Phill! He sounded hot in a middle aged guy kind of way (well I have always had a soft spot for older men)
What turned me off a bit in the end and made it only a three star book, instead of the four I had planned for it, was the TV job offered to, and accepted by, Emma. (No this is not really a spoiler, since it has nothing to do with the murder plot!) Not sure how I feel about that. At least it is giving me a bit of time to come up with the money for the second book, as I am not sure how eager I am to read about that milieu. (My husband worked in TV for 17 years.. it has no glitz, or glam left for me....)
All in all it is a good book. I did like it and I most likely will read the second in the series when it becomes a bit cheaper. I would recommend it as a great rainy day read! Rather entertaining and funny at times. I like the descriptiveness of this author and will see if I can find any other books of hers (for free preferably, but I would not mind paying when I have the money again).
At first the book was a bit slow going, but it is the first in the series and characters have to be intorduced, so that will take a bit of time. The author does a great job in making her characters rather likable
I like ghost stories and I like mystery books. Ghost a la mode combines my two favourites. How could this not be fun to read? As a matter of fact, I pulled it ahead of the line. I have about 250 books on my to read list and usually try to read them in order, but this one was just too tempting.
I am glad I did.
Emma is a 44 year old woman, in the middle of divorce from a rather rich TV talkshow host. Thankfully we are not bored with the details of either her life with the star or the divorce too much. The author just gies you enough to have the right insight in the charecters and their motivation. I really appreciated that!
Emma finds out she can see and hear ghosts after going to a seance with her friend Tracy. This ghost is her great great great grandmother. Not only famous for her apple pies, but also for killing her husband and being hung from an oak tree in return. At first you think it's all about getting Granny off the hook for the murder of her husband, but in the end there is more to come.
Once the book finally gets going, it is really sweet and you get to like Emma and her great Granny a lot. I also like the bald Phill! He sounded hot in a middle aged guy kind of way (well I have always had a soft spot for older men)
What turned me off a bit in the end and made it only a three star book, instead of the four I had planned for it, was the TV job offered to, and accepted by, Emma. (No this is not really a spoiler, since it has nothing to do with the murder plot!) Not sure how I feel about that. At least it is giving me a bit of time to come up with the money for the second book, as I am not sure how eager I am to read about that milieu. (My husband worked in TV for 17 years.. it has no glitz, or glam left for me....)
All in all it is a good book. I did like it and I most likely will read the second in the series when it becomes a bit cheaper. I would recommend it as a great rainy day read! Rather entertaining and funny at times. I like the descriptiveness of this author and will see if I can find any other books of hers (for free preferably, but I would not mind paying when I have the money again).