Unemployed ex-party girl Angela Cray is back living with her no-nonsense mother in Phoenix. After coming within air-kissing distance of a felony charge, Angela is determined to make something of her life. When a sympathetic neighbor offers her work, Angela jumps at the opportunity. She figures it won’t be hard to track down a missing fianc last seen with two Lady Gaga lookalikes. After all, one … one of her superpowers is finding badly behaved men.
But the trail of the runaway groom has more twists than a bride’s updo. And when Angela uncovers secrets that people will kill to keep hidden, she has to decide the price she’s willing to pay for success.
Angela will need to call upon all her charm and cunning–and the deities of her ancient Samoan ancestors–to make sure this professional growth opportunity doesn’t kill her first.
ANGELA CRAY GETS REAL was a finalist for a Freddie Award for Writing Excellence from the Florida Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America.
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What a fun book! More than a few times I wished my morning commute was longer to continue reading! You’ll want a Milano gimlet after this! (and a Samoan mother!!).
I loved this book! I didn’t know what to expect from the description, and I was delighted to find the story so engaging. The writing is clever, fun and full of unexpected twists. I can’t wait to find out what further adventures Angela Cray gets herself into and hope I don’t have to wait long for the next novel.
I have to say that I had trouble getting into this book. Angela Cray Gets Real by Dara Carr is different and at times moves very slow.
Angela Cray after some bad choices finds herself needing work and Monalisa hires her to do some detective work for her and to help find their client Charise’s fiance Kevin who is missing. Though Angela, who has had some bad relationships, thinks Kevin is just blowing Charise off needs the job and so she puts her feelings to the back of her mind to look for Kevin. Angela finds trouble, secrets, lies and criminals in her hunt to find him and she gets in over her head but sticks to it.
The character Angela seems to be a jumbled mess and likes to whine, at times I wanted to shout at her to get a backbone and quit feeling sorry for herself. It took me until the middle of the book to get somewhat intriqued enough to keep reading. Angela doesn’t make the smartest of decisions either while trying to solve the mystery of the missing fiance Kevin that she has been hired to find. An example is when she confronts one of the Gaga lookalikes that was last seen with him and gets herself into a dangerous situation that could be deadly. Midway through the book it gets more intense and interesting and kept me reading. Finally Angela seems to be getting her legs under her in finding Kevin and even solving a secret or two along the way. I give it 3 stars because it is slow to start but develops into a better story at the end. I still think if you like a dysfunctional, flawed main character who seems to find herself as she struggles to find the missing fiance and a different kind of mystery with more than one scenario to solve then you will want to read this one.
I received this book for my honest opinion and review
4.45 awesome stars
I loved this book.
Angela is not your regular female protagonist but more like an anti-hero. She is more out of jobs than in jobs. But she is a very likeable and warmhearted gal.
When her neighbour and friend the elderly Iona passes suddenly away Monalisa, her granddaughter and lawyer, moves into the house and offers Angela to investigate a missing fiancee for one of her clients. She is not going to screw up this job and is gung-ho to find him no matter what it takes… And, whoa it takes a lot….
Angela doesn’t always make the smartest decisions but that just contributes to the fun of this roller coaster ride.
When I read the description I did not expect to like the story as much as I did! A wonderful surprise.
A great first installment in this series and I can’t wait to meet Angela again.
I requested this book from NetGalley and am thankful that Xpresso Book Tours and the author provided me with a copy.