Welcome to Everlasting, Maine, where there’s no such thing as normal.Meteorologist Zoe Parker put Everlasting in her rearview mirror as soon as she had her college degree in hand. But when Sapphire, her eccentric great-aunt, takes a tumble down the stairs in her lighthouse home, Zoe returns to the tiny fishing hamlet to look after her. Zoe has barely crossed the county line when strange things … things start happening with the weather, and she discovers Sapphire’s fall was no accident. Someone is searching the lighthouse but Sapphire has no idea what they’re looking for. Determined to ensure her aunt’s ongoing safety, Zoe promises to expose the intruders, even though it means staying in Everlasting and confronting the past she thought she’d put behind her.
Dane Stanton never expected to see Zoe standing in the middle of her aunt’s living room, and was even more unprepared for the flood of emotion he experiences when coming face to face with his old flame. Zoe is just as independent and determined as he remembered, and Dane knows she won’t rest until Sapphire can return to the lighthouse in peace, so he offers to help her sort things out.
Armed with old legends, Sapphire’s ten cats, and a talking ghost, Zoe has to reconcile her feelings for Dane and embrace her destiny before it’s too late.
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Jana DeLeon’s book in the Happily Everlasting series <3
Such a sweet little romance, with a decidedly wicked mystery
This book was fabulous! The crazy cats, the slightly eccentric aunt, the pantless ghost and the hottie who knows how to bring the most to a space all come together in a story that is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat. I can’t wait to see what happens next in Everlasting!
Jana DeLeon at her whimsical best.
A fun read by a great author. This story is a second chance tale with great paranormal twists thrown in. Fun characters and a lighthouse!
I was delighted with ‘Dead Man Talking‘ which begins the multi-author series, ‘Happily Everlasting‘. To make a point here, this is why I try to be careful about revealing spoiler details in my reviews. This series was published in 2017, there is no time limit on a good book, and I’m a first time reader for this particular series… so no going to Goodreads to look it up beforehand because I don’t want to read spoilers.
This time, you really only need to read the Cover Description before knowing if you’d want to pick this book for yourself. What I can tell you beyond that information is that ‘Dead Man Talking‘ had me laughing out loud, cringing at times, hopeful for a second chance romance, and puzzling who exactly is the culprit that’s responsible for the troubles at the lighthouse.
I adored Sapphire (Zoe’s aunt) and her cats. Gosh, if only I could be that spry at her age. *laughs* Dane and Zoe were fun, interesting characters and it was enjoyable to watch them come together again, reassess their past and work together to keep Sapphire and Zoe safe. I was rooting for a reunion of the romantic kind for those two throughout the story. There are clues scattered about, some red herrings, some second-guessing my villain choice, and an exciting final reveal. I had such fun with ‘Dead Man Talking‘, and if you love solving puzzles, Cozy Mysteries of the Paranormal kind, or simply a really good, entertaining story then you’ll want to check this story and series out for yourself.
I read this title through my Kindle Unlimited subscription.
Really cute book.
A Lighthouse, a Legend, and a Bit of the Supernatural
No sex
No foul language
No violence
Zoe rushes from her city job to Everlasting, her hometown, when she receives news that her favorite aunt has taken a fall and is in the hospital. Once she’s spoken with her aunt, she knows this wasn’t just an old lady’s stumble down the stairs. The situation just doesn’t add up. Together with her former boyfriend, Dane (who’s just as good looking as she remembers), she ferrets out the inconsistencies which clearly point to foul play.
Although Zoe knew Everlasting was special, along with uncovering the mystery, she discovers that her town could easily be called supernaturally protected, and some of the people there are what could only be termed as gifted.
Good, light reading appropriate for teens – adults.
Alice, her Aunt Twila, and her grandmother are psychics who help ghosts to move on or figure out why they are still on Earth. Alice is a writer with a dog, Trucker, and her cat who can both see ghosts too. Her cousin, Katy, calls and needs her help with a ghost. While on Alice is on her way, Katy finds a headless man in her pool. When the police put Katy in jail for the crime, Alice must get all her friends together to get the ghost of the headless man’s head back to him to find out who really killed him.
Dead Man Talking is my first ever ‘cozy mystery’, I have to admit. I generally stick in the paranormal romance genre pretty strictly, to be honest. Also to be honest, if this didn’t have a romance element I wouldn’t have picked it up either.
I enjoyed the book. There was just enough paranormal to keep me interested (though it was very light compared to most of my reading) as well as a bit of romance. The book was primarily the mystery and the ‘coming of age’ of the main female lead, Zoe. I enjoyed her character as she was very down to earth, though rather normal overall. I absolutely adored her aunt, however, who was anything but normal. I really do think Sapphire stole the book. Dane wasn’t as well fleshed out, so I can’t say I adored him, but he was still a good male lead.
As I said, overall the book was about the mystery, so I rated it based on that. If I were rating it based on the romance I’d have given it 3 stars, but again, that was expected. I will likely pick one of these up now and then as it was a fun little read, but it just can’t hold me like a true romance I’m afraid. If you like a good mystery, a little bit of ghostly shenanigans, a crazy relative, and a touch of romance, this is totally a book for you.
More positives; the book was written from Zoe AND Dane’s perspective. That ALWAYS makes for a better book!
cozy-mystery, Maine, cats, paranormal, ghosts, romantic
A lovely story about a town with magic, especially Zoe’s aunt Sapphire who lives in a retired lighthouse with ten interesting cats and a ghost who can talk and interact but falls right through chair seats. A meteorologist in LA, Zoe drops everything and flies back home after a phone call from the hospital advising her that Sapphire has a head injury from a fall. Turns out that the fall was caused by surprise at finding intruders in her home.
Lots more, but you really have to read it to appreciate it!
B. J. Harrison is the marvelous narrator!
I liked the book but was disappointed when I found out that the rest of the series was not going to follow Zoe.
A fun paranormal mystery with characters that draw you in to the story.
The story kept my interest. The writing is a little disappointing, with some over explaining of what a character is thinking, as if the reader isn’t smart enough to read between the lines. The characters were endearing, and I liked curling up with this book.
Good book
Jana Deleon always creates engaging and fun characters!
I love books about home renovation, about the seashore, about people I’d want to be friends with, if they were real. LOVED this story! It rang all my bells. (if that saying means it was good!) opinion by Sandra
I enjoy all of her books! Fun reading!
A decent read, but not up to Miss Fortune series
Jana Deleon extra lite! No substance to the characters.