A grim first week on the job.
Tessa Randolph is feeling defeated. On the outs with her boyfriend and suddenly without a job, she’s scrambling to pay the rent. She doesn’t exactly have the kind of life she wants.
Tessa needs a change.
And the ability to afford the wet food her cat Pepper thinks she deserves at every meal.
Against her better judgement but without a better offer, Tessa takes a … meal.
Against her better judgement but without a better offer, Tessa takes a job from one of the scariest of bosses—her mother, who has a deadly sharp tongue.
And just like that, she learns that the life insurance agency at the edge of Mist River isn’t what it seems to be. Plus, Cheryl Randolph isn’t simply the sharp-tongued, overly critical mom Tessa thought she was. She’s a grim reaper. One of many people tasked with escorting souls into the afterlife.
And now Tessa is one too.
She wasn’t expecting her life change to involve so much Death.
Tessa intends to simply kill it in her new career. But, running late on her second day of work, she doesn’t make it in time for her neighbor’s death. And now his soul is missing. Apparently, that’s not a good thing when you’re in the soul-collecting business.
Who knew?
Now, her mom-boss thinks Tessa can’t cut it. Which is just so typical. And she doesn’t seem to be telling Tessa everything about an important death in both of their pasts.
Not only that, but apparently, if Tessa doesn’t find the missing spirit fast enough, its absence will rip some kind of apocalyptic hole in space and time. Or something like that. It’s all a bit vague.
Not that Tessa read the job manual line-by-line. Who has time for that?
What’s worse, the police think Tessa might’ve committed the murder.
Can Tessa prove her innocence? Can she get her mom off her back and find the wayward soul before time runs out? And will Pepper get that expensive can of tuna she’s sure she deserves? Find out today!
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Tessa is down on her luck and finally takes her mother’s offer to work for the same company her mother does – a life insurance company. But on arriving she finds out that the insurance is only a cover-up for a reaper agency. Death had too many souls to take to the other side to do it all on his own, so he started to outsource. Sadly Tessa’s first day does not go as planned. One soul she was supposed to take over escapes her and she has to find out who killed her soul, before he is ready to pass on.
A novel idea for a cozy mystery. It contains quite a few unique situations and can be funny, but for me, personally, Tessa was a little too shallow, to gossipy.
Still, a good, entertaining read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Tessa Randolph is having a rough time paying her bills. She lost her job and her boyfriend, forcing her to take a job working as a grim reaper with her mother. With her ancient car giving her trouble too, she is late to work on her second day, and a soul she is to reap escapes. Snooping around looking for the soul puts her Under police suspicion for the murder. Great read, very interesting and well written. Looking forward to the next book. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I enjoyed this story. This is a paranormal type story where the main character, Tessa, finds herself working for her mom as a grim reaper. Well-written with a
nice flow. I am looking forward to more books by these authors.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Tessa made a good move in moving on from her ex Frank. What a jerk! Overtime pay? Fttt. Literally leaving her on the side of the road – way uncool super creep!
Losing a job and a man might just be the best thing that happened to Tessa in a long time – if she can keep her new calling from going off the rails.
Funny and introspective- and totally irreverent- look at life, death, romance and letting the past be past
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Great read from a new author. Interesting storyline. Could not put the book down. I would be willing to read another story by this author.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Catch a murderer and retrieve a lost soul. Easy peasy! Down on her luck because her boyfriend and boss left her on the side of the road and refused to pay her for the wages she had coming, Tessa takes a job working for her mom as a reaper. She thinks it will be a horrible job, and after the first day she is almost certain. She was supposed to escort the soul of the creepy guy who lives above her apartment but because her old car is unreliable, she got there too late. Chet was murdered and his soul disappeared. Now she only has a few days to find it, but while looking she is also on the trail of his murderer, gets hauled into a casino by the manager and accused of stealing money, almost gets arrested, and learns a secret about her dad’s death. All in a day’s work huh! But Tessa is tenacious and after solving the murder and retrieving the soul, she just might find out she likes her new job. And there might be a new romance on the horizon for her. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review
Everything is going wrong for Tessa, she’s lost her job….again, she is getting older perhaps it is time to go to her mum and ask her for a loan for nursing school. Instead her mum gives her a job at the Life Insurance company she works at. Except her Mum is an executive to the Grimm Reaper?!? The Grimm Reaper learnt long ago it was better to contract out his soul collection so he can kick back and relax while others do the hard work. Can Tessa prove to her mum she can do this job, have a career and pay her rent to her rather handsome landlord? Can she avoid the advances of her skeevy upstairs neighbour? B
There is a lot of tension between Tessa and her mum which is explored further in the book, the storyline is a interesting, I look forward to seeing how it progresses. This is not a bad read, I did find it strange that her mother would send her out on her own to do her first job? Surely on the job training would be required? Don’t get me wrong I know this is fantasy but still you want there to be some relatability to the character.
All that being said it is quick and easy read. The “who dunnit” is not necessarily who you think, plenty red herrings along the way.which is always good.
There is plenty room for character expansion as well as the storyline, with a hint of romance in the future
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The story line was great. The character work was terrific. The book had a good flow to it. I was highly entertained from beginning to end. I look forward to more from these authors.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Such a good book. Things are always going wrong for Tessa, first her boyfriend dumps her resulting in her loss of a job. She is left with no alternative but to work for her mother, as a grim reaper. She misses her first soul because she is late, and spends most of the story trying to catch up with him. During her days of chasing him she finds out some interesting details of her father’s death that changes her whole attitude towards her life and she starts to grow up and become more responsible. Awesome story and I can’t wait to read more of it.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
GRIM AND BEAR IT is the first book in the Tessa Randolph Cozy Mystery series. You’ll want to read these in the order of release.
I absolutely loved this new series. I love paranormal, I love cozy mystery, and I love the humanization of the mythological concepts. In this case, the Grim Reaper has retired and outsourced his job to a network of insurance offices.
Years ago, I read the Piers Anthony Incarnations of Immortality series and loved every word in it. (I also loved the 30+ books in the Xanth series.) On a Pale Horse was the Grim Reaper’s story in the Incarnations series. Like Zane/Thanatos in Piers Anthony’s work, Tessa did not at first know that she would be a Grim Reaper, though she did not gain her powers in the same manner.
This story was fun with a bit of light suspense. I like the way that all of the characters have been introduced and I’ve grown to like them already.
I’m looking forward to more of Tessa, her mother Cheryl, and her landlord Silas. I think he’s on to her already! I’m sure we’ll find out in a future release. Until then, I’ll be looking for more from these talented authors.
Note: While I received this book as a gifted ARC via Booksprout, my opinions are my own and are given freely.
Title: GRIM AND BEAR IT
Series: Tessa Randolph Cozy Mystery #1
Category /Genre: Cozy Mystery, Paranormal
Recommended for: 14+
Grammar/editing: received as an unedited ARC / errors excused
Received from: Paula Lester
Tessa was dumped by her boyfriend and lost her job. She decides to go work for her mother as a Reaper. Tessa is not going to have such a great start to her job. Tessa finds out one of her jobs is her neighbor, she gets there to late. The spirit is no where to be found. To make things worse is she goes into his apartment looking for him, ends up being arrested. Tessa’s mother gets her off, but her new job is in jeopardy.
Tessa will have to locate the missing spirit, but also starts to look into his death. She finds clues as to why he was murdered. Tessa will also get closer to Silas, her landlord. He seems to be helping her with some situations when he never did before.
Tessa will have her work cut out for her solving the crime, finding the spirit and finding her footing in her new world.
Loved this characters in this book, looking forward to more of Tessa and her adventures being a reaper. Can’t wait to see where Tessa and Sila goes. There are so really good moments in this that I didn’t write about. I recommend you reading this .
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
If you love a paranormal story if turning lemons into lemonade this is the book for you! Tessa is a girl down on her luck when she gets her a job she isn’t sure she wants… Not just any job…. she becomes a grim reaper and worse her mom is the boss. Tessa is just trying to survive and pay bills and plans on this guy being part time because who wants to work with their mom. Watching Tessa struggle to find her way is an adventure full of sarcasm, missteps and adventure. I don’t want to give this story away because you should totally read it! Just finished and wish there was a second book ready to read! I can’t wait to see what Tessa gets into next!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.