Grim(ace) while you work …
Aisling Grimlock is having a bad week. Well, actually, she’s having a bad life — not that she’s complaining. Okay, she’s totally complaining.
After being laid off from her secretarial position, she has no choice but to join the family business, and now she’s a full-time grim reaper. That’s right. She collects and transfers souls to the hereafter.
Cool, huh? Not … hereafter.
Cool, huh? Not quite.
On the second day of her new job, Aisling (literally!) stumbles over a dead body that’s not on her list and the stakes are suddenly raised because, when a name isn’t on the list, that means someone stole it (and that’s never a good thing).
Aisling’s family, which consists of a tempestuous father and four overbearing older brothers, are hot on the case – but the answers they’re coming up with aren’t exactly soothing.
It seems a contingent of wraiths have descended on the area, and they’re not just dangerous for unsuspecting souls and the general populace. The Grimlock family is at risk, too.
If that weren’t bad enough, Aisling finds herself inexplicably drawn to Detective Griffin Taylor – the police officer who considers her a murder suspect. Oh, and she’s a wraith-magnet — although, truth be told, she’s more interested in Detective Taylor.
Aisling is determined to prove that she has what it takes to be a great reaper – even if it means risking her life and proving her father and brothers wrong when it comes to her competence level.
When things finally become clear, will Aisling survive long enough to make things right? Or, will she fall prey to the wraiths and the individual controlling them?
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Hysterical! The Grimlocks are reapers, aka soul collectors. Aisling, the youngest, is new to the family business. She talks to her souls before collecting them. Many aren’t ready to go. The only girl with 4 brothers & a protective dad, the family dynamics will leave you in stitches. & let’s not forget Jerry, Aisling’s best friend. All this & a bit of mystery. Want to have some fun? Read this. I’m on to the 2nd book in the series
3.5 Stars! Grim Tidings is the first book in a series about Reapers and the souls they help to move on.
Summary:
Aisling Grimlock has hit rock bottom and she has no qualms complaining about it. After losing her riveting job as a secretary, she’s forced to join the family business. This decision might not be so unhappy if the family business were a law firm or something. It’s not. Aisling is now a full-time grim reaper which means she’ll be chasing death all day, every day in order to collect souls and transfer them to the hereafter. If only she hadn’t dropped out of community college. As if her career change weren’t bad enough, on only her second day, Aisling literally trips over a dead body. A dead body that is not on her list, which means the soul was stolen. Aisling and her family (consisting of four overbearing older brothers and an exasperated father) have no choice but to investigate. Unfortunately, the answers they’re finding are not good ones. Wraiths have been spotted in the area, which is not only dangerous for the unsuspecting souls of the public, but also the Grimlock family, too. But the hits keep on coming. Detective Griffin Taylor has deemed Aisling a murder suspect and is watching her every move to see if she slips up. That’s not good when you’re a reaper and have a job to do. It’s also not good when you’re attracted to the man investigating you. Aisling is determined to prove her innocence and get to the bottom of the soul stealing. If she proves herself as a competent reaper along the way, all the better in her opinion. But once the situation becomes clear, Aisling finds herself in the path of danger. It’ll take her limited knowledge and all she has to survive instead of falling prey to the wraiths and their master.
Grim Tidings was an interesting read. Reading the blurb, I was intrigued by the premise of the story and how the characters were intent on overcoming the obstacles in their path. Aisling was mostly okay as a heroine. I didn’t dislike her, but she did have a few personality traits that irked me. I loved her snarky, sarcastic humor. She was independent, smart, and funny. Her obvious closeness and love for her family and best friend were a huge draw. My only issue was that she couldn’t accept her family’s attempts at protecting her. I’m all for equality and acknowledgement for women, but she’s also the only girl in a group of six men. Of course they are going to want to protect her. I just think she should have accepted this graciously and moved on instead of arguing over it. Aisling’s love interest, Griffin, isn’t my favorite person in this series. He started off great. A strong, smart, determined detective with a keen interest in our heroine and not easily unsettled by her protective detail. Unfortunately, his reaction to and handling of a certain situation was a little messed up. I wanted him to be more confident in his feelings before approaching Aisling. He wasn’t, which is understandable given his beliefs were challenged, but he hurt Aisling in a major way. In the end, I did end up enjoying this book. Was it a little slow at times? Yes. Luckily, the engaging moments outweighed the slow moments this time around. The mystery was good, but did fall a little flat at the end. I guess I was expecting something much more explosive to happen, when in reality it was resolved rather quickly. Supporting cast was pretty great. While Griffin is just okay, The Grimlock men and Jerry made up for it. I really loved them all, and really hope we continue getting so much of them in future stories, and maybe even their own HEAs. I do plan on reading on in this series. Not only will it crossover into another series, but I’m also interested to see how these characters evolve. I do think they could all be fleshed out a bit more, and I’m hoping that depth is achieved as we move through the series.