The Haunting of Josie

Josie Douglas wanted to isolate herself in a country cottage.  She had her research, and her alibi (taking time off of her teaching job to write a book) and was ready to unravel the truth behind the tragedy that tore her life apart as a child.

She didn't expect the cottage to come with a cat.  She also didn't expcet the property owner, the stunningly handsome Marc Westbrook, to live within shouting distance of her "isolated" cabin.  She is already distracted, and wondering how she is ever going to get the work done that she came to do when the unthinkable happened.

Turns out that along with the cat, and the romance, her cabin comes equipped with a ghost as well (though Marc assures her it has NEVER been haunted before.)

Now instead of unraveling her tragic past, Josie is working with Marc to find out why the ghost appeared now, and to her.  And she also has to decide if she is willing to let Mar Westbrook close enough to her to share with him her deepest, darkest secrets.

The Haunting of Josie by Kay Hooper is a Paranormal Romance, but is a little light on the paranormal in my opinion.

I also wish the cat, Pendragon, who bookends this story had played a bigger part in the action of the tale.  Mysteries are just better with a cat (or dog) helping out.

Overall it was an interesting read.  At first I read mostly to know what Josie's secret was (because we as readers don't even know!) and kept reading to find out why Josie was being haunted.

I didn't like the usual "I'm in love with him but I don't want to be in love with him so I'm going to pretend I don't love him" repetitiveness that all romance novels seem to have.

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The Haunting of Josie is available on amazon in Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover, and Audible.

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Notes From the Concierge Desk

How May We Help Hate You? 

In many hotels you will find a Concierge.  The Concierge is there to help you do important things in the city you are visiting.  They help you call cabs, tell you where to find the best meals and even help get you tickets to local tours and shows.

The Concierge is there to help.  However, like many people who work in the customer service industry, the Concierge is also sometimes overused and abused, or simply amused by the people the help on a daily basis.

Anna Drezen and Todd Dakotah Briscoe, the co-authors of How May We Help Hate You started first as bloggers on tumblr.  After the tumblr receive some press and some love, and some hate, they decided to make a book out of the same source matrial.  That material, of course, being their jobs as hotel concierges.

The book itself is NICE.  It has a heavy faux leather and gold gilded cover.  It i reminiscent of the per-computer aged hotel guestbooks.  The golden "Help" has been crossed out and graffiti-ed over with a white "HATE" on the cover.

Inside is a mixture of content.  Some helpful, but mostly humorous, it gives you a look at what life is like on the other side of the Concierge desk.

They have odd customer dialog.  Give character descriptions of certain types of guests, and even have a couple of fun pictures such as one where you are supposed to find all the ghosts hiding in a photo of a hotel room.

But its not all guest related.  Towards the end they have shared some snark about co-workers as well.

I started off giggling at the customer conversations.  Since I also work in a customer service job I know how hard it can be to do your job right and properly with some people being very difficult.

I will say this book is best read in little bites here or there.  A coffee table or bathroom buddy book.  If you sit and try to read it cover to cover the humor begins to fall flat.

You should read this book if you've ever worked customer service.
You should NOT read this book if you don't understand why customer service employees need to vent for time to time.

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How May We Hate You? is available on amazon in Kindle, Hardcover, and Audible.

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I received a copy of this novel free from Blogging for Books, but all thoughts and opinions on it are my own.