2.5**

Beginning of a new series starring Persia Vanderbilt, who, together with her Aunt, runs the local bath and body store -Venus Envy in Gull Harbor, WA.

I liked the basic premise and Persia's skill with scents and botanicals to create specialized compounds for her clients. I also liked the slow-burn potential romance. Her friend Barbara is a great sidekick.

That being said, the mystery was a little weak IMHO and the ending seemed rushed. Overall, it’s a decent cozy, but I’m in no hurry to read another in the series. ( )

Persia creates scents and oils in her aunts beauty and bath shop, and finds herself trying to solve a murder when a woman is killed in her aunt's shop. New Age and alternate belief systems. Some classic conflicts with open mindedness vs. just the facts mentality. While Persia has three men interacting with her, there is only one who is definitely not for Persia.
( )

I liked this book more than I thought I would. The main character is interesting, I can't quite decide if I really like her or not. I found the mystery easily guessed, but was refreshed that the main character didn't fill the pages doing stupid things. The recipes throughout the book for different types of oils didn't interest me much, but the integration of them was creative. The author hints at psychic ability in the main character, but never actually calls is that, or really addresses it.

Overall, the book was very much good enough to read the next in the series. ( )

Persia Vanderbilt has returned to her aunt's home and shop in Gull Harbor, Washington. A body is found in the shop, and when a valued employee is accused of the murder, she must work to clear his name. For me, the book started out fairly well with the cat causing Persia to fall down the stairs, but then it headed downhill from there for much of the book. Finally the action picked up in the last few chapters, redeeming it somewhat. As a Christian, I was bothered by the psychic consultations and some of the new age content, particularly in the pages from Persia's journal that aren't really central to the plot but are included with the book in much the same manner recipes are included in some books. The writer's technique has definitely not been perfected. I am unlikely to continue with this series. ( )

Persia has returned to her island hometown off the coast of Washington followin a string of lack-lustre jobs and a desasterous relationship. She is working at her aunt's spa and bath products store and using her extremely delicate sense of smell to create scents for the spa and one-of-a-kind scents for individual customers. When one of the more prominent and annoying customers ends up dead in the store, and one of her aunt's employees is arrested for the crime, Persia can't help but stick her nose in.

Hmmm, I was a bit disappointed by this book. The killer so so obvious and the motive was so lame. But mostly, I found Persia pretty annoying. I don't really know why but I just thought she was too pushy. Also, there was so much going on that seemed to have nothing to do with the story. I know she is setting up a series but it was just so disorganized. Frankly I think I would have liked it better if her aunt and her best friend were the detectives. They were much more fun and likeable. I probably will not be trying the second in the series. ( )