Friday, November 7, 2014

The Morbid and Sultry Tales of Genevieve Clare by JB Hartnett



My name is Genevieve Clare, professional mourner, destined to spend my days donning a black suit and throwing myself on top of caskets for money. 

Sometimes I mixed it up and threw myself on top of a willing warm body instead. Finding the right warm body though, that was a different story.


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22909543-the-morbid-and-sultry-tales-of-genevieve-clare?from_search=true


What can I say? This book was nothing like I thought it would be...it was so much MORE than what I thought it would be! It's quirky, fun, sexy and unique. It is set apart from the rest of books that are out right now. If you are looking for a book that will get you over of the little hump you may be in...then Genevieve just may be the girl to help you out.

Genevieve loses her parents and grandmother in a horrible car crash but the thing that upsets her the most is that she is it...there are no cousins or aunts or siblings to be by her side. But when her life long friend Ahren shows up, after being gone from her life the last 4 years, and helps take care of her through her mourning. She decides that she needs to do the same for others. Help them through their grief, or be the mourner for them at their funerals when they have no one else. Ahren also realizes that Genevieve has always been the love of his life. 

I can't really say too much more without giving away major plots lines and telling you the story, but know that it's a thrilling ride and your heart will break and sore from the love between Ahren and Gen. 

The lives that Genevieve touches makes you laugh and cry and Ahren...oh my Ahren!!!

Buy the book. Take a journey. You'll be happy you did.

5 STARS!




I approached Bryce Oskin, with caution, and when I reached his side, he demanded, “Who the fuck are you?”


Charm and disarm. Charm and disarm.


“I’m Genevieve Clare, Mr. Oskin,” I said with a grin. “I believe you hired me to come to your funeral? Mind if I join you?” I brought my own bag of goodies and opened a white baker’s box from Brewster’s.


“You some kind of spooky chick?” he asked, his eyes squinting as he studied me.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was… sweet on me already. “Kinda, yeah. If by spooky you mean I get paid to go to funerals, give people a nudge, and check for a heartbeat. Oh, and I live at Eden Hills. Then yeah, I’m spooky.” I grabbed a plastic fork and took a bite of amazing cake. It was always amazing, but today it seemed more amazing than usual.


“There,” I nodded toward the folder I’d set down on a little table to his side. “I just need you to sign on the dotted line. And the bag there is from Ruby. But I’m taking over the goody-bag duties, so tell me what you like and I’ll get it for you.” I licked my lips and did it seductively because I knew this was a man who appreciated a woman. Also known as a dirty old man. “Want a bite?”


“You gonna tell that Nazi Nurse Ratchet on me?” He jerked his head toward Cheryl.


“Are you gonna drop dead from half a slice of cake?” I countered.


“Nope.”


“Then I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship, Mr. Oskin. I visit once a week, unless I have a funeral, usually on Tuesday or Wednesday. I always bring cake for my clients. If there’s something you don’t like, just tell me. But I usually bring a selection.”


“You do this every week?” he asked, disbelief in his voice.


“What do you mean?”


“You eat like that every week? When you see other clients?” His eyes slid up and down the length of my body.


“I have a high metabolism.” I smiled. It really was a miracle I wasn’t as big as a house. But my sweet tooth was limited to sharing with clients. I had to give myself some sort of boundaries.


He grabbed the plastic fork I’d handed him and stabbed the slice of Meyer lemon cake with vanilla bean cream cheese frosting. His eyes closed, and when they opened, he said, “God bless you.” After a few more bites, he asked, “So, you’re gonna open up my box and poke me before they burn me, right?”


“Yes, sir, I’ll make sure you’re good and dead.”


“Spooky chick.” His tone was gruff, but his lip tipped up in the corner.


I saw it with pride. Disarmament, accomplished.


Bryce Oskin had ordered the Shake N Bake. I had permission from most of the mortuaries and crematories to open the casket and check the body. I mean, you could just tell when someone was dead. By the time I had my turn with the deceased, they were most likely already embalmed. But some of them chose not to be, or if they were, they hired me to come to their place of death and make damn sure there was no chance in hell they were coming back to life.


A while back, there was a highly publicized case in Southern California. A woman had been pronounced dead and taken to the hospital morgue. But when they opened the fridge for her to be transported to the funeral home, they saw obvious signs of a struggle. She’d been put in there alive.


Yikes.


I’d never been afraid of death, and, after my family died and the man I loved almost had, I embraced death in my own strange way. I made it my life’s work, I guess. While it took a lot to creep me out, that story gave me the heebie-jeebies something fierce. It was all over the news. Every staff member from the hospital to the morgue was investigated then sued or fired or both. And, of course, old people sitting in the common room of a rest home from the wee a.m. hours to beddy-bye time, saw that story six times in one day, minimum. I ended up receiving so many requests to make sure they weren’t breathing, I added the Shake N Bake to my website.



Julie is a Southern California native, a fan of a really good story (preferably romance with a happily ever after), really good pie (preferably pumpkin) and copious amounts of coffee (preferably Folgers).
She has always enjoyed writing and at one time thought she could be a singer songwriter...the 'writer' part is the one that stuck.
Julie is obsessed with pi...the equation(and the food). She's allergic to cats and cantaloupe and hates mushrooms...so if you ever want to give her a gift, those are out for sure.She currently lives with her own romance hero husband and two boys in Melbourne, Australia.

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