Newly Wed and Slightly Dead

I downloaded this one as a freebie on Amazon and it was a great find! Anastasia is a witch and a wedding planner for supernaturals. Unfortunately, her latest wedding is turning out to be a something of a disaster. A vampire is marrying a human, the mother of the groom isn’t happy about the two species mixing, and when she turns up dead, accusations fly. This was cute and fun. Will definitely have to try more in this series!<br /><br />Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.<br />

Good story! Got a wedding planner for the supernatural dealing with a nightmare mother of the groom that is a vampire marrying a human. When the meddling future mother in law is found as a pile of ashes at the rehearsal dinner the bride is the prime suspect. There is a twist at the end, but it didn't leave you hanging like most series books do.

<strong>Fun and delightful!</strong><br /><br />I truly enjoy each series and book this author writes and I loved this new one! Anastasia is such a fun character to read and I loved how she handled all of life’s messes. Her love interest, Caleb, was great, he wasn’t arrogant or a jerk and that was mystery was excellent and I look forward to the next one.

<strong>To turn or not to turn.</strong><br /><br />A short cozy about a wedding planner in a paranormal area who tries to help a human and vampire through a family objection to the marriage.

After blasting my way through the Beechwood Harbor Magic and Beechwood Harbor Ghost mysteries, I was thrilled the author had begun another spinoff series featuring Holly (Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries heroine) Boldt's bestie back in the Seattle Haven, event planner witch, Anastasia Winters.<br /><br />Newly Wed and Slightly Dead picks up with Anastasia having recently made senior event planner status and working on one of the biggest wedding accounts of the year, a vampire-human wedding for the Vanguard Vampire clan. The groom's mother has been a beast, but the rest of the wedding plans have gone without a hitch until the future monster in law gets ashed at the rehearsal dinner.<br /><br />Anastasia has thrown her heart into her career and finally made it to where she wants to be, but her work is her life. She has a premiere condo, a closet full of designer shoes, a fluffy cat companion and a wayward little sister sleeping on her couch, but she doesn't have a life. So, when the sneering witch she beat out for the job and her own boss put the pressure on, she rises to the occasion until her perfect wedding is in shambles and the bride accused of murder by the supernatural detective hottie who wants to take her out on a date.<br /><br />Its an easy quick read, but engaging and fun. Anastasia is easy to like and I enjoyed getting the intro to her world and who will likely be regular series characters. The event business is suspenseful all on its own, but it was fun seeing how the mystery turned out. I'm looking forward to continuing on with the series and can definitely recommend it to current fans of the author and those looking for a light paranormal cozy mystery.

Anastasia Winters finally has her corner office at the most respected and highly sought after event planner and working her first major wedding when things go terribly wrong at the rehearsal dinner.<br /><br />The bride is human, and the groom a vampire from a powerful line. The Groom’s mother has done nothing short of torture towards the young bride and poor Anastasia. Last-minute changes and demands Anastasia can handle after all the Mother-in-Law is footing the bill. This wedding’s success will make or break Anastasia’s career and she likes her new corner office.<br /><br />However, when the groom’s mother is found dead, and they accuse the bride of murder, things get complicated especially when the lead detective asks Anastasia out on a date. With her sister sleeping on her sofa and her coworkers vying for her office it’s a wonder she isn’t sitting in a corner crying. It was fun watching events unfold and seeing her handle each obstacle as it came.<br /><br />The story has a nice balance of romance, office politics, family and murder-mystery. At just under five hours, it’s the perfect listen for a day trip or while handling your Saturday chores. Amanda Ronconi does a stellar job with the characters and enhances the overall story. The book is perfect for audio.<br /><br />Amanda Ronconi narrated and I love listening to her perform these cozy, paranormal series. She captures the quirky characters, tension, and humor.<a href="https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/2019/09/newly-wed-and-slightly-dead-by-danielle-garrett.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"> This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer</a>

Newly Wed and Slightly Dead kicks off the third spin-off series from the wonderful Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries series by Danielle Garrett. The series features magical wedding planner, Anastasia Winters, a longtime friend of Holly Bolt (of the Beechwood Harbor series). While there is a loose connection between the series, Newly Wed and Slightly Dead is very much a standalone, and knowledge of the original series is not needed.<br /><br />Anastasia has worked tirelessly over the past six years to earn a position as a magical wedding planner. Now is her time to shine with her client’s event being the largest wedding of the firm’s history. However, when the mother of the groom is found murdered the night of the rehearsal dinner, Anastasia may have to kiss her career goodbye.<br /> <br />Newly Wed and Slightly Dead is on the shorter side, but it is a complete and interesting tale. As a fan of the Beechwood series, I enjoyed seeing the Haven side of things, where magic is “out” and paranormals don’t have to hide their true natures. And while the story is certainly classified as a cozy mystery, I liked that main character Anastasia isn’t obsessed with crime fighting or catching a murderer. She just happens to be in the middle of the investigation and her clients are key to the investigation. Anastasia is a solid character - an “average” woman trying to make ends meet and live her life. Nothing crazy or out of the ordinary. Additionally, there is a blooming romance with the head SPA detective. There is an attraction that I’m certain will be explored in the future. <br /><br />Narration: I’ve been listening to Amanda Ronconi read the two Beechwood Harbor series, and now this spin-off, for over a dozen books or so, and she has consistently done a wonderful job. The Touch of Magic Mysteries is voiced from the first person POV of Anastasia. Ms. Ronconi gives Ana a solid presence, without confusing me as to the other main characters Holly and Scarlet (although neither are in this book). She provides enough differences between character voices to make each distinguishable from the next. Her male voices are generally deeper and fitting and familiar if you’d listened to the other series. However the characters and setting/story are different enough not to cause confusion when listening. <br /><br />My Ratings: <br />Rating: B+<br />Narration: A-<br /><br />Review copy provided by Tantor Audio<br />Originally posted at That's What I'm Talking About

A good spinoff series from Danielle. Both the main characters, Ana and Caleb are down-to-earth and use their brains instead of their paranormal abilities to work the mystery. Lots of emotions, drama and the start of a sweet romance.

Wonderful new series with great and likable characters.

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at <a href="http://www.hotlistens.com/newly-wed-and-slightly-dead-audiobook-by-danielle-garrett-review/" rel="nofollow noopener">Hotlistens.com</a>.<br /><br />I’ve really enjoyed the first two series I’ve listened to by Danielle Garrett, Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery and Beechwood Harbor Ghost Mystery). This series is a spinoff from those series, but takes place in the Seattle Haven. It follows Anastasia, a supernatural wedding planner as she tries to make a wedding between a human and vampire something that will never be forgotten, but not in the way it turns out.<br /><br />Anastasia is getting a lot of pressure from her boss about this wedding. She has a vengeful co-worker trying to undermine her and make her look incompetent. There is also the mother of the groom who doesn’t want the wedding to go forward unless the bride-to-be agrees to be turned, which she is refusing. What could go wrong? Someone decided they had enough of the mother of the groom and kills her and the bride is the prime suspect with no alibi.<br /><br />While this story has a lot of the things I love about the other series, I found I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first two series. I think my main thing was the lack of fun characters around Anastasia. I tend to enjoy secondary characters more than the main characters, but there really aren’t any great secondary characters in this story. I also think all the animosity that Anastasia is going through at work left a bad taste in my mouth. I’m going through similar types of things at my work, so it wasn’t escape that like I normally do in audiobooks. That being said, I’m not ready to give up on this series yet. I’m waiting on the next audiobook to be released and I will give it a try.<br /><br />Narration<br />Amanda Ronconi again does an amazing job with the narration of this series. I had no doubt that she would. She’s always great at bringing out characters’ personalities with her choice of voices and tone. I always look forward to listening to any story that Ronconi narrates.<br /><br />**I'd like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.