Detectives, Sorcerers, and Vampires REVIEWING: Cassie Scot Paranormal Detective

Hi everyone!! Sam here with another book review for you!

Today's book was given to me in exchange for an honest review by the author's agent. I took a long time to get to read this one because of school and for that I apologize, but I can honestly say that is was ultimately worth the wait. Next week I'll put up a review to its sequel, but for now let's stick to book 1 shall we?

Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective

Author: Christine Amsden

Genre: Paranormal Mystery/New Adult

Publication Year: 2013

Cassie Scot is the daughter of a powerful family of sorcerers. The problem is, she has no magic whatsoever. She starts up her own detective business, calling herself a normal detective. However, things are sure to get messy in a town like Eagle Rock.

Eagle Rock is located near a lake, with a node that means tons of magical power boost to the local magic practitioners. There are also several paranormal happenings and beings coming in and out of town. I'm going to say it already, in this book there are vampires. However, these aren't your Twilight vampires causing everyone to go nuts over ridiculousness, no siree! These vamps are the genuine article and I seriously wouldn't want to run into them at any point in time. If you want well written vampires and a story full of magic, this is the book to read.

Cassie Scot is a really interesting character. This book is told in first person narration, from Cassie's perspective. This perspective really helps you to care about what's happening throughout the book to all the characters and it also limits your knowledge so you feel just as confused and driven to find out what's happening as Cassie is. Because you get everything from her perspective, you start to make connections and start seeing how she thinks and quite frankly, I'm hooked on this book. I don't tend to read a lot of mysteries but this book seriously had me trying to figure out who was the one causing trouble, trying to piece together clues.

Can we just talk about this cover for a minute? I mean, personally I love it. I like the blue tones and the way the moon glows over the lake (that's Table Rock Lake) and the magical swirly swirl pry indicates where the node is. I also really like the mountains in the background and the amount of depth the cover has and the coloring. I like the way the greens pop against the blues but still blend in a moody way. I would put this on a coffee table, just saying. It's a really pretty cover. 

This is the basic plot: Two people are dead and they have magical ties. Cassie is hired to deliver a legal document but ends up with a lot more than she might be able to handle. People are dying, there's drama at home, Cassie is trying to keep things all good with her friends, you know, the usual stuff you handle in life.  Trouble brews throughout this book, but that's not what holds it all together. The thing I love most about this book is the way all the character relationships are developed. Its not about the murders, but the way that Cassie handles it, the way that others handle it. Its the way that the communication works and that things get even messier as typical life problems start weaving themselves into what's already happening. This book is more than just a paranormal mystery, its a book about family, friends, community and relationships......which is where Cassie starts frustrating me just a little bit. She feels really inadequate at times since she has no magic, but she lets it enter into every decision she has to make. Sure this makes sense, but sometimes I want to hit her and tell her to just do something. She isn't a character that wallows or anything, but her guy relationships.....don't even get me started. She's involved in a non-exclusive relationship with a guy named Braden, who loves her. Her childhood best friend may or may not have feelings for her, but who can tell? (Me...I can....) She has to balance everything and deal with all sorts of crazy issues in her life that are so stressing. I'm amazed that she didn't faint halfway through the story from sheer exhaustion. There are rumors that her childhood friend casts love spells and that's a whole other issue on its own, as well as the fact that their families absolutely hate each other for reasons we just don't quite know yet. She doesn't jump from guy to guy or anything like that, I just think she needs to take a step back to figure what she really needs or just let things happen the way that they're meant to. This however, is nothing but a character flaw and not at all a problem with the book itself.

Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective is a roller-coaster of a ride kind of book that I had a hard time putting down. I anxiously gobbled up the second book (both of which were given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review) which I will have a review posted up next week, so be sure to come back for that. There is magic, romance, major conflicts, family issues, a question of community and who is there for who, that all together make for a thrilling story. I loved it, but Cassie seriously frustrated me in her exchanges with Evan because I, as a reader, have an idea of what I want out of that area of the book that I'm not getting quite yet. The tension between them is so high, so often and I love it. I wish Cassie loved it too, but that's another matter entirely. This is the first book in a series and therefore a lot of it is a setup for what is coming up next in book 2, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good book on its own, because it really is!! It's an awesome book and you'll just get a whole lot more out of it if you read both because conflict created in this book leads into the major conflicts of the next one and its all just really really awesome fun. I give this book a Lone Star rating of  ✯✯✯✯ out of 5 and HIGHLY recommend it.

Also, a quick note, this book is what is known as a NA, or New Adult, book. This simply means that Cassie is 21 and therefore is not in high school but isn't a completely adult character either. This book is a nice in between YA and Adult novel that is perfect for someone in college or around the same age because it tackles issues that aren't high school related or too over our heads yet. I think this makes for an awesome read because its much more relatable for me in general. Down below will be a link to the book on Goodreads and Amazon, I say buy it and give it a shot, because it is super worth it. I'm glad I was given the opportunity to read and review this book. Just reading it to see how Evan and Cassie interact makes it worthwhile in my opinion. That's my favorite part, their interactions and the situations they find themselves having to handle together. Seriously, this is one of the best paranormal books I've read so far. None of the characters or beings are too far off or over the top. They all just mesh together really well.

Thanks for reading another review here at The Real World According To Sam. Hope to see you back again next week!! If you enjoyed this post, be sure to say so!!! Have you read this book? Do you want to? Is there anything else you'd like for me to read and review? Comment and let me know!

Cassie Scot #1 on Goodreads

Cassie Scot #1 on Amazon

Book Trailer