Cassie Scot: Paranormal Detective .. Review & Giveaway!

BLURB:
Cassie Scot is the ungifted daughter of powerful sorcerers, born between worlds but belonging to neither. At 21, all she wants is to find a place for herself, but earning a living as a private investigator in the shadow of her family’s reputation isn’t easy. When she is pulled into a paranormal investigation, and tempted by a powerful and handsome sorcerer, she will have to decide where she truly belongs

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Award-winning author Christine Amsden has written stories since she was eight, always with a touch of the strange or unusual. She became a “serious” writer in 2003, after attending a boot camp with Orson Scott Card. She finished Touch of Fate shortly afterward, then penned The Immortality Virus, which won two awards. Expect many more titles by this up-and-coming author.
Check her out on her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads!



REVIEW:
I was recently given the opportunity to review Cassie Scot: Paranormal Detective by Christine Amdsen.  Being the booknerd that I am, I readily accepted.  Now, anyone who has read a review of mine knows that I do not give spoiler alerts...often.  When I do, it's because it cannot be avoided, or is a small teaser that doesn't give away the bigger picture.  So here it is, my 100% honest opinion of the book.

Cassie Scot: Paranormal Detective is about a young woman who was born into a family of super powerful sorcerers.  Cool, right?  Usually, yes.  In this case, not so cool, because she was the only one born without any magical powers of any kind at all.  In order to bring some normalcy to her otherwise not normal existence, she starts up her own P.I. agency, for which the book is titled (Cassie Scot: Paranormal Detective.. with the "Para" crossed out).  Under the assumption that her first job is nothing more than an everyday subpoena delivery for a client, she soon finds herself thrust even further into the magical world she was trying so hard to avoid.  Aided by an unlikely ally, she stumbles through plot twist after plot twist, including finding out one of her friends (a die-hard Christian who doesn't even believe in the supernatural, paranormal world) is actually dating and under the influence of a vampire.  Yep, you read that right.  Not only does this book have magic, it has vampires.  And a bit of romance.

Now that you have my very minor spoiler alerts and short but sweet description of the book, here is the fun part (for me).  I am VERY technical when I read something, especially if it's for a review.  When I say technical, I mean, I may as well be an editor for the book because I nit-pick horribly.  I love finding mistakes in other people's works and pointing them out.  In that one single aspect, I have to say I was very disappointed.  Other than a few very minor errors not even worth mentioning, this book was just about perfect for me.  The author clearly knows what she is doing, as do her editors.  The flow was good, the plot twists weren't choppy or awkward, and thankfully the dialogue wasn't juvenile, which can and has happened in a lot of young adult books.

All in all, on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being so horrible the author needs to stop writing now, and 5 being awesome), author Christine Amdsen deserves 5 with Cassie Scot: Paranormal Detective.  It is very well written, and as a parent and older sibling, I would have no problems allowing my child or 13 year old sister to read this book.  I, as well as other reviewers and readers I'm sure, am anxiously awaiting book 2.

CHAPTER 1:
My parents think the longer the name, the more powerful the sorcerer, so they named me Cassandra Morgan Ursula Margaret Scot. You can call me Cassie.
I’ve been called a lot of things in my life: normal, ordinary, and even a disappointment. After the Harry Potter books came out, a couple of people called me a squib. Since I haven’t read them, I have to assume it’s a compliment.
Personally, I prefer normal, which is why the sign on my office door reads: Cassie Scot, Normal Detective.
You have to understand that around here, when your last name is Scot, people are easily confused. Not only are my parents powerful practitioners, but I have six talented brothers and sisters. Plus, my family hasn’t always been known for its subtlety. When weird stuff happens around here, the people who are willing to believe in magic are prone to suspect the Scots.
The day I opened for business I got a call from an old woman who swore her cat was possessed by the devil. She also swore she’d read my web site, which clearly stated the types of work I did and did not do. Exorcisms were on the No list, and while I hadn’t specified pet exorcisms, I would have thought it was implicit.
After that auspicious beginning, things went downhill. It seemed people weren’t entirely convinced an associates’ degree and six months as a deputy with the local sheriff’s department was quite enough to fly solo. I did receive three calls from people asking me to cast spells to look for lost items, two from people in search of love potions, and two from a pair of neighbors who each wanted me to curse the other. I thought I’d hit bottom, when a ten-year-old boy wandered into my office one afternoon and asked me to help him summon Cthulhu.
It was a near thing, but I managed to rein in my sarcasm long enough to explain the difference between the real world and horror worlds created by early 20th century authors. He seemed more or less convinced until my brother, Nicolas, came in and started juggling fireballs. Kind of walked all over my point there. He’s a terrible showoff; thinks it helps him with women. For some reason, it does.
Sheriff David Adams, my old boss, stopped by once every couple of weeks to “check in on me” and offer me my old job back, but I always turned him down. It’s not that I disliked working for him. In fact, he was a great boss and a good person, albeit in a little over his head. Eagle Rock, Missouri and the surrounding areas have more than their fair share of strange and unexplained cases. I would even say that I took the job hoping to use my better-than-average knowledge of the paranormal to help protect the innocent, but in the end, those cases only served to remind me that despite my magical connections, I, too, was in over my head.
So I quit. I got my private license, rented an office, and installed a frosted-glass door like in the old movies, then I furnished it with the sort of busted up furniture that costs an arm and a leg to make look just right. The old wooden filing cabinets behind the desk and the office chairs in front came from estate sales, but I finished the desk myself. It was a beautiful piece of lacquered mahogany before my hammer and screwdriver got through with it. I did that just after the cat exorcism call. It was rather therapeutic.
By the door stood an old wooden hat and coat rack, while a nearby table held a coffee maker, compliments of my father. I don’t actually drink coffee, but Dad told me to have some for my customers, so I brewed a pot every morning while I waited for my tea to steep.
It was June seventh, a Monday. I’d spent six months in that office, going in to work at eight o’clock, breaking for lunch at noon, then going home at five. That day started like all the others. I updated my Facebook page to say that I was at work and feeling happy, though that last was a lie. I checked a few of my favorite blogs, posted a couple of comments that I’m sure were witty and insightful (though I suspect no one read them), and twittered that I’d just posted the comments to the blogs. After that, I picked up my kindle and buried myself in some mystery novel I’d already solved by page thirty seven.
When the door opened, I was sure it would be Sheriff Adams, in for his bi-weekly chat. As the months wore on with no sign of a client, it was becoming harder to politely turn him away. In recent weeks, my replies had become more blunt, bordering on rude. I’d really hoped he wouldn’t come around that day, on my half year anniversary, but just in case he did, I had come up with a story about a statewide convention I was sure would help me find work. The convention part was true–the certainty less so.
All I can say is, it was a good thing my parents were rich.
I lowered my kindle and raised my eyes to the door. The words, “Hi, Sheriff,” started to spill from my mouth when I realized it wasn’t the sheriff at all. It was Frank Lloyd, from Lloyd and Lyons, a man I knew more by name and reputation than anything else. My boyfriend had a summer internship with his firm, and a good friend of mine worked there as a receptionist. Lloyd and Lyons specialized in family law, especially divorces, and the gist of the reputation was that if your marriage was over, you’d better get to Frank Lloyd before your soon-to-be-ex did.
He looked impressive. His head nearly touched the top of the door frame, while his broad shoulders aimed for the sides. He wore an expensive dark gray suit that had been tailored to fit his athletic frame. His face was long and handsome, featuring deep, dark eyes and a wide, curving mouth that formed into a friendly smile. It was the sort of face that commanded trust.
Lightning flashed outside, brightening the room for the space of a few seconds, and I couldn’t help but smile. All the best stories started in a thunderstorm, didn’t they? I had no idea what the day would bring, but one thing was for certain–Frank Lloyd was not there to ask me to exorcise his cat.
He laid a long, black umbrella carefully against the wall near my coat rack, and strode confidently inside. “Hello, Ms. Scot.”
“Cassie, please.” I wound my way out from behind my desk and offered him my hand. He took it, his grip firm and self-assured.
“Cassie, I’m Frank Lloyd.” He released my hand but held my gaze as if he could take the measure of me by looking through them to my soul. Some practitioners can do that, actually, but I’ve never met one.
“Yes, I know.” I did not lower my eyes. Something told me that would be a sign of weakness. “What can I do for you?”
“I’ve got a small job for you, if you have the time.” It was very diplomatic of him to say it like that, since I’m sure he knew I had plenty of time.
“What’s the job?”
“Serving a subpoena,”
Ok, so it wasn’t sexy, but it was a job, and it had nothing whatsoever to do with magic–or so I thought. In any case, at that precise moment, I couldn’t have been more excited if he’d dropped some line out of a movie about someone trying to kill him.
“I can do that,” I said in a calm, measured tone. “Who am I serving?”

AND NOW...
What you all have been waiting for.  The giveaway.  1 lucky winner will win their very own copy of Cassie Scot: Paranormal Detective by Christine Amdsen.  All you need to do is enter with the Rafflecopter below!
If you would rather just buy the book, it is available at Amazon and B & N.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

DISCLAIMER
*I was given a copy of Cassie Scot: Paranormal Detective by the author to read and give my honest review. No compensation was given for said review.  All prizes are provided by My Life on the Crazy List.*