Review: Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes by Denise Grover Swank

Well it's certainly been a hot minute since I've posted a review up on this here blog! Things have been crazy and will continue to be as I am moving on Saturday! Mouth is STILL sore from surgery, but hoping I'll be back to eating normal foods in another week or so. And with that, onto the review!

Title: Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes
Author: Denise Grover Swank
Genre: Mystery, Southern, chick-lit
Publication: 2011
Source: For review, CLP Tours

Rose Gardner is a naive 24 year old Southern girl with psychic-like visions of the future. One day while working, she sees a vision of herself... dead! Only... it's her nasty and abusive momma that ends up dead that night instead of her. Realizing that she isn't going to live forever, and that her vision may still come true in just a few short days, Rose makes a list on the back of a Wal-Mart receipt of 28 things she wants to do before she dies. These include things like playing in the rain, kissing a man, and doing "more" with a man. Before she can make a dent in her list though, Rose becomes the prime suspect in her momma's murder. Rose quickly realizes someone is after her, believing she has something that they want, and they will do anything to get it - including kill again. When her house gets broken into, her sexy new neighbor, Joe, comes to the rescue. Now, Rose must clear her name, stay away from the dangerous killers, complete her list, and figure out her growing emotions for Joe, who has a few secrets of his own!

Such a fun Southern mystery with a lovable and adorable heroine! I loved Rose. Even though she is 24 years old, you'd definitely think otherwise. Her momma sheltered her for her entire life and Rose is severely lacking in life experience. Having never kissed a man or drank alcohol, Rose promptly adds these to her list of things to complete before her impending death at the end of the week and Joe is happy to help. Her list also includes things like dancing, getting a cell phone and cable TV, as well as a dog. Her list demonstrates just how much she has been sheltered and how much she has yet to live. Her naivety, while silly, is actually quite endearing. I also loved her Southern charm, and loved the dialogue throughout the novel. Oh, how I wish I had a Southern accent...

The mystery was fun and surprising, the romance was a roller coaster ride also full of mystery, and the main character was funny and charming. If you like Southern novels and mysteries with humor, this is definitely the book for you! I am really looking forward to the next book in the series, and I already miss Rose, so hurry up and write, Denise. :) Haha!

My only problem was that there were some grammatical errors/typos, which could easily be cleaned up and edited, so I did not let that deter me from my enjoyment of the story!

My Rating: 4/5