Weddings Can Be Murder (Love Spell Contemporary Romanc) [Mass Market Paperback]

Christie Craig (Author)

Book Description

Series: Love Spell Contemporary Romanc | Publication Date: June 2008

When her wedding planner is murdered, Katie Ray is forced into close proximity with bad boy PI Carl Hades – and into reconsidering the man with whom she wants to spend the rest of her days.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Love Spell (June 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0505527316
• ISBN-13: 978-0505527318
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #445,824 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Christie Craig is an award-winning, multi-published writer whose non-fiction and photography have appeared in almost three thousand national magazines. A Golden Heart finalist, and a finalist in more than fifty RWA-sponsored contests, she has gained a well-deserved reputation for writing romance fiction that has both witty humor and a suspenseful, sexy tone. Published by Silhouette in the 90s, she recently broke back into fiction in a big way, making four book sales in one day. Her first single title romance novel, DIVORCED, DESPERATE & DELICIOUS published by Dorchester, will hit the stands in December 07. Her second novel, Weddings Can be Murder, comes out in June 08. Her latest non-fiction book, co-authored with Faye Hughes, is to be released September 08, is The Everything Guide To Writing a Romance Novel through Adams Media

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2 stars of pure FUN, October 8, 2008

By 

Bookaholics Reviewer (Bay Area, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Weddings Can Be Murder (Love Spell Contemporary Romanc) (Mass Market Paperback)

Weddings Can Be Murder by Christie Craig

Mass Market Paperback release date May 27, 2008
4 ½ Stars

Weddings Can Be Murders is a genuine contemporary romance story. This is a story of Katie Ray, a woman due to be married to a man she thinks she loves. Her position in this matter changes daily and when she accidentally flushes her wedding ring, she is forced to step back and pay serious consideration to her choices.

While she's busy with wedding arrangements, Katie stumbles onto the path of a killer. Carl Hades, a private investigator is on the trail of the killer who is responsible for the deaths of four brides-to-be.

During the course of the investigation, Katie and Carl discover an attraction towards each other. However, between Katie's imminent wedding and Carl's aversion to marriage, both are reluctant to act on their growing feelings.

In addition to the story of Katie and Carl, there's a secondary story featuring Katie's best friend. Both stories are easy to follow. The writing moves fast, and does not complicate the story. There are some very funny moments and also sad moments dealing with family loss.

Christine Craig is a talented writer. In this story, she develops interesting and likable characters into a story that has enough twist and turns to keep you at the edge of your seat. I look forward to reading more of her books.


Reviewed by Cez at Bookaholics Romance Book Club

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fun romantic suspense, June 1, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Weddings Can Be Murder (Love Spell Contemporary Romanc) (Mass Market Paperback)

With two weeks to go before they exchange I do, Katie and Joe have doubts. Katie is not sure she wants to walk down the aisle while Joe wonders why he felt attracted and connected to a woman he met in a bar.

While the pair separately wonders about marriage to each other, private investigator Carl Hades after battling a man wearing a pink thong is meeting with wedding planner Tabitha Jones of Tabitha Weddings on a case he is working as her brides are suddenly dying which is murdering her business. However, Tabitha is murdered. Meanwhile, Katie wants Carl and her best friend Leslie desires Joe. Besides which a serial bride killer aims to make Katie the next victim as WEDDINGS CAN BE MURDER.

Romantic suspense fans will appreciate this fine fast-paced tale in which two couples struggle with their pairings while Carl works a homicide case in which his client is no longer around to pay him. The story line focuses more on the romantic quadrangular relationships with lighthearted sexual bantering. The murder mystery subplot is entertaining although the wedding killer is a bit over the aisle; but clearly this tale is predominately about the zaniness of marrying the wrong person when Mr. Right is locked with you in a closet.

Harriet Klausner

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice story, but I had a couple problems with it. He's an unsympathetic jerk and too many cliffhanger scene interruptions., May 7, 2009

By 

Jane (Chicago, IL, United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Weddings Can Be Murder (Love Spell Contemporary Romanc) (Mass Market Paperback)

STORY BRIEF:
Katie is engaged to be married in two weeks, but she doesn't love him and sort-of-accidentally flushes her engagement ring down the toilet. She visits her wedding planner Tabitha. While there someone shoots Tabitha and chases Katie into a storage room. Earlier that day Tabitha called private detective Carl asking him to come over. Tabitha told him she suspected someone she knew was killing her client brides. Carl shows up while the killer is chasing Katie. Carl follows them into the storage room. The killer gets out and locks Carl and Katie inside. Katie discovers a zinging attraction for Carl that she never had with Joe, her fiancé. Meanwhile Joe discovers he's attracted to someone other than Katie. Although Carl and Katie eventually get out of the room, Katie is at risk because she is next on the killer's bride-to-kill list.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
This was the author's second book. It was ok - a nice story, but it wasn't as feel good as the first book "Divorced, Desperate and Delicious." Instead of anticipation, I was frustrated waiting for Carl and Katie to get together. Carl didn't want a commitment because he didn't want to be hurt, so he kept staying away from Katie. This hurt her. She felt rejected during most of the story. Finally in the end, Carl changes his mind. Conflict based on fear of being hurt is not a favorite device for me. Sometimes it works, but in this case it didn't, maybe because I had no sympathy or other positive feelings for Carl. He was being a jerk throughout the story.

I was annoyed with the author using too many cliffhanger scene interruptions. There are two relationships developing between four people. The author has three pages of Carl and Katie interacting. Then at a crucial moment in the conversation the author switches to a scene with Joe for a couple pages. At a crucial moment in Joe's scene, the author switches back to Carl's scene to continue Carl's conversation, yet leaves Carl's scene later at another cliffhanger moment. This switching back and forth went on for more than 100 pages (while the relationships were developing). I prefer a scene continue to a normal conclusion rather than stopping at a point I feel is an interruption. I was jumping around in the book so I could read several of the Joe scenes before going back and picking up the interrupted Carl scenes. Cliffhangers may be ok sometimes in small doses, but there were too many in this book.

Katie is constantly fighting nausea and vomits a lot. At one point, page 138, I was thinking "I'm tired of reading about her throwing up." This is a minor issue. The only reason I mention it is because the thought crossed my mind. It didn't bother me earlier. Other readers may find it humorous.

DATA:
Story length: 356 pages. Swearing language: strong. Sexual language: moderate/strong. Number of sex scenes: 3. Total number of sex scene pages: 16. Setting: current day Houston, Texas. Copyright: 2008. Genre: romantic mystery.

OTHER BOOKS:
For a list of my reviews of other Christie Craig books, see my 5 star review of "Divorced, Desperate and Delicious" posted 9/12/08.