LILY HARPER HART
Rowan Gray Mystery series Magical Seas (Books1-3) by Lily Harper Hart is an adorable and a truly magical cozy mystery. No, it’s not completely a paranormal cozy mystery nor is the protagonist, Rowan Gray, a witch. The only supernatural element in the series is Rowan’s ability to spot the death omen near a possible victim. This series is fabulous and I loved reading every book. There is fun, humor, friendly teasing and great suspense with lots of twists and turns.
Book one ( Welcoming Seas)
Rowan Gray is a new recruit on the Bounding Storm, a cruise ship. She joins as the photographer and is going through the orientation program by Julie Callaway, the cruise director. Sally Jenkins, in charge, of the kitchen staff, who is supposed to give Rowan a tour of the shop, shows up late and has a minor verbal spat with Julie. Sally tells her about the Ship captain Michael Griffin having a roving eye over newbie women and Quinn Davenport, the chief of security on the ship. Demarcus Johnson, the bartender, discusses Rowan with Quinn who doesn’t seem interested in listening the talks about women. Rowan starts her job by clicking pictures of four young women, Kylie Kara, Hayley, and Jessica. When she processes the photos, she is shocked to find a deathly shadow looming over the women. She doesn’t know which one of them is going to die. She focusses her attention on saving those girls from a miserable fate but one of them goes missing. Initially, Quinn finds her behavior weird and questions her. She reveals her secret of finding death omen near a possible victim. The missing girl is Jessica. Rowan stays close to the remaining three girls as she finds another death omen hovering around Hayley. She discusses it with Quinn. Meanwhile, there is a lot of speculation over the increased romantic attraction between Quinn and Rowan. While the friendly teasing, flirting, and banter continues, the question arises as to whether Jessica is alive or dead? If she’s dead, where’s her body? Kylie and her friends are seen in the company of questionable youths. Are any of them responsible for killing Jessica? Meanwhile, the deathly omen over Hayley mysteriously disappears. There are some unexpected twists and turns that add thrill to the story. The mystery is well maintained until the end. Do read this one.
Book two ( Murky seas)
Rowan Gray and her friend, Sally Jenkins, are shopping for the former’s date with Quinn. She buys a stunning dress while two young men try flirting with them. Meanwhile, Demarcus, the bartender and Quinn’s friend is also teasing him over his nervousness on his first official date with Rowan. The fun ends when Daphne Du Bois, the president of Cara G Cosmetics and her gang of girls arrive on the Bounding Storm for a convention ( business cum pleasure trip) . She argues with Rowan over a photo and complains about a shade of pink in the background. Her assistant, Penny Parker, follows her. Rowan is shocked to find the death omen featuring on one of the snaps of Daphne. Surprisingly, the omen shifts from Daphne to Penny. When Daphne happens to see Quinn, the handsome chief of security, and leaves no stone unturned to get his attention. Rowan and Quinn are having a romantic night when Daphne screams for help. She claims that someone tried to murder her and tries to lure Quinn to spend a night with her. He ignores her overtures and she doesn’t take kindly to the suggestion. Her assistant, Penny ,apologizes to Quinn on her behalf. Rowan and Quinn feel that she faked her near escape from death for getting Quinn’s attention. They concentrate on saving Penny from her possible death.
Unfortunately, Daphne ends up dead and another body of a woman has also been recovered from the seashore. The second victim also happens to be an employee of Cara G Cosmetics. Is there a serial killer on board with a vendetta against the employees of Cara G cosmetics? When Rowan snaps Penny’s pic to see if she’s in danger, the death omen is gone but it moves on to Madison Montgomery, the second best salesperson in the hierarchy of the cosmetics company. Can Rowan and Quinn prevent another crime? There are so many awesome revelations that you would find it highly irresistible to put this book down. It’s too good to miss.
Book 3 ( Stormy seas)
The book begins with a glimpse into Rowan Gray’s past, ten years ago when her father mysteriously disappeared on a stormy night. Now moving to the present, Rowan and her boyfriend Quinn are enjoying their romantic moments in a sandy beach, when he senses a movement. He places himself in front of Rowan and hits a creature in black who turns out to be Phil Pritchard, the producer of horror movies. The cruise ship, The Bounding Storm, is hosting the Indie Horror Awards and there is a themed food and events of gothic nature. They also meet his cameraman, Brimstone, who seems to be quite interested in Rowan.
Rowan has a disastrous encounter with Elvira Storm, another actress complaining about the poor lighting while Phil arrives in the scene. He seems to flirt with Rowan much to her annoyance. She gets into a professional mode and starts clicking the pictures. She notices the deathly omen on an actress whom she recognizes as Callisto Collins. She shares this information with Quinn. They start keeping an eye on her which the cameraman Brimstone notices. Their worst fears realize when Callisto mysteriously disappears. There is no sign of any foul play. Rebecca Madden is caught entering Callisto’s cabin while Rowan discovers Elvira’s dead body in the gallery of Drusilla, an artist. Rowan is confused because the death omen wasn’t present in Elvira’s photos.
Something fishy and sinister is going on the movie industry. Will Quinn and Rowan stop the murderer? Where has Callisto disappeared? Is she alive or dead? There are plenty of surprises in this book to keep you glued to it. I found it to be a highly enjoyable read. The best part is the teasing of Rowan and Quinn by their friends Sally and Demarcus. I highly recommend it for cozy mystery lovers. It’s awesome.
Thank you so much for taking your precious time to visit my website. Hope you enjoyed reading my blogs. 😊😊
Aparna12's Weblog 