Ware Wilkins is a new-to-me writer of paranormal mystery; having just finished her "Brush With Death: A Sadie Salt Urban Fantasy (Sadie Salt Series)" I must now give some thoughts and observations. Not because I am required to or any such thing, but simply because reading this story calls for it. First, this reader happens to be one of those people with an ingrained, catatonic-inducing fear of all things dental related. Yeah, I'm afraid of dentists. Yet, how could I not be drawn into protagonist Sadie's world when the very first gem of a sentence is: "There's a werewolf in my chair who's about to cry and Christ, the last thing I need is a wailing wolf." Wilkins had me, hook line and sinker from that point on... I mean, what can make a strong werewolf cry? Okay, losing a mate or some other trauma of that type might... but if this werewolf was say, sitting in a psychologists office retelling a horror from his or her past, well, surely a writer wouldn't open with such a comedic line... would they? (Although this writer might *grins*) No, Wilkins' Sadie is a dental assistant for humans by day, and dentist for monsters by night. Hmm, cue shudder from me here. The fact that this particular reader even finished a book featuring dental work, is actually a high testament to Wilkins writing voice and interesting plot. The characters were visually appealing and easy to see in my minds eye as I read. They were likable and easy to empathize with. The hunky-human-sheriff-turned-werewolf; the tantalizing bisexual vampire; the menacingly mischievous tooth fairy; the curmudgeon boss; the distant yet loyal uncle... and that's just an example from the cast of characters that make an appearance. There is a touch of romance, with Sadie crushing on the sheriff and the vampire signaling his interest in her. Dialogue flowed and was believable; it was authentic to each character and helped move the story forward. The bad puns scattered throughout the tale had me grinning as much as the tooth pulling had me squirming. Did I mention already the mind-numbing horror a dentist invokes in me? Setting details for the town of Grimloch gave a true small town feel. There were some spelling, grammar and punctuation issues -mainly in the second half of the book - using "hinds" when "hands" was clearly intended, comes to mind. There was also something about the way characters went "in" to places or things, that felt sort of "off" in some weird way, but I shrugged it off as likely a southern tone. All in all, this was a fun and interesting read - albeit a tad on the horror side with the dental work, for this reader. The pace of the tale is fairly quick and there is action galore. The main mystery is resolved but opens other questions in both protagonist Sadie's and the reader's minds; yes, a stand alone book that leaves a reader wanting more. I highly recommend this book and should really give it a five star rating. But... *shudders* the dental work! ** Review originally posted to Amazon reviews on November 30, 2017 and to Goodreads on the same date. **
