CINDERELLA AND THE VAMPIRE: A Cindy Nesbit Mystery

Author: J. Lee Taylor ISBN: 0759936897 6/2006 MYSTERY Publisher: HARD SHELL WORD FACTORY

How could Mr. Straight Arrow Harvard MBA financial wizard Ty Rhodes be mixed up with vampires? When he disappears, his worried sister contacts Finders Inc. owner Cindy Nesbit. Cindy doesn't believe in vampires but for her best friend and ex-college roommate, she reluctantly agrees to locate the missing brother, Ty, the man who took Cindy's virginity and never called again. Cindy doesn't consider herself an amateur sleuth - she is a professional who locates deadbeat dads, missing birth and death certificates and lost dogs. Vertically challenged with an overcompensating attitude, Cindy follows Ty's trail to north central California and a rustic Club Med for vampire wannabes. Ty appears to be best friend and confidant to Devlin, head vampire and real estate entrepreneur. Or con man? When Cindy is nearly run off the road and later finds a rattlesnake in her bed, she wonders if Ty is involved in the attempts to scare her off, or does he have his own agenda? Is he still the man she used to love? She finds the answers at the bottom of a mine shaft, facing the wrong end of a gun.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

CINDERELLA AND THE VAMPIRE by J. Lee Taylor is an entertaining, short romantic mystery. It's also a quick and satisfying read.

Cindy Nesbit, professional detective, just accepted a job from her good friend Liz. Liz's brother, Ty, hasn't contacted her in days, and the worst part is that he may be entangled with a coven of supposed vampires located at an out-of-the-way California resort. Vampires don't exist, do they? Cindy highly doubts that they do, so she searches the internet for any information she can find on this resort, packs up her belongings and heads out to solve this mystery.

It isn't the idea of vampires that is bothering Cindy, it's Ty. Years ago in college, they went on a date set up by Liz, and it was during that date the she and Ty became intimate. Much to Cindy's dismay, Ty broke off all ties with her after that night and now their relationship is virtually non-existent. Now she has to go to this supposed vampire coven to find Ty and see why he's mixed up in all of this.

It's not going to be that easy for her. With Ty's smoldering gaze and his passionate kisses, she remembers all too well that night she spent with him. But there is a mystery to solve, and what she finds out about Ty and the vampire resort is going to surprise everyone in that small California town.

CINDERELLA AND THE VAMPIRE won't disappoint the mystery romance readers. J. Lee Taylor is a talented writer and I enjoyed the mixture of mystery, humor and romance she put into this short story.

Julie Kornhausl