Truly, Madly: A Lucy Valentine Novel

I enjoyed reading "Truly, Madly" a great deal. This surprised me because I started one of the author's other books, from her Nina Quinn series, and couldn't finish it. I didn't like the characters and the story wasn't fun at all. But I immediately liked Lucy Valentine and her family. The premise of the Valentine family business, matchmakers who use a secret, hereditary, psychic ability to find matches, is interesting and not too "out there" to be unbelievable (for me anyway). Lucy can't matchmake because of an accident with lightning as a teen, instead she can locate lost objects. The book follows her discovery of ways to use this talent and the feelings she struggles with over it. Of course, there are the obligatory sexy men, but the author makes them part of the story and it works well, the romance novel flavor doesn't take over the mystery. "Truly, Madly" is filled with humor, mostly centered around the foibles of Lucy's parents and her grandmother, which gives the story enough lightness to be enjoyable for me (I think that's what was missing in the Nina Quinn books). I would recommend for any reader who enjoys lighter mysteries not slotted into the "cozy" category.

Armed with a special form of ESP that allows her to find lost items, Lucy Valentine sets out to cover the family match-making business while her father hides out after a scandal. She's concerned about her abilities to handle the job because she was denied the family's true gift (being able to read auras that assist in match-making) after a freak childhood accident. Along the way we meet a brilliant cast of colorful characters, including a steamy PI who assists Lucy in solving a mystery or two that arise while she's working with her father's clients. This romance/mystery is witty, fun and refreshing. Instead of your typical boy-meets-girl, the reader is teased in a good way as the sparks between Lucy and Sean (the PI) fly freely. Even after the mystery concludes, you're left wanting more! Fortunately, this novel was set up as the first in (at least) a trilogy and I, for one, can't wait for future installments. It's been a long time since I read anything this entertaining!

Lucy Valentine is a great new character. She comes from a family of psychics who run a successful matchmaking service because they can read auras. Lucy lost that ability during a power surge when she was a teenager and it was replaced with an ability to find lost objects. She is completely at a loss when she finds herself running the matchmaking service while her parents are gone. When she shakes hands with one of her clients she sees a vision which turns her life upside down. With the help of the detective whose office is upstairs, Lucy's life takes a turn she never expected. This is the first in a new series and many characters are introduced which we will see again. Besides Sean, there's Lucy's grandmother, Dovie, her friends Emerson and Marisol and a detective named Holliday. Everything - humor, great characters and a satisfying mystery - make for a good read. As soon as I finished it, I was ready for the next one.

Lucy Valentine comes along line people with psychic-ish abilities. Her father owns a `match-making' business because he can read auras that pick their perfect mates. Lucy can't auras only find lost `things' like your wallet, book, key etc. While her father is on vacation from the Paparazzi she is forced to take over the business. Lucy has reading and `sees' a dead person where the client lost engagement ring - she asks hunky PI to help with her mystery - and then it is off.... This book was so good - romance, mystery, adventure and above all great writing. Enjoy! Looking forward to her next book Deeply Desperately due out August 2010.

When the head of the highly successful, family run matchmaking service, Valentine, Inc gets caught in a compromising situation with a woman other than his wife he turns his daughter Lucy Valentine to run the business while he and his wife try to make nice for the media on a spur of the moment vacation. There's just one problem. Every member of the Valentine family is blessed by Cupid with an ability that guarantees a perfect match. Unfortunately for Lucy she was exposed to an electrical sure at the age of fourteen and lost her ability. In its place she can now find lost objects. With the very first client she tries to match, she immediately sees the client's lost love by zeroing in on the ring he gave her that he now considers lost. But she's horrified by what she sees. The ring is on a skeleton long buried in a park near the client's house. Lucy then turns to a sexy private investigator for help and this time her visions have nothing to do with lost objects. She sees herself and Sean in bed! This is the first book in the new Lucy Valentine series by Heather Webber and I LOVED it!! It was funny, sexy and smart. There is a little bit mystery and a little bit of romance and it all blended well with an intriguing storyline and well developed characters. I highly recommend this one if you love a cute contemporary romance with a slight paranormal twist.