Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes

Rose Gardner Mystery #1

by Denise Grover Swank

For Rose Gardner, working at the DMV on a Friday afternoon is bad even before she sees a vision of herself dead. She’s had plenty of visions, usually boring ones like someone’s toilet’s overflowed, but she’s never seen one of herself before. When her overbearing momma winds up murdered on her sofa instead, two things are certain: There isn't enough hydrogen peroxide in the state of Arkansas to get that stain out, and Rose is the prime suspect.

Rose realizes she’s wasted twenty-four years of living and makes a list on the back of a Wal-Mart receipt: twenty-eight things she wants to accomplish before her vision comes true. She’s well on her way with the help of her next door neighbor Joe, who has no trouble teaching Rose the rules of drinking, but won’t help with number fifteen-- do more with a man. Joe’s new to town, but it doesn’t take a vision for Rose to realize he’s got plenty of secrets of his own.

Somebody thinks Rose has something they want and they’ll do anything to get it. Her house is broken into, someone else she knows is murdered, and suddenly, dying a virgin in the Fenton County jail isn’t her biggest worry after all.

Genres: Mystery, Romance, Fiction, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Paranormal, Cozy Mystery

374 pages, ebook

First published July 1, 2011

Reviews

[Candace · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book didn't really work for me. I found the story itself to be unbelievable and, at times, ridiculous. The "country bumpkin" heroine was unappealing to me. I listened to the Audible version and it was nearly unbearable for me. I'm sure it was the story, but I felt like I was trapped in some sort of redneck nightmare. If that is what the narrator was aiming for, they succeeded. If it weren't for my compulsive need to finish every book that I start, this would've been a DNF for me. Maybe it's just me, but I wasn't feeling it at all.

[Bryony · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seems, again, I am the only one in the world who thinks this book is pretty unextraordinary.

Sorry.

It was a simple enough little story. Southern states gurl who has always been controlled by her mother, mother dies, she is the main suspect, puts together a really tame bucket list to achieve before she gets arrested. Or dies. Because she keeps on having weird death visions.

Apparently weird visions are totally normal for Rose. And I have absolutely no problem with weird vision things in books - sign me up for weird fantasy sci-fi supernatural vision stuff any day - but Rose never looks into what could possibly be causing this psychic power. But then maybe that's because Rose is an idiot.

I'm sorry but it's true.

Rose is possibly one of the most spineless characters I have ever met in literature. She allows herself to be bullied continuously, first by her mother, then her sister, and she always does whatever her aunt says. Despite this being called a 'Rose Gardner Mystery' she puts in NO effort WHATSOEVER to solve any of the mysteries in this book. C'mon, her mother was murdered, a mysterious flash drive is mentioned continuously, and there is your stereotypical mysterious male lead next door, who is clearly holding beaucoup beaucoup de secrets.

But hey, it seems that Rose is only bothered about having sex with him. She knows nothing about him, and he is so quiet and mysterious that he could be plotting to kill her or, just maybe trying to frame her for a murder or something bad. Yet 'doing more with a man' is on her list, so Rose begs him to wet his willy with her SO GODDAMN MUCH so she can tick it off before her impending death. Which came to her in a vision. And there has been a precedent of these visions being wrong. So she could concert an effort to prevent this death instead going to buy sexy, lacy undies.

But no! Sex is the solution!

I'm not even exaggerating. Rose doesn't try to solve these mysteries. She just hankers after her hot next door neighbour.

Don't get me wrong, I've read far, far worse books, but that doesn't alleviate the fact that there was a wet fish of a protagonist. And a bad plot. And appalling 'mystery'.

If someone can explain all the five star reviews I will be very grateful.

[Carol [Goodreads Addict] · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a super fun book to read. Rose Gardner has visions, usually just silly ones of other people like where they put their keys, until one day she has one of herself, dead! That's the day everything in her life changes. I loved watching her turn from a meek, naive woman into a strong, courageous, self assured woman. When she thinks she is going to die, she makes a list of 28 things she wants to do in the days she has left. She is helped by the very handsome new next door neighbor, Joe, to accomplish the things on the list. I enjoyed this book so much from the first page until the last and highly recommend it.

[Fabian {Councillor} · Rating 1 out of 5]

Available as Kindle e-book for free!

One week ago, I more or less accidentally discovered this book as well as its free availability on Amazon, and I couldn't resist to download and start reading it immediately because of all the hundreds of raving reviews and four- and five-star-ratings here on Goodreads. The blurb sounded interesting and it's available for free, so what could have gone wrong?

Well, just about everything.

At least, I am relieved I didn't actually pay money for this, but sad that I did not own any physical copy of it, because every time I have had to read the protagonist say 'crappy doodles' I nearly smashed my mobile phone against the wall. (Fortunately, I was able to hold myself back.) "Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes" deals with a young woman called Rose Gardner who is controlled by her abusive mother, while her sister Violet has been able to escape the mother's overbearance and to start a family of her own. In the very beginning, Rose is bedeviled by visions of her own upcoming death, something which leaves her irritated because up to now, she always only experienced paranormal visions of smaller things like losing her keys and finding them with a vision's help.

So far, so good. Then her mother is killed early on and since Rose unfortunately managed to decide to become independent from her mother that very same day, she gets into the focus of the murder investigation. (Why should the police be interested in the fact that Rose has an alibi? Oh, yes, they would have appeared competent, something the author desperately tried to avoid throughout the course of the story.) Enter Joe McAllister, the mysterious guy from Rose's neighbourhood who seems to be the only one to believe in her innocence. You don't have to possess visionary abilities to guess where the path for Rose and Joe is leading towards. All in all, the premise was interesting, and to be honest, I was captured by the first fifty percent of the story and read them in one sitting.

Then everything turned to becoming boring, unrealistic and simply annoying. In general, I am not averse to romance in mystery stories, but this one felt forced and unnatural, and the metamorphosis from the ugly duckling to the proud swan is a motif I've been fatigued by long ago. The mystery was fairly uninteresting because of the main villain's lazy characterization (the only things I remember about him are his name and the fact that he was supposed to play the villain part), and the writing felt poorly executed and uninspired. In addition - if someone knows he is going to be killed within some days, wouldn't he or she at least try to prevent this from happening rather than coming to terms with his/her upcoming death and trying to enjoy his/her final days? Not even the possibility of fighting the visions Rose had was included, resulting in me being annoyed by the heroine after a very short amount of chapters and finally regretting to have wasted my time with this e-book.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t know anything about saving anybody. I didn’t even know where to go, let alone have a car to get there. But I did have a gun, even if I’d never shot one before. I unwrapped it, careful to point it away from me. I couldn’t find the round spinny thing for the bullets. Then I remembered, those were the kind of guns they used in prehistoric times. That covered most of the television shows I’d watched pre-cable. I was looking for the thing at the bottom of the gun. After a lot of fumbling and, I hate to admit it a little bit of cussing, I got it opened.

Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes is some serious good fun. Rose has the gift of the second sight. Unfortunately, most of her predictions are more along the lines of toilets overflowing and dogs getting out of yards than anything really useful.

Then one Friday afternoon she has a vision of her own death, and her life becomes a mad house. Her mother is murdered and she is the main suspect; gangsters are gunning for her; the police are about to arrest her; and her sexy neighbor seems intent on imposing himself on her (in the biblical sense).

If you look at my books, you'll see a lot of interesting female characters. It's one of the things I look for in a book. In that long list, Rose Gardner is something a little more than most. She's kind of a top shelf heroine. I'll definitely be looking for more of this series.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Downloaded for free from Amazon.co.uk

This was an interesting mystery story, although I found it a little unbelievable at times.

Rose was an interesting character, although she did come across as quite naïve. I did like her though, and I felt quite sorry for her with everything that was going on.

The storyline in this was about Rose having a vision of her own murder, followed by discovering her mother’s body and knowing that it was supposed to be her. We then had a neighbour who helped Rose, more visions, and quite a bit of mystery over what was going on and who was after Rose. This was an interesting mystery story, but I did find it a little unbelievable in places; Rose moving right back in to the house where her mother was murdered not hours after the event did not seem realistic, and she didn’t seem to mourn her mother much either.

The ending to this was a bit of a cliff-hanger.
6.5 out of 10

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rose Gardner was 24 years of age, still lived with her overbearing, mean and cruel Momma, and had done none of the things a normal 24 year old had done in their lives. She worked at the DMV and this particular Friday afternoon was exceptionally busy. After she'd passed out while serving a customer, she was sent home. Rose saw visions which no one except her direct family knew, but she was considered weird by the folks of the town she lived in. But when Rose found her momma dead at home, she freaked out, knowing it was supposed to have been her. The police were sure they had their killer in Rose...

Next door neighbour, Joe McAlister, wanted to help Rose, and the list of wishes Rose had made was a good way to start. But the continual harrassment by someone who wanted something they believed Rose had, was both frightening her and angering her. And she knew Joe wasn't telling the truth. What on earth was happening and why was it happening?

Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes is the 1st in the Rose Gardner Mystery series by Denise Grover Swank and I enjoyed it very much. Rose is a very naïve character (which is to be understood) but she's also gutsy and caring. She loves her sister Violet and Violet's family, as well as her aunt and uncle; and doesn't have a clue why she has visions. A cosy mystery which I recommend.

[Maxine (Booklover Catlady) · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is hugely popular by most reviews I've read but sadly I found the book whilst light hearted also impossible to believe, it was a bit too much on the sickly sweet side, I think when the words "crappy doodle" were spoken before my eyes, printed in text I knew then it was time to cut my losses and go. It does have some humour and I can imagine fans of slightly offbeat southern romantic chick lit would love this, I decided not to finish with half a book to go, each to their own.

Gag me with a spoon.

[Jacob Proffitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really tough read for me. Rose is 24, but she has been sheltered more than a first edition Star Wars action figure still in the original packaging. The story starts when the wrapping comes off and we get to see her make lots of poor choices. Only not the ones you'd expect for someone so sheltered first exploring the world. She doesn't go on a wild bender, trashing hotels and scaring small children. Instead, she makes lots of naïve decisions about who to trust and what to do in dangerous situations and it about drove me nuts. And it might have worked fine if at least some of those decisions didn't feel manipulated to drag out the story more.

Most of my frustration had to do with Joe and Rose each deciding not to level with the other. There are half a dozen pivot points (not an exaggeration) where it could have gone either way with trust/not trust where they could reasonably have gone with trust. And every single one broke the same way (i.e. not to trust the other). Half of those points followed the same script: person A gets ready to share a thing and offers a conversational gambit in that direction, person B mentions something seemingly innocuous, person A reads it as suspicious and decides to prevaricate instead. In each case, all person B had to do was say "oh?" and we'd have been there. I nearly tore actual hair out in frustration each time after the first.

What kept me going is that Rose is an interesting character and Joe was great for her and I really wanted them to get together and conquer bad guys. Also, I was listening to this on audible and Frances Fuller delivers the whole thing with the kind of Southern lilt that I find deeply alluring. It's a weakness, I know, and it worked to the book's benefit in this case.

Anyway, I'm going with three stars, though my frustration makes me want to go lower. But the story was interesting and I was engaged by the plot and character developments, and I'm more than a little interested in seeing where the series goes from here (I truly hope Swank doesn't screw up the relationship between Joe and Rose).

A note about genre: This is really hard to categorize genre-wise. It's not straight romance and the suspense isn't strong enough to be romantic suspense. The plot holds together and at least one final twist was a neat little blind-side so I enjoyed that. The real problem, though, is that it reads nearly YA (not just from Rose's naïveté) but she's also 24 and that's a bit old to fit the genre very well and some of the plot doesn't fit that genre much either. It's clearly not NA so I haven't tagged it as either, but I worry because it does read rather young.

A note about Steamy/Chaste: There's some mild steam, though no explicit sex. Sex clearly happens, but Swank pulls the curtains pretty quick when it actually manifests. So not enough steam for Steamy, but too much for Chaste. So I went with neither tag. I generally find that frustrating, but in this case I thought it worked pretty well. Rose is off her leash and experimenting but we don't need the details because details aren't important to the relationship development. That does contribute to the YA feel, but at least it's consistent in that tone...

[Eisley Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was one of the few folks who had the opportunity to review this book as an ARC. Not being familiar with Sookie Sackhouse or any of the southern mystery genre I knew it might be a stretch for me to get into this novel and character. However, Denise Grover Swank hooked me right into the story from the first sentence! I think the first time I read it I read the whole thing in one sitting.

The quirky southern heroin has just the right mixture of everything! Seriously, she is funny, heartwarming, angry, naive, she is like the complete character you want to root for and laugh at/with. I find myself picking up this book more then once a week and reading 2-3 chapters all over again. Just to visit Rose and her crazy Mamma.

For a debut novel, Denise Grover Swank has set the bar high for future Rose Gardner Mysteries and any other series she chooses to share with the world (who will eagerly read).

[Erica Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a great mystery!! And Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes was just that.

Rose was instantly likable. She was quirky, nieve and sheltered - with a crazy mom.

So. What does one do with a character like that? Have her think she's going to die. Brilliant!

Instantly I was pulled into the world. All the characters were unique and had their own quirks. Rose's character grew through the story and was believable. She reminded me a little of Janet Evanovich's character, Stephanie Plum, the way she had crazy stuff happen to her, her reactions, her penchant for getting into trouble, her humor. And Muffy added enjoyment to the story, as well. Can't forget Joe ;o)

Lots of twists and turns and "oh no she didn't's" in this story. Enough to keep me turning the --pushing the page button on my Kindle.

Swank's writing is superb. I love her voice.

Read this one, folks!!!!

[Ena u zemlji knjiga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rose Gardner je jedna veoma neobična dvadesetčetverogodišnjakinja. Živi s majkom, nema mobitel, kablovsku i nikada se nije poljupila s muškarcem. Sve se mijenja onog dana kada svoju dosadnu mamu pronalazi mrtvu u stanu, a ona postane glavni osumnjičenik za ubistvo...

Ovaj roman je neobičan spoj ljubavnog i krimi, veoma se brzo čita i meni je bio baš zanimljiv. Obavezno ću pročitati i ostale romane iz ovog serijala :)

[Obsidian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was not that engaging. We follow Rose Gardner through several hundred pages and get to read how she reacts to everything around of her, instead of taking any ownership or showing any intelligence after she starts being investigated for the murder of her mother. There is a paranormal aspect to this book, but honestly it isn't treated consistently through the book, and it added nothing, so for anyone looking for a paranormal cozy read, I would skip this one.

It would be easy to become sympathetic to the character of Rose, but I ended up sick of her about a good 1/3 way through the book. You hear about her horrible childhood due to her mother and even with everything her mother has done to her and her sister Violet. However, Rose is passive aggressive with everyone after her mother dies. She starts feeling resentful of her sister Violet because she is trying to keep her safe and wants her to come and live with her and her family.

Rose in her infinite wisdom decides to stay at the house she shared with her mother even though it's a crime scene, the house keeps getting broken into, and she is also suspicious of her next door neighbor Joe who is hiding something. The character was all over the place with being very naive about everything, but also deciding that since she keeps having a vision that she is going to die, she is going to complete twenty-eight and a half (it's only twenty-eight) wishes which include things like drink wine, drink beer, kiss a man, do more with a man, etc. Yes of course she's a virgin.

I don't like it when authors paint a heroine as too stupid to live (TSTL) but man oh man Rose pretty much checked off every box. Hides things from everyone around her even after she has been attacked, doesn't tell her sister, who knows about her visions, about having a vision of dying, doesn't tell Joe anything though she decides she's in love/lust with him after a couple of days, doesn't tell her lawyer or the police anything. Oh and she does know who is going to kill her, so instead of her doing anything proactive about that, she stays focused on her wishes. And then when the cat is out of the bag with Joe (with a dumb story-line) she goes to the bad guy, pretend she has what he wants, and drinks with him, makes out with him, etc because Joe said this is a good plan.

Okay I have to move on here or I will be here all day.

The other characters in the book for the most part are really flat, except for Violet. I really wish that we had Rose spending more time with her sister since when that happened you got more backstory into both of their childhoods. You get why Violet just cut off their mother and didn't look back. Every other character was a mess though. Joe was almost as dumb as Rose. Almost. When you find out what he has been hiding....let's just say that Joe and Rose I guess are perfect for each other, because common sense seems to be lacking in both of them.

The writing was not great. I hated how Rose "spoke" through this whole thing. Sometimes seeming world weary, and then other times saying things like crappy doodle. I hope you enjoy reading about the devil, how she has a demon, and how she's going to hell all of the time, because that gets brought up a lot. I also didn't like how somethings were described in this book. There were a lot of weird metaphors being thrown around that took me out of the story.

The flow was painful. Nothing happens in this story for a good 85 percent of it. If you are expecting Rose to be investigating what happened to her mother, or trying to thwart the bad guy, keep waiting. I like cozy mysteries for the most part, but this one was too draggy by far. I think it's because the author decided to throw in a part of Rose's past that involved her parents and that took a while to get sorted out in the story. There are some romance scenes between Rose and Joe, but they were tepid in my opinion. When the big losing her virginity scene with Rose happens it is just referred to off scene so to speak. And of course, no pain, because you know, first times are always super awesome.

The setting of this small southern town really didn't work. I didn't get a sense of the place or other characters in this story. At times Rose acts like it's so small and nothing is there, but yet she can rent a corvette there.

The ending left me kind of appalled because there is a last sentence in this book from Joe spoken to Rose, and I hope she punches the guy in the face. I was actually kind of appalled by it just because of the whole thing they went through about not telling each other the truth. I felt like this was a bad Lifetime movie of a book.

[Lisa (Two Bookish Brits) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Twenty Eight and a half wished

Book Description

It all started when I saw myself dead...

For Rose Gardner, working at the DMV on a Friday afternoon is bad even before she sees a vision of herself dead. She’s had plenty of visions, usually boring ones like someone’s toilet’s overflowed, but she’s never seen one of herself before. When her overbearing momma winds up murdered on her sofa instead, two things are certain: There isn’t enough hydrogen peroxide in the state of Arkansas to get that stain out, and Rose is the prime suspect.

Rose realizes she’s wasted twenty-four years of living and makes a list on the back of a Wal-Mart receipt: twenty-eight things she wants to accomplish before her vision comes true. She’s well on her way with the help of her next door neighbor Joe, who has no trouble teaching Rose the rules of drinking, but won’t help with number fifteen– do more with a man. Joe’s new to town, but it doesn’t take a vision for Rose to realize he’s got plenty secrets of his own.

Somebody thinks Rose has something they want and they’ll do anything to get it. Her house is broken into, someone else she knows is murdered, and suddenly, dying a virgin in the Fenton County jail isn’t her biggest worry after all.



I'm not 100% sure about this read unfortunately. After seeing the 4-5 star reviews I decided to give it a read. So, I started it about a week ago but couldn't finish it so I came back to it today. I just couldn't get into the story that much and didn't feel really believable at points.

I felt the heroine was always too quick to forgive and trust even when knowing something wasn't wright with the man she liked. I did in fact enjoy Rose getting Miffy, I want a miffy who'll protect me like that.

This is my first read by Denise Grover Swank, maybe it was a wrong choice but it won't put me off of reading another one of hers, I'll definitely be trying some of her other books.

[The One Tree · Rating 5 out of 5]

No spoilers...

Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Okay, what did I love about it? The story was fast paced, and didn't stop until the last page. I loved the evolution of the main characters, and how the story started out nice and slowly, explaining everything in order as it went, building to a crescendo.

The writing was smooth, and you forgot you were reading a book - it sucked you in from the beginning. The only reason I stopped reading it at 4.00am in the morning was because the words were going fuzzy on me! (Dang old age!)

I haven't found a new favorite author for awhile, but this young lady has definitely ticked all of the right boxes for me. In fact, I've just decided I'm going to create a new shelf in Goodreads called 'Favorites' which will make it easier for me to find and reread. Because I will read this one again.

There were only two things I didn't like about this book. One: that it ended, and two: that there isn't another one to read straight away... hmmm, off to Amazon I go! Must search for more of Ms. Swank.

[Jacqueline J · Rating 5 out of 5]

We had this local author in for a signing at the indy bookstore where I work and so I decided give one of her books a try. This book sucked me in from the first page. It's laugh out loud funny in parts but it has it's poignant moments too. Told in first person POV, it's narrator is a small town girl who everyone thinks is crazy so she doesn't have any friends and she has lived her whole life under her mother's thumb. When her mother is murdered she busts out of her shell. There is a romance here too and it's a pretty nice one. There were a couple of things with the police procedures that I was a bit skeptical about but I let them slide because that was really not the gist of the story.

The narrator's voice is superb. I loved her.

Talking to her dog on the way to rescue the hero:

I've shot right on past the Seven Deadly Sins and moved on to breakin' the Ten Commandments. We're surely goin' to hell now.

Can't wait to get in to work today to pick up book 2.

[Cheryl (Taking A Break) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rollicking, HILARIOUS read!
I couldn't put it down - it had a bit of everything - drama, mystery, humour & a dash of romance. I laughed, I cried, then I laughed some more. I almost wet my pants with a giggling fit at the poor Muffy poop scene. Great read.

[Debbie "Buried in Her TBR Pile" · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Own in: Rose Gardner Mystery Box Set

A strange story - part romantic comedy part romantic suspense. I liked Rose who begins live and spread her wings at 24 after the brutal death of her abusive mother. I loved the relationship between Rose and her sister Violet - everyone should have a close relationship with their sister as these two do. I will read the next one to watch Rose on her journey and if the relationship with Joe evolves.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick, easy read that I enjoyed, while I can see that others might not enjoy it, or might like it even more than I did. (A quick check of the Goodreads reviews confirms that view.) It's a blend of several popular genres--at least romantic comedy, romantic suspense, and magical realism--so your expectations might get in the way of your fun. Mine didn't...too much.

The magical realism part first: Our first-person narrator and series name-bearer, Rose Gardner, age 24, has always had premonitory visions. They just come to her, even though she resists them, and they're usually something fairly trivial about a person she's encountering at the moment, like their dog getting loose. But, as she says,

It's a nuisance because whatever I see just blurts out of my mouth.

and that has caused her to be labeled as a freak from childhood on, though she's meek and quiet otherwise. Even worse, her strict, overbearing mother believes she's demon-possessed and treats her as such. The story kicks off when for the first time she gets a vision about herself and for the first time it's something bad--she's dead!

That's when she makes up the titular list of things she's never done before--everything that she wants to accomplish before it's too late. After all, her upbringing has been extremely sheltered; she's never been kissed, never worn makeup, never danced, never ridden in a convertible, worn high heels, eaten Chinese food, flown in a plane, or gotten a dog. The list pours out on a scrap of paper with twenty-nine places, but she can't think of what to put in the last place and leaves it blank. Unless I missed something, that place stays blank and I don't know what the "half" of the title refers to.

And then, after her first ever fight with her mother, which was quite loud and public, she walks out and comes home late to find her mother murdered in the very same circumstances as her vision of herself--and as you can imagine, the whole town assumes she did it and the police treat her as their prime suspect. Later, she gets another vision of herself in a casket and a sign giving her date of death--only five days away. She's torn between what to do as a murder suspect who's not allowed to leave the county and her urgency to check things off that list.

Besides Rose's sweet, self-deprecating humor, there's humor in the portrait of life in a small Southern town (Henryetta, Arkansas) as seen through Rose's eyes and to some extent in her relationship with her neighbor Joe, who's new to town. He doesn't share the townspeople's prejudices against Rose, and (via her narration of course) he's presented to the reader as a good guy with a secret that keeps Rose from being able to trust him.

Because Joe's secret becomes tediously obvious to the reader as the story proceeds, the plot device of Romantic Misunderstanding is seriously overdone, right through all the action scenes--Rose doesn't learn his secret till it's all over. But much of the action (with some really bad guys) depends on Rose's conflict between trusting Joe and mistrusting him. That, more than anything else, keeps my rating at three stars.

[Abi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating - 3.5

The main character in this was okay, although she could be quite irritating at points.

This was a decent enough read. It felt a bit long at times though, and my interest dipped now and again because of it, but it wasn't anything major.

Overall, A generous 3.5 stars.

[Radd Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

”Don’t let other people tell you who you’re supposed to be. You just be you, even if you don’t do things like everybody else.”

Characters
Joe
Neighbor of Rose. He’s pretty secretive and because I never got his POV, I don’t know anything about him. ☹️

Rose (24, works the counter at the DMV):
Rose is a 24 year old “country bumpkin” who has never been kissed. Her dad died when she was a freshman in college and her mother made her drop out of school so she could take care of her. She has a sister that she is close to but her mother is mean and crazy and calls Rose demon-possessed.
”She’s an abusive old woman who’s run everyone else away. Why, even poor Daddy had to die to escape from her.”

“You’ve let her ramrod you for twenty-four years. But Rose, it’s time. You can’t let her control you for the rest of your life.”

Rose has visions, which has caused her to be an outcast. The whole town hates her.
”Now, I’d had a multitude of visions all my life. I was gifted, or cursed—depending on who you asked—with the sight. My grandma on my father’s side had it. People respected her and considered her the Oracle of Lafayette County, Arkansas. But me? I was just a freak.
While my grandma saw helpful information, such as droughts and locust infestations, I was cursed with seeing useless and mundane things, like Mrs. White’s toilet overflow or the ear infection in Jenny Baxter’s baby.”

The Story:
Rose gets a creepy feeling about a man she is helping at work when she gets a vision.
"Like a photograph in my mind, I saw me. Deader than a doornail."
And, right before she faints, she looks at the guy and says "You’re going to kill me."

As if that wasn't enough, she finally stands up for herself and has a huge fight with her horrible mother and then her mother ends up dead. The police mark Rose as the prime suspect.

Early on Rose begins to contemplate her life and she ends up with a list of 28 things she wants to do before she dies (her list is at the end of the review).

My Thoughts:
The mother treated Rose awful, so it certainly wasn't sad to see that character have a short part in this book, and her demise wasn’t descriptive so the story isn’t gruesome. In fact, I didn’t fully understand for pages later how the mother was even killed, so non-descriptive is an understatement.

I loved when Rose finally got a backbone and stood up for herself (thankfully I didn't have to wait too long).
”I am not a child, Momma! You treat me like one, and up to now I’ve let you, but I’m an adult and I’m not tolerating this anymore!”

I originally liked Joe and Rose together. I thought they were good for each other. She immediately trusted him (he told her not to talk without a lawyer) and she felt comfortable enough to spar with him, speak her mind and not let him push her around.
”My entire life, I had avoided conflict at all costs. When kids at school made fun of me, I ignored and avoided them. And when Momma berated me, I let her beat me down, sucking in all the pain and anger and hiding in my shell. So for me to stand up to Joe was inconceivable, yet I did it without even giving it a second thought.
But, at some point I got tired of their hot/cold back and forth. Did they trust each other or not? Man, it flipped constantly and I stopped seeing them as a good team. They have a really, really slow burn. The bedroom scene happens at 87% and is completely behind closed doors. So the steamy factor is a big fat zero. 0️⃣😴

Rose was incredibly naive, but there were some moments when I enjoyed her. She had been dealt a shit hand with her mother, but she had such a great attitude despite that. Her sarcastic snarkiness had me chuckling quite a few times.
“Yes, Violet.” I said in a haughty tone. “I did. I had sex with him right there on the front porch, next to the pots of geraniums. I had to move ‘em though so Mildred could get a better view.” 🤣

I would say for the first 50-60% i was engaged, but then I felt like the story just dragged. Somehow it went from the fun of her fulfilling her 28 wishes and a little mystery to a big convoluted plot with bad guys all over the place. At some point I felt it spiraled too far out of control and that aspect of the story became completely unrealistic and should have been reigned in more.

Also, there was a big plot twist revealed about her family and it was dealt with quickly and then not really mentioned again. It was a big deal, and I felt it was glossed over and not really resolved after the initial reveal.

I felt like this story ended a bit abruptly because there was never really any closure related to the fact that Rose had been arrested for her mothers murder. It was revealed that somebody else murdered her mother, but it would’ve been nice to see the town eat some humble pie and treat Rose better. I felt like she didn’t get the vindication that I would have liked to see. The town treated her horribly and I wanted to see them grovel for her forgiveness.

Also, what happened with Rose’s inheritance? Hmm 🤔 no clue as that wasn’t really addressed what she ended up doing with it. And, what about Joe and Rose? Do they stay together, move to Little Rock, something else? Another aspect that wasn’t fully resolved.

Overall, there were just too many different stories and I didn’t feel all the plots were actually wrapped up. I felt like the story started out one way and then halfway through introduced a whole new plot and it shifted the flow of the story. I began to lose interest when that happened. Also, it’s completely told from Rose’s POV and that’s not my preference. I didn’t feel like I knew anything about Joe and I never like to end a book feeling like a major aspect of the story (i.e. the Hero) is a big question mark. I believe some of the open items may be wrapped up in more books, but I don’t plan to continue with the series, so I was left feeling a little dissatisfied when I closed the book.

Quotes
“His light brown eyes held a menacing glare. I chided myself for my foolishness. Everyone has menacing eyes at the DMV on a Friday afternoon, even the sweetest of grandmas.”

"Gossip in Henryetta spread faster than a smallpox plague in an internment camp."

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she thought I killed Momma just to get out of a four-day work week. Seriously, I’m smarter than that. If I was going to go to that much trouble, surely I would have picked a five-day week instead.”

“Oh, dear Lord. The stench . . .”
“She just needs more roughage in her diet is all. Give her a chance. Little Mikey pooped out some nasty stuff, and I still love him.”

“Ashley put a tiara on me and enough makeup to help me establish a new career as a prostitute.”

“I was quivering like a Jello salad just shook out of its mold.”

“How dare he hit my dog? And tear up my house, not to mention my new blouse? Who did he think he was, beating people up and killing them? He’d messed with the wrong woman.”

“Did I kill him?” I asked, scared I’d broken another of the Ten Commandments. I was really on a roll”

————Rose’s 28 wishes————
1. Get a cell phone.
2. Commit all seven deadly sins in one week.
3. Get cable TV.
4. Get my own place.
5. Buy some makeup.
6. Visit a beauty salon.
7. Get a pedicure.
8. Ride in a convertible.
9. Drink a glass of wine.
10. Drink a beer.
11. Go to a bar.
12. Dance.
13. Get a boyfriend.
14. Kiss a man.
15. Do more with a man. (That was all I could bring myself to say.)
16. Get a dog.
17. Dress like a princess.
18. Wear high heels.
19. Wear a lacy bra and panties.
20. Eat Chinese food.
21. Go to Italy.
22. Learn to knit.
23. Ride a motorcycle.
24. Fly in an airplane.
25. Jump on a trampoline.
26. Fly a kite.
27. Have a picnic in the park.
28. Play in the rain.

[BJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outside my preferred genre, but I enjoyed this clean read. The heroine is endearing as she emerges from a very limited life after her mother is murdered. She gains a lot of life experiences from the wish list she writes when she feels defeated. It's a small town setting and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

[Grace*dnfing books since 2022* · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lo and behold, after charging my kindle up, I found this book (that I must have gotten off Amazon at some point) waiting for me. Surprisingly, for a freebie, this one started out pretty well. Too good, in fact, and at every turn, I kept expecting it to go downhill. The fact was that it didn't go downhill until 60% in, which is pretty amazing for a freebie, but go downhill it did, mostly when it came down to the romance.

Written in first person of the most Southern persuasion possible (her inner swear words are Crappy Doodle), Rose was the most downtrodden, persuadable person alive with occasional "visions" that she's been convinced are the work of the devil, until she sees her own death and faints, knocking herself out at the DMV. From then on, she decides to turn a new leaf, which is somehow tied to the sudden murder of her meaner-than-heck momma, and the new good-looking (?? he is never fully physically described so I have no idea what he looks like and only assumes this since there's a romance) next-door neighbor who is extraordinarily nice to Rose in her perilous time of need.

The mystery behind Rose's mean ol' momma was pretty cool. The mystery behind her next-door neighbor -- less than cool. Rose is pretty naive, and the blurb had her as so, but surely there's a line between naivete (which can be cute and annoying) and stupid (just plain annoying).

Things Rose should have been more on the ball about:
- wondering why her NEW, JUST MOVED IN, next-door neighbor that nobody in the entire town knows about in this genealogy-mad town is so gosh-darned nice to her

- not being so adamant about independence by taking a stand in the form of returning to a murder crime scene to spend your nights. Sure, after a downtrodden life of 24 years in a pretty crappy, backwater (from what I can see) down with nosy, mean-spirited, and prejudiced neighbors is a good thing, but still, your momma was just whacked to bits on your sofa

- not reporting subsequent break-ins (there were so many that I stopped counting, but at least 3) to your murder-scene of a house to the police because -- oh, there just wasn't a good reason to do it

- not reporting that your next-door neighbor whom you just kissy-faced hid a gun in your shed. Being super shocked when you are framed for a murder with that same gun.

- not telling anyone about your vision of impending death, even though you ALSO know the exact name of this suspect

- not telling anyone of your suspicions of your next-door neighbor when he tells you to not tell the police he was in your house

- not bashing your next-door neighbor's face in when you find out that he was the one who tried to frame you for another murder

- not bashing your next-door neighbor's face in when you request he tell you what's going on and he only moans your name pathetically (and not in the throes of passion either)

- not bashing your next-door neighbor's face in when he still wants to take you out to eat, and out of suspicion of his character and the fact that he might kill you, agree to go out with him.

- telling yourself you can slip away more easily if you were with your next-door neighbor on a "date" whereas common sense would dictate you could definitely slip away the easiest if you WEREN'T on a date with him

- not telling your saint of a sister ANYTHING even though you plan to be dead the next day. I mean, come ON, at least leave her a freakin' clue as to your suspects!

Okay, so I guess there were a whole lot of plot holes in this book. I did kind of enjoy the backwater southern dialect. Most wouldn't.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up quite by chance, as it was free on Amazon Kindle. I read the premise and thought "Why not?" and I'm really glad I took the plunge into a genre I don't usually read (psychic stories).

I enjoyed it more than I'd anticipated. Rose is a well-written, believable (except for perhaps exclamations like "crappy doodles!" instead of swearing - does that really happen?) 24 year old woman who has spent her life being abused by an overbearing mother and is now giddy in her freedom. It's a shame her freedom has been gained not by her moving out and telling her mother where to put her insults and demands, but from her mother's violent death. It's even more a shame that she's the prime suspect!

Hunk next door, Joe, is a big help, and seems to be the kind of man any damsel in distress would need, and just what the doctor ordered for a woman who's never even kissed a man before. For a little bit I was worried that Rose was just going to swoon into his arms and go from being controlled by mum to being overpowered by the first man who comes along, but I was pleased to see her holding her own, finally gaining confidence in her independence.

The part I am not usually a fan of - her supernatural psychic visions - was still tastefully written and despite being a major part of the book, wasn't overwhelming or over done, especially since for the most part, her visions are completely innocuous and very amusing. Despite the serious nature of murder and crime, the book was overall light-hearted and very funny as it focused more on Rose trying to live her life and do the things she's always wanted to do, even if those things are as silly as buy a cellphone, watch Cable TV and dance in the rain. Even though the main character is a 24 year old girl, I'd still call it a bit of a coming-of-age novel since emotionally she's like a teenager getting their first taste of adult independence, stunted by her mother's cruelty and control.

On the downside as the end approached it became clear that this book was free in order to reel you in to buying the rest of the series; a tactic that I understand from a business perspective, but tends to leave me feeling unfulfilled and frustrated when the book doesn't have a solid ending. I'm on the fence as to whether I will continue to buy this series, but overall I found this a decent read.

[Dee Avila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book a few weeks ago and wanted to do a review, only I wasn't sure how. I have wrote and re wrote this review. I still don't think what I have to say gives this book justice but, I want people, readers to know how much I loved in this book. I was warned that I would get anything done. So knowing the reader I am-I get totally lost in my books especially great ones-I cleaned, had laundry caught up, as much as one can, and dinner made early. I even gave the kids their baths and put them down early. I was prepared to start the book.

Somewhere around 2 or 3 in the morning, when I my husband woke up and realised I wasn't in bed and came to see why I was still up, and several gripping chapters into I went to bed.

I often dream about the characters I read about. I was glad to dream about Rose and Joe.



The next day I woke up early to read and did so until breakfast and continued through lunch. I did stop and feed my kids and then sat right back down with out eating. Later that night I finished Twenty Eight and a Half Wishes. I dreamed about Rose and Joe AGAIN!!! And I thought about them for the next day or week.



About the book. I my opinion it was greatly written and very captivating. The personalities of the characters were intertwined into the story. Everything Rose did you knew was something Rose would do. There were no wavers in their personalities or plot. I never found myself thinking, "now that doesn't seem like Rose or MaMa." Or wondering why we the author lead us in this direction. Everything tied together and plot twist was revealed.

And let me tell you, there where some twist! Denise kept the mystery through out the book and touch of paranormal was perfect.

Rose and her visions were central to the story but not always correct. They sometimes showed her things that made no sense and sometimes showed her things that happened very differently. I don't want to say to much about these visions and give anything away.

Rose and Joe's relationship is a rocky one and has as many twists as the plot its self.

I know I will be picking this book up again soon. Actually I'm needing something to read right now! I think I'll read it again. And if you haven't read it.

[Hayat]

Kindle freebie!! I'm going in blind on this one. No checking out reviews or blurbs.



I'm going to embrace the mystery of not knowing and let myself get surprised and swept along by Ms Swank.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story, but the wording killed me in some parts. I can't even tell you how many times I rolled my eyes at 'crappy doodles' .. I guess that style of writing is a pet peeve of mine.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Posao i petak? Ne baš tako sjajna kombinacija. Pogotovo ne za Rose Gardner, lokalnu čudakinju o kojoj mama priča da je opsjednuta a okolno stanovništvo da sve špijunira, jer za njezino ponašanje , to je jedino razumno objašnjenje. Rose naime ima vizije. Nisu to neke velike vizije, samo mala upozorenja, poput upozorenja susjedi da će joj pobjeći pas ili da će se poplaviti zahod gospođe White. Ono što Rose nikad nije imala, su vizije o sebi. Bar do tog petka i trenutka kada se susrela sa Danielom Crockerom.Vizija koju je tada ugledala bila je jasna kao dan- u roku nekoliko dana Daniel Crocker će je ubiti.
Dan kao da ne može završiti gore, jer Rose se mora vratiti kući, svojoj dosadnoj i nemogućoj majci. Rose nikad nije mogla učiniti ništa čime bi joj mogla udobrovoljiti i užasno bi voljela kada bi imala trunčicu snage da joj se uspije oduprijeti. U svojoj dvadesetčetvrtoj godini Rose je dopuštala da joj govori kada će ustati, nije imala mobitel jer joj to mama nije dopuštala, nije se nikada poljubila i nije imala dečka- jer time bi morala napustiti majku koja je jako "bolesna", za nju su prijatelji rijetkost a odlazak iz kuće jedino je na posao ili u knjižnicu.Uvijek je život predodređivala majci koja ju je tretirala kao vlastitu sluškinju.
Nakon velike svađe, kada se napokon izborila za sebe, Rose udari činjenica da joj je za to trebalo puno godina i da sada, kada je to napokon uspjela, neće moći uživati u toj pobijedi. Zato Rose odlučuje na poleđini računa napisati sve želje koje bi voljela učiniti u tih nekoliko dana, koliko joj preostaje od života. Jer njene vizije se uvijek ostvare- ali ovaj puta ne onako kako je ona zamislila.
Došavši kući Rose pronalazi majku ni više ni manje nego-mrtvu. I to točno na način kako je Rose vidjela svoje ubojstvo. Rose ubrzo postaje glavni osumnjičenik, a jedine osobe koje joj vjeruju da nije ubila majku su sestra Vivian i superzgodni novopridošli susjed Joe, koji odjednom ima poriv pomoći joj na svakom koraku. Ali Joe ima tajnu, i skriva pravu namjeru njegova ponašanja. Ili možda ipak ne?
Mislili ste da je to kraj? Rose ubrzo saznaje šokantne djelove svojeg života koje je njena majka sakrivala od nje svih ovih godina i baš kada pomislite da Rose ne može biti gore, u cijelu tu priču se upleću i kriminalci kojima meta postaje, pa pretpostavljate- Rose.
Ova lagana,duhovita knjiga koja je mješavina ljubića,misterije i krimića me oduševila! Rose je toliko simpatičan lik, bez koje bi ta mješavina bila jednostavno-previše. Ona je djevojka u svojoj dvadesetčetvrtoj, koja nikada nije proživjela ono što proživljavaju djevojke njenih godina. Cijeli svoj život predodredila je majci pa je time izgubila onu iskru dvadesetogodišnjaka koji tek sada, u svojim dvadesetima polako počinje uživati u životu. Lude zabave,dečki, prijateljice,društvo- ti su pojmovi s kojima Rose nije upoznata.
Rose je lik, čija se pobuna protiv opresivne majke upravo počela razvijati kada se dogodila tragedija i koja je polako počela otkrivati ljepote samostalnosti odlučivši uzeti svoj život s obje ruke, da bude kovač vlastite sudbine. Iako sve radi na nespretan način, ona se ne boji zauzeti za sebe, čak iako se mora priznati da joj planovi ponekad pomalo "ćaknuti"! Ponekad sam se znala nasmijati na određene situacije u kojoj se vidi njezina naivnost i luckavost. Iako se čini da su njeni pokušaji osuđeni na propast i da očajnički treba pomoć, u stvari, ona je ta koja je dokazala svima da je vrlo spretna i da umije uspješno stati na dvije noge.
Kako se radnja romana dalje odvija,shvatila sam da me uz sve Rosiene zgode i nezgode, čeka još puno događaja i odgovora koji su se pojavili odmah na početku romana -tko je zapravo ubio Rosienu majku, što želi Daniel Crocker i kakve zapravo skrivene namjere ima Rosien seksi susjed Joe, da li stvarno Rose čeka još samo tjedan dana života i kakvu je to šokantnu istinu saznala Rose u majčinoj kutiji? Sve te tajne i skriveni odgovori držali su me uz knjigu, čekajući, ne iz dosade, nego od nestrpljenja da dođem do zadnje stranice da saznam odgovor.
Lagana knjiga, koja me ponekad podsjetila na knjige Janet Evanovich i njenu vrckavu Stephanie Plum, knjiga koja se brzo čita ali koja će vas natjerati da uzmete i sljedeću knjigu o Rosienim zgodama i nezgodama. Za sada su prevedene samo tri i nadam se da ću uživati u svima, kao što sam i u ovoj.

[Einav · Rating 5 out of 5]

הספר המקסים הזה מספר על רוז אן גרדנר, מארקנסו הדרומית. היא גדלה כל חייה אצל אמה, שמגדלת אותה ביד קשה ובזרוע נטויה. רוז עובדת במשרד הפנים, ויום אחד, בעת שהיא נותנת שירותיה לאחד הלקוחות היא נתקפת בחיזיון שבו היא רואה את עצמה מתה (שוכבת על הספה בסלון ביתה עם כדור בראש). החיזיון הזה מוביל לסדרה של אירועים מטלטלים ורוז מוצאת את עצמה בלבה של פרשיית פשע, כשהשכן המסתורי שלה - ג׳ו - נחלץ לעזרתה ומנסה לעזור לה לפענח מה לעזאזל קורה שם.
ספר נפלא שלא הנחתי מהיד! בילוש, עם אווירה של עיירה קטנה וצפופה ומלא רומנטיקה נהדרת!♥️

This first book in the "Rose Gardner mystery" tells the story of Rose Ann Gardner, from southern Arkansas. She had grown up all her life with her mother, who raised her with a stiff way. Rose works for the Interior Ministry, and one day, when she gives her services to a client, she gets caught up in a vision in which she sees herself dead (lying on the sofa in her living room with a bullet in her head). This vision leads to a series of rocky events and Rose finds herself in the middle of a crime Plot, with her mysterious neighbor, Joe, coming to her aid and trying to help her figure out what the hell is going on.
A charming book! Detective, with the atmosphere of a small and crowded town and full of great romance! ♥ ️

[Summaiya · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was fine, not bad but definitely not anything special in my opinion. Rose seems to fluctuate between being a complacent doormat to full on rebellious behavior and it gets annoying and you wish that she would just make up her damn mind. I did not like Joe, period. The chemistry between them was too hot and cold for my liking. It seemed like Joe thought that he had the right to walk all over Rose, barge into her life and then abruptly leave whenever he so pleased and expected her to put up with it. I think the end of my interest in this book came when Rose let him. There are also a lot of raving reviews claiming that this is a great mystery read but there was actually a big gaping loophole in the story. Rose had an alibi for her mother's murder. She was at the library and then at the park and yet the police chose to ignore it and none of the other characters brought it up! If they had Rose would never have been part of that murder investigation, am I the only one who noticed that?

I would not recommend anyone to read this book. It was lazily written and is honestly not worth the time you would spend reading it.