Reckless was provided to me by Kindle free of charge and is the first of a series of Mia Kazmaroff Mysteries, written by Susan  Kiernan-Lewis and published by San Marco Press. The books that follow on in the series are "Shameless", "Breathless", "Heartless" and "Loveless". 

Checking out Susan's website, which can be found here: http://susankiernanlewis.com/ it becomes clear that she is a prolific writer, covering a number of genres. As a new novelist who has come to the craft quite late I was particularly interested to wander around the website of someone who does write as prolifically as she clearly does. As my books can loosely be classified in a genre of "Romance" or "Fantasy Romance", I was keen to check myself against a clear professional.  

Another of Susan's series is titled the Maggie Newbury Mysteries, described as "cozy mysteries". She has also written a number of books that fit the genre of "Romantic Time Travel", as well as a series based on the "Irish End Games" in a Dystopian World - all in all plenty to choose from. I would urge readers to visit her website and check out the many titles on offer. I was particularly looking forward to reading this book as it was a very specific genre - "detective mystery" and I was interested to see if that meant it would be formulaic.  

First of all I should mention that I read the entire book in virtually one sitting, covering a Sunday morning and afternoon. For me this is an invariably good sign that I was captivated by the story and the characters. Although this is a detective mystery story, it has that mild touch of the paranormal attached to it, which lifts it out of the cliched world of the pretty young girl and crusty detective who are forced to work together to solve a crime - and of course, ultimately fall in love. The paranormal aspect to the story gave it the right balance for my particular taste. 

The basic plot revolves around Mia Kazmaroff, whose brother, a Police Detective, is found dead in his condominium. Initial inquiries and medical findings suggest there is nothing suspicious about his death and it is consigned as a death due to natural causes. Mia however is convinced that her brother was murdered and links up with her brother's former partner to attempt to solve the mystery. The partner Jack Burton had never gotten on with Mia's brother and despite them having the best success record in the Division, Jack had long been seeking for a reassignment to get away from him. 

Once the pair establish that indeed Mia's brother Dave was murdered and the Department reopen the inquiry into his murder, it is Jack Burton himself who becomes the prime suspect. Mia and Jack set about to discover the true murderer, each in their own way. Mia has inherited a "gift" from her Mother that allows her to sense events just by touching something that relates to the person or event. She is always keen to use her "gift" to assist them to solve the murder, whereas a skeptical Jack would rather use the tried and true police methods. 

I found the story incredibly easy to read and the characters readily identifiable. One sure sign that the writer has succeeded in captivating the reader is how much the reader identifies with the actions of the characters. I certainly found myself regularly telling Mia (in my head) to stop being so headstrong and rushing in where angels fear to tread and to wait for Jack. Susan has been extremely successful in creating characters that the reader wants to support or to take to their hearts. 

Much of the tension, including the sexual tension in the book revolves around the interaction between Mia and Jack. It is fairly clear that it isn't a "will they?" or "won't they?" scenario. Early on it becomes a "when will they?" situation. The end result of their collaboration is for future readers to discover, however it is reasonable to say that the remaining books in the series focus on the ongoing "Detective Agency" of Kazmaroff and Burton. 

I found "Reckless" an extremely easy and enjoyable read. I would strongly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of romance, and particularly romantic detective stories. A sure sign the book is a winner in my estimation is that I already want to read the rest of the Mia Kazmaroff Mysteries.

This is an excellent start to the series and I am sure the remainder will live up to the standard set by this one. On my scale; "Reckless" is an easy "Five Starrer". A great read that captures you and carries you along with it. Reckless can be purchased here, although at last check it was still available for free on Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/Reckless-Burton-Kazmaroff-Mysteries-Book-ebook/dp/B00L70OSHS/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1429361492&sr=1-1&keywords=Reckless+Susan+Kiernan-Lewis       

As anyone who knows me will attest, I've always been a voracious reader - reading just about anything I could get my hands on. The only downside of becoming an author myself and focusing on my own writing was that I had let my reading slip to virtually nothing at all. 

Now, all the experts tell me that to be a good writer, you absolutely must read other people's works. 

With that "guilt" fresh in my mind, I determined that I was going to return to reading, as a relaxation, on a more regular basis. I'd met Hayden through the Twitter group #promocave, which is an author group that allows us to promote and encourage fellow authors. I had always been intrigued by the Twitter posts Hayden had used to promote his book, such as; "the most politically incorrect book ever written", "you'll pee your pants when you read this book". That plus the fact that, like my first novel, Travesty was dealing with the interaction between heaven and earth; made me very keen to read it. 

When I discovered it was available for a limited time for free on Kindle, I decided to "never look a gift horse in the mouth" and downloaded it. If like me you thought you could only read Kindle books if you had a Kindle reader, I'm here to tell you that's not the case. There are applications that will allow you to read Kindle Books on smart-phones, your laptop, or indeed on your PC. You just need to download them and the whole world of Kindle Books will open up to you. You can actually download them from the Amazon page, so don't hesitate - get your Kindle Reader today and start reading.
Right, on to the book itself. Travesty is published by Hayden himself and is approximately 300 pages long. I am surprised to discover the length, given I managed to read the entire book in virtually one sitting; it really is that easy a read. 

Now Travesty is NOT for everyone. If you are easily offended, or politically correct, do not buy this book. If, like me, however you enjoy cutting satire and a good old-fashioned yarn, written in everyday language that we can all identify with, then Travesty is a "damn good read". 

To give you the basic premise of the book; without spoiling any of the surprises, this is the basic plot. Travesty was so named by his Mother, because she foresaw his birth as the beginning of a long, drawn out disaster for her. Travesty is your archetypal Aussie layabout. He hates work and prefers instead to partake in a life of lying around, drinking himself silly and when the need arises indulging in the pleasures of "agency girls". 

Unfortunately for Travesty his life is cut short by an angry Mother who catches him and an "agency girl" in her marital bed. Death, much to his surprise is not the end, but rather the beginning of his adventures. To his shock and horror, Travesty finds himself in heaven and in an audience with God himself. He discovers that only Baptists (of which he was christened one) are allowed into Heaven, regardless of the sort of life they had led on Earth. 

Heaven is nothing like what he expected it to be and the book follows his interactions with the inhabitants of heaven, culminating in a "Second Coming", when Travesty, not Jesus, returns to save the people of the Earth from the Global Financial Crisis.

There are many genuinely funny and bizarre scenes in this book, which will live long in my memory long after my read. The satire is very pronounced and cutting, and will resonate with all those who have ever experienced the arrogance and pomposity of many, religious, political and bureaucratic leaders. While it is true that I did not "pee my pants" whilst reading this book I was regularly brought to laughter and chuckling. It is a fantastic read for anyone who has ever "cocked a snoot" at authority. 

Two scenes in particular will live long in my memory; The description of the creation of the Universe - "The Big Bang" and Hayden's interpretation of Travesty's first meeting with God. As I read these sections I commented under my breath; "this man is a pure genius". The two passages were awesome. 
This really is an amazing book and a whole lot of fun. I would urge you to go and purchase it for your reading pleasure. You won't be sorry you did. If I was giving out stars, Travesty would garner a 5-star rating in my book. Well done that man!