Review: Twenty-Eight and a half wishes 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 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.

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As a compulsive list maker, I was immediately intrigued by the premise of Denise Grover Swank's new book. Okay, granted I don't have psychic visions or have to worry about someone out to murder me (I don't think anyway), but list making, I have down! Rose Gardner is your typical heroine. She has grown up facing hardship in the form of a mother that treats her more like an inconvenient housekeeper more than treating her like a daughter, feeling that she has to give her freedom to making sure her mother is taken care of. She has these nagging psychic visions that cause her to speak out about them without thinking most times and most people don't understand so she feels like an outcast. Her sister is married with children, having a very charmed life that Rose is not going to have. Then she envisions a customer at the DMV killing her and life takes quite the detour. When her mother ends up getting murdered instead of her, Rose finds herself under suspicion and enter sexy next door neighbor, Joe, who of course is carrying secrets.

I really enjoyed this book. As "typical" as the heroine is, there is so much charm and delight in the character of Rose that you can't help but just love her. This was one of those books that I kept telling myself one more page, then I need to put it down. Instead I found myself tearing through the book instead, needing to know the outcome. (And for the record, I was wrong on who I thought was behind it all, thankfully!) It is a definite recommendation and Denise Grover Swank is going to be entertaining for years to come with fun characters and interesting stories to tell.

You can find out about Denise and her books at the following:
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