Emotional tension was alive in Stephanie Damore’s third installment in the life of Ms. Ziva Diaz. No longer just a Beauty Secrets consultant to the rich in South Carolina. She has opened a shop in Port Haven, her hometown with her skin care line, Sugar and Sass. As busy as she is juggling the two careers and Finn her new beau, somehow Ziva still manages to stumble upon dead bodies, scandals, and a grumpy detective out for blood. It all starts after a disastrous on air interview with Marissa the shopping networks’ up and coming star anchor. The chain of events increases as does the tension between Ziva and Finn. Dead bodies seem to be drawn to Ziva as does the scandals, lies, and betrayals. Mix in a jewelry thief to make matters worse and increase Ziva’s stress level. Chocolate wrappers in her rental car. Trips back and forth from Tampa to Port Haven. Psychotic phone calls to her uncertain Beau, an invitation to her frenemies wedding to Ziva’s ex Todd. Why wouldn’t she be drawn to chocolate, sweets, and martinis? If I hate the way she did, I would not even be able to roll out of bed. Eyeliner and Alibis like Ms. Damore’s earlier works are filled with love, romance, mystery, intrigue, suspense, and humor. As in the stories about Ziva and her Beauty Secret and mystery solving life, I found myself watching this young woman grow and learn more about herself. I also found even more within the pages of this current read that I could relate to. A couple of examples: “I’ve been told that I’m prone to overreacting. I thought my theory through. Facebook and Instagram were old-school, but Snapchat wasn’t.” (Damore 2017) I noted these in my eBook version of this story. My now husband and I have discussed my lovely characteristic of overreacting. Insert hilarious laugh. J Those days are long gone, but I do remember the crazy phone calls, storming off, etc. again, insert hilarious laugh and blame it on my Scottish and Irish temper. Regarding Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, well, I do not have Snapchat so maybe I am not a part of the cool kids but I choose to have to worry about another password to remember and lock away. Choose not to have to worry about keeping up with another social media account and drive myself to “overreacting”. Lol. I chuckle when I think that the above social media networks are not old school when I think about the social medias of my time were writing on a piece of paper and calling people on a phone are.
Ms. Damore has yet again done a fantastic job and I am looking forward to reading Ziva’s next adventure Pedicures & Prejudice.
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