Stacy Justice is looking forward to a lazy summer of hot dogs and beer; swims in the lake with her Great Dane, Thor; and hanging with her rekindled old flame, Chance. But when she gets a creepy anonymous call hinting that her father’s “accidental” death fourteen years ago was actually a murder, she’s too unsettled to relax. Stacy has blamed herself for his death all along—in fact, it’s the reason she’s fought so hard against being a witch. But who’d want to kill an innocent small-time newspaperman?
That’s the question on Stacy’s mind when she casts a spell that goes horribly wrong. And between the white tiger that keeps appearing out of thin air, the body in the lake, the feisty razor-toothed Chihuahua, and the gun-toting maniac, she suddenly has her hands full once again. But solving the mystery of her father’s death is Stacy’s number-one priority…and avenging it, if necessary, is a very close second.
Barbra Annino writes about strong women with a flair for humor and a penchant for trouble. Her bestselling Stacy Justice Mysteries books have hit the top ten in the Amazon charts multiple times, with Opal Fire claiming the #1 slot in the entire store. Check out her Everafter series if you like grown up fairy tales, and Fury Rising for a steamy urban fantasy. Sign up for freebies, exclusive content, release dates, and fun stuff at www.authorbarbraannino.com
I admit that, when I purchased the first 'Stacy Justice' book, by Barbra Annino, it was something I considered a "guilty pleasure". I was looking for some light, entertaining fiction that would speak to that part of me which I don't often satisfy: paranormal infatuation. And I did thoroughly enjoy both "Opal Fire" and "Bloodstone".
"Tiger's Eye" brought something new to the table, and I am a bigger fan than ever.
There seems to be a lovely maturity to this third installment. The book is more controlled and purposeful than its predecessors. The appreciable humour feels more appropriate whenever it is placed; less parenthesized, perhaps. The pacing is smoother, too.
The main character is a lovable and admirable one, and I appreciate her new maturity as well.
I came away from the first two books thinking, "That was a fun read". "Tiger's Eye" gave me even more depth and satisfaction.
Thanks to Barbra Annino for carrying on. I'm very much looking forward to installment #4!
Stunning. A phone call stating that her father had been murdered throws her off her stride. Then a drunken spell calls dogs to her, even the ones that have died years ago. Dead men in the river, a sniper using her and Derek as targets, spyware, missing files, ghosts speaking to her all just add to her confusion. Who killed her father and why? A brilliant plot that really kept you reading. Okay I did figure out one part but not the other - terrific that I couldn't. Plus the characters are growing and evolving ad the glimpses into their everyday life really acts as a glue to the whole story.
4.5 Stars... Stacy's life continues to be complicated as she searches for the missing clues to her father's untimely death, prepares to encompass all that it means to be the Seeker of Justice, free her mother, and solve a murder (AGAIN!)… I absolutely loved this read, continuing to use witty humor along with the grittiness of a murder mystery, Barbra Annino balances both perfectly and insinuates each into Stacy's personality and relationships... I look forward to how this series will evolve and how Stacy will finally embrace her destiny:)
I loved how this book was about finding out why her father was murdered and who did it. I love that Derek was so willing to help her and I hate how he got hurt. I loved how they gave Thor a spy camera. I loved that when she cast the spell to find Thor all the dogs came back and I love that she was able to help her old dog. I hate that Parker was the one behind her dad’s murder and how he got benefits from it. I loved that Stacy was able to communicate with the spirits and pass on messages to the living.
Stacy Justice once again shows us that reporter and witch are a great combination to be. She uses all her skills to figure out this mystery. This novel has an ending I didn't expect but definitely made sense. Very entertaining.
Book Info: Genre: Paranormal mystery/chick lit Reading Level: Adult Recommended for: fans of paranormal mystery, chick lit, those interested in witchcraft and Celtic lore and legends Trigger Warnings: murder
My Thoughts: These books are becoming better as they go along, but there are still too many things that bother me. For instance, it is said over and over that Amethyst, Illinois is a small town, and everyone knows everyone, but it's big enough for there to be at least a half-dozen fancy restaurants and has enough people that all of those restaurants are booked solid? Where I come from, the small towns don't have any fancy restaurants, let alone the choice between Indian, Italian, etc. Or if they do have a “fancy” restaurant, it's more along the line of a steakhouse.
That said, this book did hold my interest more than the first couple, but it wasn't enough for me to want to continue. However if you like paranormal mysteries, books featuring witches, chick lit, etc., then you might like this series more than I did. Check it out.
Disclosure: I received a paperback ARC from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Synopsis: Stacy Justice is looking forward to a lazy summer of hot dogs and beer; swims in the lake with her Great Dane, Thor; and hanging with her rekindled old flame, Chance. But when she gets a creepy anonymous call hinting that her father’s “accidental” death fourteen years ago was actually a murder, she’s too unsettled to relax. Stacy has blamed herself for his death all along—in fact, it’s the reason she’s fought so hard against being a witch. But who’d want to kill an innocent small-time newspaperman?
That’s the question on Stacy’s mind when she casts a spell that goes horribly wrong. And between the white tiger that keeps appearing out of thin air, the body in the lake, the feisty razor-toothed Chihuahua, and the gun-toting maniac, she suddenly has her hands full once again. But solving the mystery of her father’s death is Stacy’s number-one priority… and avenging it, if necessary, is a very close second.
There are a handful of series that I have read that will always remain favorites simply because I know that when I read them I will get laugh out loud moments and just have a fun time while reading them, this is such a series.
I adore Stacy Justice, or maybe I just adore Barbra Annino and her incredible writing ability that never fails to put a smile on my face, keep me on the edge of my seat rooting for the Geraghty Girls (plus Thor) or keep me immersed in one heck of a great story line.
Either way, this is my “it” series. The one I go to when I need a good laugh with characters that I have come to care about over time and wish I could call family.
I loved this read. So much happens but most of all, Stacy starts to really embrace who and what she is. She grows so much in this one. Her powers, her idea of who she is and her willingness to finally let go and learn from her grandma and aunts (who I just LOVE! They are so hilarious and quirky!).
A lot is revealed in this one too. So many secrets, betrayals and lies. It makes me really excited for the next book. I know there is going to be so much more to learn about Stacy and her past (the other Geraghty girls!) and I really look forward to learning more about them all.
I really can't express how much I love this series. It is so well written and so entertaining. The characters are all completely unique and amazing and so real feeling. Not to mention some of the most loveable quirky ones I have ever read.
Annino has done an amazing job with it all and I look forward to reading whatever else she writes in the future.
I ignored the author's note and did not read these stories in order. There are a few things that I had to figure out, but this could be read without the back story given in the first two books (which I have now read). In Tiger's Eye, Stacy is dealing with three separate mysteries. The first is continued from the end of book two, she needs to figure out who murdered her father. Second, after a slightly confusing time when her lovely pooch, Thor, is missing, she messes up a spell and Thor comes back with a sick doggie. She takes the sick dog to her aunt, who is also a witch. I guess this does not necessarily make it Stacy's mystery, but it is a recurring aspect of the book. Finally, as Stacy is swimming a dead guy grabs her. So, she ends up having to figure out what's going on with the dead guy in the lake. Honestly, for a book under 300 pages there is A LOT going on in here.
Since there is so much going on, this is a book flew by. I didn't want to put it down. I literally fell asleep with it laying on me. I wish there was a little more about the dogs or the father. I felt like I was going in several different directions at once. I wondered if it was just because I had not read the first two books, but after reading the other two, it still went in several different directions.
I did enjoy this book greatly though. Stacy is extremely funny. I loved her snarky attitude. It was what drew me into the story and made me want to read the other books. The first two books are better than this one, but I'm still looking forward to the third book.
Tiger's Eye is the third installment of the Stacy Justice Mystery Series by Barbra Annino, and if you've enjoyed the first two (Opal Fire and Bloodstone), you're going to love this one as well.
In Tiger's Eye, Stacy Justice continues to come to terms with her witchy heritage as she confronts the possibility that her father's accidental death was actually murder. A white tiger continues to appear to Stacy, and while she struggles to understand its significance, she must face various other obstacles and challenges from being shot at in a junkyard to a yippy little chihuahua that seems to have her number.
Quite simply, Annino has done it again -- managed to weave together a bewitching, captivating, funny mystery while further developing her quirky characters, both those still around and those MIA in one way or another.
I've said it before, and it still holds true -- I just love Annino's writing style and wit. If you haven't been reading this series of books, I highly recommend jumping on the Stacy Justice bandwagon now; Annino is primed to become a major player in the cozy mystery game. I can't wait to read the next one.
I've had the pleasure to review the previous Stacy Justice tales. I would say Stacy Justice is like Stephanie Plum, but that's not really true. Stacy Justice is smart, competent and a witch. She's better! And Tiger's Eye is the best one yet. There's some awkwardness with Leo, but Stacy has really settled down with Chance. So her love life is less of a mess, but her family still needs fixing.
Her father died when she was young, and her mother is in witch jail in Ireland, I think. They just say "The Old Country" but I think that's what they mean. Before Stacy has been reluctant to acknowledge her status as a witch and start training with the Geraghty Girls, her grandmother and 2 great-aunts. In this novel she finally accepts her purpose. She is happy to get trained by her family so she can save her mother. But first, she has to figure out who murdered her father.
There are no shortages of surprises and mysteries. We also learn more about Stacy and her family. I really enjoyed this one and I stand by what I said, best one yet!
I discovered the Stacy Justice series last year and loved them so much I couldn't wait for this book. I am happy to say this book was worth the wait.
This book picks up where we left off. It felt so good to follow Stacy around . It felt like being home again with these characters.
Stacy will not let things go until figures out the mystery. I said it before I'll say it again Stacy has to be one of me favorite female characters. She's strong, stubborn, funny and kick ass! Chance, her lovable eccentric aunts, grandmother ,her cousin, Cinnamon(love that name) and Thor her great Dane and familiar are all back as well.
Here we go on another crazy ride to find out if her father had been truly murdered. This book was hilarious and kept me on the edge of my seat. If you're looking hot smexy action this doesn't have it. But honestly you won't miss it. It works without it.
Check this book out, I promise you won't regret it.
Wow, this got a bit more serious than the previous books. Stacy is researching her father's death this time around and finds some unpleasant answers . The spell that brings the dogs was pretty interesting and I'm glad to see it looks like we are going to stay out of love triangle territory. I did miss Stacy's sister who brought a lot of entertainment to the previous book and was surprised she wasn't even mentioned in this one.
Started well, a multitude of instantly likeable characters with good rapport and funny dialogue. The dog is fabulous...protective, loyal and irreverent. Disappointed by the astoundingly brusque and unsatisfying denouement, everything tied up in a single chapter but felt like a desperate bid to wrap the book up quickly without any thought to the reader's engagement or pleasure in the process.
Left me with a sense of annoyance towards the end but probably still a 2.5 star read but with the potential for much more.
I really, really LOVE these Stacy Justice books. For me, they are right up there with some of the greats. I love the sense of humor, and the characters.
In this one, Stacy (amongst all her other adventures) sets out to find out what really happened to her dad. We find out that he was truly murdered and there were surprising plot twists along the way!
This book had me laughing, and getting very emotional, especially the part about Lolly and her love. (not going to ruin it for anyone here)
I also love that she is BEGINNING to accept her powers and her destiny.
So happy that Stacy finally seems to have her love life figured out and I'm ecstatic that she chose Chance! I like Leo, but Chance is just a better fit!
We also got to see more of Stacy's cuz, Cinnamon! The pregnancy test scene had me rolling! And, Chance's reaction was so stinking sweet!
But the ending of this book totally sealed the deal for me! Loved It!
I like this series - they are fun quick reads with a lot of sass and humour. Tiger's Eye gets back to more of a murder mystery, as opposed to the quest-like plot of the previous book, Bloodstone and I appreciated that. It was a good murder mystery too, with the murderer right there without my having any idea until the ultimate reveal. A lot of fun to read and I'm looking forward to the next book.
Getting better but Jesus God...someone teach this woman about basic tech!
Okay... So the overall storytelling and annoyances seem to be leveling out SOME by this 3rd book but Jesus Christ! For all of the touting of "hours spent researching," couldn't Annino have bothered herself just a LITTLE to learn basic tech crap like that a portable storage device (e.g. a "thumb drive") is NOT a freaking DISK! And for Frank's sake, you don't "unload data." You freaking DOWNLOAD data!
Also, another, later point of sloppy writing in this book was the repeated point that there was freaking CARPET...in a VET'S OFFICE. Who the hell would EVER put CARPET in a place where sick animals traffic day after day, puking, peeing, pooping and bleeding?! Asinine and just sloppy.
I hope she's got a better editor by the next book in this series. Someone should be helping with this stuff. The distraction from the good is just borderline tragic.
This is the third book in thee series. Stacey is at a charity baseball game and Birdie is the pitcher and cheats. Stacey ends up seeing a white tiger various times in the book.
Chance is her once and future boyfriend. Thor one day takes off and ends up bringing back a female collie that sees to be very, very skittish. If that's not enough problem for Stacey there's a guy at the bottom of the lake wearing concrete galoshes, a watch near him, a scrapyard with a sniper, a dead man talking to her, a really, really nasty chihuahua and a pregnancy.
Also, to make things different, someone tries to run down the collie and kill it. There's also a matter of her mother and the Council (there's always a council in this books) and a possible execution.
There's a lot that goes on and I really like Stacey's character. Thor, not so much. I think the story is well done and there's a lot going on that it keeps the reader interested.
I love this series. Light reading mysteries with plenty of humor, some of it just snarky, some of it self debasing. Once you begin a book in the series, it is difficult to put it down. Raised by her grandmother and her grandmother's sisters, all witches, she learned to be one herself. But when she grew up, she tried to turn her back on her upbringing until she returns back home. So between her "rusty" skills in witchcraft and her penchant to see and communicate with the dead, her spell casting creates some hilarious results. But, as an investigative reporter, she always solves the mystery, often at great peril to her life. After reading the first book, I bought the entire series and that was less than 2 weeks ago. I have never done that before, so it attests to my enjoyment of Stacy Justice's adventures.
Stacy, the heroine in this series, gives me conflicting feelings about her personality. It bothers me that she is not a little more respectful to her grandmother. But in all fairness, her grandmother Birdie can be very trying most of the time. On the other hand, Stacy has a strong sense of right and wrong, and she sticks to her convictions, which is a very good trait. The story in this book had more depth of emotion in it. It meant a great deal to Stacy to solve the mystery. Even so, there were hilarious moments where I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. This was a great book.
I started this series 2 days ago and read 4 books in that period the reason why I didn't rate it 5 stars is because although the story is really good but I don't know if anyone else noticed in book zero supposedly Pearl the restaurant owner and stacy's gramps's girlfriend died but surprisingly she was well and alive in this book. In the previous book as well there was a mistake in the follow up cause Stacy's mum supposedly went into a mental house which was admonished in this book and if that so it makes the events that happened in book zero not make any sense .
This one better than its two predecessors, I think by kind of a large margin.
The whole Stacy and Chance story develops, culminating in a big event. But Stacy is off to the Emerald Isle in her next adventure. I wonder how Thor will like air travel?
Thor may be my favorite character in this series. In this entry, we even also get to meet a mini Thor, which is an adorable wee side story, closely related to our main plot line.
Herein, we get to learn a bit more about Stacy's father and how he met his end. Next up, she's off to track down some similar information about her mother.
I can't believe how much better this series is getting. So much is happening in this installment.
Stacy learns that her decisions of the past were made in haste as she learned her father was murdered. She on a mission to find his killer. She cast a spell that went wrong and she has to correct it.
She goes through so much and matures. The emotional journey Stacy goes on draws you into the story. It's a great read and I can't wait to read the next installment.
This book was both revelatory and healing in its own way. The characters are lined up and ready to go and ain't nobody a scaredy cat or dog here. The characters are growing and their personalities are just about fully fleshed out in the series but Annino never fails to throw in a squiggle or two to keep things fresh, which totally delights me. This series is still in my family friendly list and most definitely collection worthy. Now dear friends I am off to read this next in the series.
While I am enjoying this series, it's missing something that prevents me from enjoying these installments more. I'm not sure what it is, but I don't really feel invested in these characters yet and I'm already at the half way point in this series. These are very easy books to follow and consume so I will be continuing through this series, but I'm going to take a little break before heading into the next one.
2.5 stars. This series is okay, and this story is on the mediocre side. None of the characters have any really depth. Stacy is forgettable as a main character. Her dog Thor is smarter than all the humans. And although two books ago she “accepted” her witch heritage, she’s still been kind of fighting it.m, but that seems more as a plot device than anything. Meh. Not sure I’ll continue the series.
I enjoyed Stacy's journey into the witch world , uncovering , and deciphering clues and feelings, as she dodges gunfire, drowning, and crossbow to uncover her answers about her Dad and her Mother. Its a busy read, with good descriptions . I found I had to go back to reread and comprehend when the story gets busy, just like a journalist, to sort out meanings, and gain infotj km h
I'm really enjoying this series. The principle characters are interesting, fun and occasionally outrageous. The writing is crisp and the storyline intriguing, and occasionally laugh out loud. The MC is awesome, and then there's Thor!! In addition, the support characters in each book add significantly to the story. All of the volumes have been very good so far, and Tiger's Eye is the best to date!👏
Awesome story! Stacy and Thor make an awesome team. Thor is like the rock and protector of Stacy. All of the fun begins after a softball game. Some is funny but the changes and corrections are interesting. Watch out for the white tiger as it is important. Follow the action and you will even find humor! Read and enjoy!
These books are always fun for a laugh and a mystery - witch stories that don't take themselves too seriously. This time, a voice from beyond has told Stacy that her father was murdered twelve years ago, that the car accident he'd been in was no accident. After a couple of twists and turns that will leave all dog lovers in stitches, Stacy solves the mystery just in time for the summer solstice.