<a href="https://booksofmyheart.net/2018/11/15/lipstick-voodoo-by-kristi-charish/" target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart</a>

Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
&nbsp;
4.5 hearts
&nbsp;
With the world and characters established, I enjoyed this second book in the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/180627-kincaid-strange" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em><strong>Kincaid Strange series</strong></em></a> even more than <strong>The Voodoo Killings. </strong>

I feel Kincaid is still so alone.  No one, even her friends, seem to help her.  Throughout <strong>Lipstick Voodoo</strong>, I  worried who would hurt her or betray her. She seems to constantly have new issues thrown at her and spends lots of time reacting rather than being able to set forth with purpose.  For her level of talents, I'm surprised often at how much she doesn't know. The great thing is there is so much character growth ahead for her.

The plot was like real life, a mish mash of multiple happenings all at once. I love the complexity these layers give. Kincaid had her problem with Nate the zombie/ ghost. Aaron calling her in to work murder cases, for FREE, with the lure of getting back to her police consulting.  Gideon providing lessons and tasks for her to learn but also to assist him.

Finally, I feel she and Nate were truly working together. I hope she has her first real ally.  Gideon is a conundrum.  What is he really about? Sometimes he seems terrifying and evil; sometimes he even acts like a mentor or friend.  Aaron was a douche, is a douche and likely will continue to be a douche.

So, this was really exciting and I can't wait to see what is next for our girl. The ending sets up the next wild adventure.  She has so much potential. If she can dump the douche, curb Nate's worst meanderings, and survive Gideon.
<blockquote>"... There is always corruption in the ruling class. Even in your United States today."

"Except the US is a democracy where we vote on our leaders. They aren't elected by their family members."

Lee made a derisive noise. "Never mind that two families, the Bushes and the Cintons, have appeared in all your elections since 1988 and split the presidency between themselves for twenty years, and the orange man has instated his offspring in positions of power. No, there is certainly no corruption or nepotism occurring in hte choosing of your candidates."</blockquote>

&nbsp;

Thank you to netgalley I received this as an ARC. I enjoyed it very much was good solid read. Solid 3.5 Stars for me!

Another paranormal page turner in the Kincaid Strange series! And since there’s a bit of a cliffhanger in the epilogue I’m joyfully assuming it’s not the last! While I enjoyed catching up with most of the same characters from book one, I didn’t find them all as compelling this time. The nonstarter will-they/won’t-they romance between Aaron and Kincaid fell flat for me in this novel. By no means do I think there needs to be a romantic storyline to make a book interesting, but if it’s not interesting why not leave it out completely? There was lots of ghoulish mystery and ghostly action, with some new facets of the Otherside to discover. I’m kind of between three and four stars! But I love these characters and this world so much I erred on the side of generous. I want everyone to know it’s worth picking up.

Not having read the first book in this series, I had hoped that I could understand all the characters and not be confused. I sort of managed that but the book's synopsis, while sounding interesting, just didn't hit with me. I will probably try the next in the series and maybe go back and read the first. If you are looking for an unusual read try this series. I received an e-book from NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.

Fun and entertaining paranormal adventure. The characters are enjoyable, and I know that I'd read more with them.
I know it's an ARC but something put out by one of the bigger publishers, I'd expect a little more finesse in the ARC put out. Hopefully the final product does look better. I had to force myself to turn off my working brain (editor here!) and just let myself entirely enter reader mode. This made it a little harder than some to do so, but I'm confident it will have been addressed.

I realized there is another book before this which makes a lot of sense. However voodoo is super fun to read about however I did get the feeling this dragged at times.

I really enjoyed this book. I like the idea of a voodoo practicing detective. Very cute concept. The world is very cleverly done, and I enjoyed the book. I didnt realize it was book two in the series, and I still enjoyed it. 8/10. Would read the rest of the series.

I am really enjoying this series. It is fun, clever, and keeps me reading. I love the sense of humour in these books and the lightness of them, especially considering they deal with zombies and ghosts.

Kincaid is a great character who is smart and talented, but also fallible. It is interesting to see how she solves the mysteries around her.

And I love Nate, the dead grunge rock star. He presents lots of interesting challenges, especially in this book.

If you are looking for a lighthearted, modern, non-apocolyptic zombie/ghost/mystery, then you’ll enjoy this series.

Kincaid Strange is Voodoo Practioner. Her best friend is a ghost, or was a ghost. Now Nate is a zombie hybrid. Nate’s past is about to catch up to him and drag Kincaid along for the ride. Interestingly, Aaron, the ex-boyfriend cop, is the one to bring up Nate’s past. Will Kincaid be able to solve the mystery and save Nate? Don’t forget the sorcerer’s ghost Gideon she cheated who is out for revenge.

This was a cool premise. I like the Voodoo aspects and wish there had been more of that. This was a different story but it dragged a little. Kincaid was a little boring and there were no good or funny dialogues between the characters. I have not read the first book so maybe that has something to do with it. There were definitely parts where reading the first book would have helped. None of the characters were built for me. They seemed a little one dimensional. The first part of the book was the most interesting and that was before the actual story started. The potential is there. The characters need more to them.

Two stars: It was ok. There is a lot room for growth. The stars are for the fact that it was different story.

Enjoyable read. It was well written and unique. It was my first read from this author and it won’t be my last!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

This is the second book in the Kincaid Strange series. I hadn’t read the first book so at first some of the details were a little confusing but I think this still works well as a stand alone. Kincaid Strange is a voodoo practitioner in the very haunted, zombified city of Seattle. She is on a quest to free her roommate’s ghost who somehow became trapped in someone else’s body. That body had been earmarked for Gideon, a powerful sorcerer’s ghost and he is not happy about Nate being trapped in his coveted body. Kincaid is recruited by her cop ex-boyfriend to assist the Seattle police department in solving a cold case. Then there are a series of paranormal murders of people that are somehow related to Nate. She must find out who or what is committing the crimes while trying to help Nate. I am a big fan of urban fantasy so I enjoyed this book. I think it could use a little editing but that may be because this is an ARC. I think there are parts that could use a little more explanation and clarification for situations that occurred in the first book so that this could truly be a stand alone. I enjoyed this world of zombies and ghosts and intend to go back and read the first book as well as the rest of this series when they are published. I received this ARC copy of Lipstick Voodoo from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Kincaid Strange, the paranormal practitioner, is trying to figure out how to help her roommate Nathan Cade after her last case left him entrapped in another body and indebted to Gideon, a powerful sorcerer's ghost. Kincaid's ex, Aaron, brings her in on a new paranormal investigation that links to a 30 year old cold case in which Nate is a suspect. Something is murdering Nate's old band mates, freezing them to death, something Kincaid has never encountered before. Kincaid is running out of time to save Nate, but he's keeping secrets that may just make her a target.

Lipstick Voodoo is the second novel in the Kincaid Strange series. This novel picks up where the first novel (The Voodoo Killings) leaves off with Kincaid still recovering from her last paranormal battle. I absolutely loved the first novel and was so excited to get the chance to read an early copy of the second book. Kincaid is still as spunky as ever and we get to reunite with some of the characters from book 1 such as: Lee, Nate, Aaron, Gideon (yeah), and Mork. One complaint is that I didn't care for the character/plot rebuilding that took up a lot of the first half of this novel. It's great for people who haven't read the first book (read the first book), but felt like a repeat of everything I had already read. We are introduced to a new entity which freezes its victims and has an unusual effect on otherside. The novel ended in a way that suggests we might be getting more adventures from Kincaid and Gideon in the future...fingers crossed. Am I the only one hoping that there might be a romantic element later between Kincaid and Gideon? This is such a fun preternatural/paranormal series with a feisty and strong female protagonist. This is definitely one of my favorite series and a perfect fall read.

I usually wait until less than a month before release to read and write reviews but after reading The Voodoo Killings I found that I HAD to read this ARC that I had received since book 1 was so good.

While this was an exceptional story I did not think it reached the 5 Star level that book 1 did but it was more of a combinations of frustrations than the story actually lacking. I got tired of a boyfriend who was not even a good fried much less any one who really cared but the author tried to make me think he really did but it did not come across as real. I am still trying to figure out Gideon and he may be my favorite character even if he really needs some social interaction that does not include death threats. I want to see more of him and this came close.

I have to say that in my personal opinion when the heroine is involved in near death situations many times the "Captain" is a level of frustration for me I hated, he served no real purpose other than to make a gritty story kind of depressing when local police politics was involved in the story, but it did serve one purpose to show how spineless her "boyfriend" really was at times.

The fact remains that with all that it was still an exceptional story and that kept you guessing (most likely wrong) with twists and turns you never saw coming and a heroine that spends most of the book so tired from paranormal fights you feel tired right along with her. As the story builds and it gets more complicated you just can't figure out the "whodunnit" and it was a bit of a surprise.

So a great story that had some character frustrations that kept me from getting the same level of enjoyment as I did with book 1 but be assured I will be grabbing the next book as soon as I can but since I have totally ruined my reviewers schedule by reading/reviewing this book 5 months before release means I will have a horribly long wait :(

On our recent vacation to the North Carolina mountains I needed a good read. I had requested this little beauty on Netgalley and it came through. This is an ARC review of a fun book. I could not hike mountains with my family, due to recent surgery, and it was just fine with me because this book kept me company. The author drew me in very quickly. I read a lot so I am accustomed to most types of magic, fantasy, supernatural and just plain extraordinary, but the world this author built was unexpected and kept even me guessing. I liked that I could not predict the ending, heck I had trouble predicting what was going to happen in the next chapter. You have to understand this is highly unusual. I can usually tease out a story-line by chapter 3 or 4. I really enjoyed reading the book. The main character was well developed as was her "best friend". The others were a little flat. I wanted to know more especially about certain characters. I am hoping Ms. Charish purposely left out some of these details so she can follow up with a sequel, which I would look forward to reading. I think any fantasy reader would enjoy reading this little gem.

Written by Kristi Charish, which it turns out is the second novel in the Kincaid Strange series, is about a voodoo practitioner, the only one registered in the Northwest of the US, who raises zombies. But she has a few problems, including an ex she is trying to get going with again, an ancient wizard and ghost who is upset with her, a zombie that shouldn't be there, and clients.

This isn't a bad book. In fact, if you are a zombie fan, I highly recommend it. It involves a bit more of "how zombies are made" and different kinds, as well as the idea of what happens to a spirit and other interesting topics.

Its a decent book. It just wasn't what I wanted to read, and wasn't really my style. Part is because, again, I ended up hopping in on the second book. The other half is, it takes a lot for me to be interested in a zombie book. I do know a few folks who I will suggest this series to, see what they think.

A good choice for zombie fans who are tired of post-apocalypse stories and urban fantasy fans.

Lipstick Voodoo is my first introduction to Kristi Charish and I was captivated by the paranormal setting for this story. Loved the setting and the overall premise I found the story dragged a bit in areas and having not read the first book some elements of why our protagonist made certain choices were a little hard to grasp. Overall I felt like it was a good addition to the paranormal genre and I look forward to reading other works by this author.

A continuation of the Kincaid Strange series, Kincaid's ghost roommate, Nate, is trapped in a quickly decaying zombie body. Kincaid doesn't know how to "disconnect" Nate from the body. In addition to the Nate problem, there is an angry ghost sorcerer who forces Kincaid into an apprenticeship which she really doesn't want but has to take to settle her debt. An exciting second installment in the series. Recommend for fans of urban fantasy with strong female protagonists.

It was a fun read, I enjoy these kinds of books so this was right up my alley. Kincaid always had her hands full that is for sure. I voluntarily read this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I didn’t finish the book. I tried really hard to like it but it was just blah. The cover is pretty and I guess I was judging the book by it and the few reviews I saw.  I love the paranormal and voodoo and necromancy and was pumped for this but it fell flat for me.I guess it just wasn’t meant for me.

**ARC provided by the author/publisher via NetGalley**

DNF after 2 attempts (★★ July 2018)

I tried twice to read 'Lipstick Voodoo' by Kristi Charish. The first time, I couldn't finish Chapter 1; the second time, I made it to page 35 (PDF copy) before giving up. I realise that an ARC is not necessarily *the* final version but at six months from publication, I expected the story to flow smoother and be less riddled with mistakes re: basic grammar, punctuation and syntax.

Whether it's the writing style, editorial process and/or something else, Ms. Charish's creativity couldn't overcome the flawed presentation. From the very first page, my hand itched for a red pen. By page 3, I had to pause so to confirm exactly who was introduced when. By page 6, the chronic inconsistencies & errors led to my first DNF. (FYI, the word "revoke' is incorrect re: will,)

I tried to read the book again because despite everything, the opening scene caught my interest. And as I read further, I could see the potential for a really great read. Consequently, it was frustrating to be thwarted by basic yet persistent errors. Throw in confusing and/or illogical sequence of facts & backstory and the book lost me, both as someone who didn't read the first book and as a reader in general.

I can't help but wonder if an experienced narrator would make adjustments such that the audio format would do justice to the story and provide a more pleasing experience. I may try the first book in audio & possibly return to this one later,

The above will not be posted anywhere else. FWIW, I would've listed very specific examples but NG's feedback function is no longer private. Given the change to a public review, feel free to email me with any questions.