I'm a bit late to the Ripple Effect series, this is the fourth book but only the first I've read and I can safely say this can be read as a introduction to the series or as a standalone. Following the adventures of retired couple Rapella and her husband, Rip, as they travel around the US in their RV, they find themselves in the middle of a mystery wherever they go. Rapella, a charmingly naive chatterbox, made for an entertaining sleuth (and I enjoyed Itsy as the sidekick!) and I was drooling over the beautiful scenery on their cruise. Add in a mouthy cockatoo, a sweet St Bernard and a zippy, lively plot and there was a lot to like!

The plot, surrounnding an anonymous tip that a local woman's death was not due to natural causes and is later determined to be murder. Suspicion is thrown onto Sydney, one of Rip's cardiac nurses and the niece of the recently decesased woman. There were many facets to the plot, from the seemingly "haunted" house to the squabbling siblings to the possible cache of missing gold and I was sucked in from the start. From the breathtaking scenery on the cruise that made me drool to the many lovable (and not so lovable) characters that jumped off the page and the hijinks that Rapella got into had me chuckling (especially the Uber part!) While I read a lot of cozy mysteries, there have been few that were as fun as this and and I'm definitely going to read the other books in the series.

This world continues to get more complex, and the contrast and compare to what Alex calls his 'core' universe - the one he grew up in - is still managing to excite me, quite a bit. I'm still rating these five stars each because I'm simply enjoying these reads, despite the writing not being top notch, despite this not being as complex or through provoking as it could be. 

It's not really meant to be.   It's meant to be fun and it is that.  

The more I read, the more I realize that this is not a series for a Marvel novice.   Knowing the 'core' world is pretty important to get a lot of things in this.   Then again, I was far from a novice when I first read this, and I've read far more since then, including a lot of backstories. I can only wonder at how much richer my experience is knowing what they're playing off of. 

Then again, no Marvel novice would be likely to pick this up.  It's not a well known series, and Marvel doesn't even admit it exists on their site.  Still, I've got a little bit of Mutant X overload. 

I'm gonna move onto the new comics, including the DC stuff I picked up for half off, today. 

Oh, yes, also, half off Marvel sale is no longer going on at Newbury, but a half-off DC is going on now.   It's half off anything $3.99 or less. I picked up some one dollar comics half off, too. 

It seems I haven't read in forever although it's probably only been a month or two. I was ready for something short to get me back into things. Over the weekend my daughter and I attended a writer's conference and picked up lots of new books by the other authors. 

When I saw the cover of this book I knew I had to read it. I'm addicted to HGTV and DIY Network, plus hubby and I are currently renovating our home. Throw in a sweet and clean romance and I'm all in!

I loved that the conflict that keeps our protags apart is something realistic. Not some over the top device because they "just can't get together yet." I could relate to Olivia. She's had her life planned out forever. She knows what her goals and expectations are, and she doesn't shift gears quickly. That's how I am. I need time to get used to a new idea. Figure out how that changes things and decide if I'm willing to do that. This is the core of what keeps her from accepting Pete too soon.

At first I thought Pete was "all in" way too easily, but that was explained well as the book progressed. Olivia looks like his dead fiance. Enough said.

Spoiler Alert (sort of):

I loved what Pete says to convince Olivia that he loves her for her and not because she reminds him of the previous girl he loved. Truly sigh worthy!

There was a typo or two--but that's me getting nit-picky so I have something to critique here. Oh, and I really wish Olivia had stuck it to William a lot worse than she did. And that I got to see it. :)

All in all I really enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting. I give Home Matters a solid 4!

1-5 scale and what it means:
1: I couldn’t even finish it / just plain bad
2: I hope I didn’t pay for this / disappointing
3: I didn’t hate it, but it was still missing something / forgettable but inoffensive
3.5: On the line between good and ok / like, not love
4: Solid mind candy / worth reading
4.5: So very close to perfection! / must read
5: I could not put it down and I’m still thinking about it! / a true treasure