Lily Dale series by Wendy Corsi Staub

Chris and I just got back from a week-long vacation to Daytona Beach, Florida where I had the opportunity to veg on the beach and read many, many books. Unfortunately we did not have access to the internet and I was unable to write a thorough review of each book. Because I'm lazy I will review this series as a whole.

Our heroine in this story is Calla Delaney, a 17-year-old girl living in Florida. She has recently broken up with her boyfriend and our story begins at her mother's funeral, who died from falling down the stairs in their home. While he father goes to grieve in California and start a new job, Calla goes to live with her grandmother in the place where her mother grew up. Calla's mother had a falling out with her mother and never liked to talk about her hometown. While in Lily Dale, New York Calla starts to see spirits/ghosts and learns that she can communicate with the dead and that Lily Dale is the birthplace for Spiritualism and is full of psychics. So the first book Calla starts to get used to her newly discovered abilities while getting settled in the local high school and community. Calla begins to learn more about her mother's past and finds out that her mother kept many secrets.

In the second book Calla is still getting used to her new abilities and uses them to find the body of a girl who was recently murdered. Calla is able to save another victim's life and catch the killer when he comes after her. Go Calla! Meanwhile she's still trying to figure out the secrets of her mom's past and learning how to interpret messages from the spirit world. She is also developing a cute relationship with a boy named Jacy. She's been going on dates with a guy named Blue, but I don't really like him much. Jacy is much better for her and I like it when there's a really good love interest.

Book 3 focuses more on Calla trying to discover her mother's secrets, in particular the details of her death. What had previously been determined to be a tragic accident, Calla finds clues that suggest her mother was pushed down the stairs. Jacy has visions of Calla in danger and there is eventually a confrontation between Calla and her mother's killer while she is in Florida searching for clues to her mother's past.

In the last book I was able to read of the series Calla seeks to learn why her mother was killed. She discovers that her mother had another child back when she was a teenager. Calla uses her abilities to communicate with the spirit world to try and find out what happened to her half-sister. Meanwhile her relationship with Jacy progresses in a slow but happy manner.

I'm pretty sure that the author, Wendy Corsi Staub, is going to write more books for the series. When she does I will definitely be checking them out from the library. I really enjoyed reading these supernatural stories during my beach vacation. They were easy and entertaining reads and kept me engaged during all my down time. I read approximately one book per day. I would recommend this series to anyone who wants a fun, easy, and mildly suspenseful experience. One thing that annoyed me was that Calla and sometimes Jacy would have difficulty working out clues that were totally easy; it frustrated me when I could figure out the mystery in seconds and it took them pages or chapters even to solve. Annoying. And unrealistic. The heroine is supposed to be clever. I just don't like working out an easy mystery way before the main character does. But otherwise I really enjoyed the series. Not particularly thought provoking in any way but definitely entertaining. Fun read!

Overall: 3.5 out of 5