Review: Funny sequel with a madcap heroine in Candice
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 6, 2014
The second in Ms. Casey’s Shine Not Burn series features Candice, the best friend of the last book’s heroine Andie.  She’s coming back to Baker City, Oregon to be there for Andie during the birth of her baby.  She’ll be there for two weeks and she manages to get into trouble and under Ian Mackenzie’s (Andie’s brother-in-law) skin in no time flat.  Ian’s cranky and miserable and a general pain in the behind, but Candice is determined to fix things for Andie while she’s in town - including Ian.The story is told almost exclusively in first person POV, so the reader spends all the time in the crazy “jumping bean” that is Candice’s thoughts.  This is a style that I enjoy and Candice is a pretty funny heroine.  She’s insane, spunky, willing to try anything and will do anything to confront what she feels is an injustice. She bickers with Ian constantly and the insane situations that she gets into genuinely made me laugh out loud several times.  The dialogue and humor are strong, the secondary characters are great to re-visit and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.I do think that it would be a bit more difficult to read this without reading Shine Not Burn first, so it’s not a full standalone. But there are no cliffhangers, no serious angst, it’s just a fun book.It’s a bit of a whacky comedy with some romance.  I enjoyed it but if you’re seeking a full-on romance, it’s there but the focus is much more on the funny than the sexy.The Bottom LineThis is a fun book I’d recommend to someone who needs a nice change of pace, something light and silly with a bit of romance.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.