Autumn in Cranky Otter

Autumn in Cranky Otter
C.J. Winters
Hard Shell Word Factory
ISBN: 0-7599-4375-3
Fiction, Paranormal Romance
Reviewed by Rachel Olivier

Autumn Renfro has recently lost both her husband and her mother, her father having passed away years before. Now alone, at the fairly young age of 26, with her Gran as her only close living relative left, she decides to make a complete change in her life. Autumn leaves the comfort of her fairly normal life in Chicago to take on the challenge of running her mother's antique store in the small town of Cranky Otter in the Ozarks. In the process of settling in to her new home she makes friends and enemies, learns she has a talent after all, and discovers romance at the hands of two avid admirers.
In the novel, Autumn in Cranky Otter, Winters has written a tale that is part romance, part self-discovery, part paranormal fiction, and part mystery. The character of Autumn is painted well, depicting both her strengths and weaknesses. The tension between characters is also well done, particularly the relationship between the two rivals, Kevin and Brann. Indeed, the tension between all three of the above characters was enough to keep me reading despite some of the weaknesses, such as blocking (sometimes a character was standing at the beginning of a scene, yet seated by the end, but nowhere had it said that they had sat down), and some of the loose ends that were left dangling. In addition, it felt a little bit as if the writer was in too much of a hurry at the end of the book, as if the characters did not have enough time to play their parts and say their goodbyes. Despite this and some of the above problems, however, it was a strong story, with good characters, well-written and a satisfying read.