Christine Nolfi - The Shell Seeker

1. The Shell Seeker by Christine Nolfi (2015)
Kindle Worlds Novella: The Lei Crime Series Book 2/Lei's Magic Series Book 2
Length: 105 pages
Genre: Short Story
Started: 30 December 2015
Finished: 4 January 2016
Where did it come from? Many thanks to Christine Nolfi for sending me a copy of this book to read from Amazon.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 30 June 2015
Why do I have it? I like short stories and have read and enjoyed several books by the same author in the past.

Leilani Texeira - a recent police academy graduate - is exactly two weeks away from accepting her newest assignment with the South Hilo Police Department in Hawaii. However, before Lei embarks on her future career, she reluctantly accepts a gift from her aunt Rosario: a five-day vacation at a relaxing Bed and Breakfast in South Carolina. While Lei truly appreciates her aunt's kindness, she isn't at all sure if she'll enjoy herself, because she is just so anxious about starting her new job. Lei still embarks on her vacation - but with absolutely no idea of how magical the trip will actually turn out to be for her.

Anyway, Lei arrives at the beachside Bed and Breakfast, and discovers immediately just how charming it is. Everywhere she looks, Lei sees signs of the laid-back, easygoing Southern lifestyle: the place is definitely a tourist's definition of absolute paradise. The hostess of the Bed and Breakfast is an honest-to-goodness Southern belle named Pixie, for heaven's sake! Ms. Pixie Delacorte is first and foremost, the quintessential genteelly-bred Southern hostess: offering up copious pitchers of sweet tea along with her Southern hospitality and gossip - oh, and she claims to have psychic powers as well!

However, there is so much more than magic in the air of South Carolina. Leilani Texeira - rookie police officer - will soon be drawn into her first case: the case of the Pirate Necklace. According to Pixie - the fount of all knowledge when it comes to the history of South Carolina - the legend of the Pirate Necklace can be traced all the way back to the eighteenth century. Apparently, the famed emeralds had once belonged to Edward Teach - the infamous pirate also known as 'Blackbeard'.

In the 1700s, the emeralds were spirited away from Blackbeard's ship sometime during the middle of the night by a resourceful young thief named Nathaniel. Since that time, the illustrious Pirate Necklace has belonged to an elite family in South Carolina's social scene - the Belvedere Family. Unfortunately, the necklace has been snatched once again. This time, the emeralds were stolen from the statuesque matriarch of the Belvedere family: Marie-Therese, a woman whose petty cruelty is only exceeded by her overwhelming arrogance.

Although Lei doesn't really care for the prim and proper socialite's icy demeanor, she feels an instant connection to Marie-Therese's stepdaughter: a highly-proficient, if struggling artist. It seems as if an supremely unlucky star has followed Sydney Belvedere for the majority of her life, and Lei finds that she can relate. If history continues to repeat itself, Sydney may always be star-crossed: because if the necklace isn't found soon, she stands to lose a treasure much dearer than the most precious gem. And it's only the magic of Lei’s intuition that stands between Sydney and her unspeakable loss.

So, back in April of 2015, I read Ms. Nolfi's first book in her Lei's Magic Series: The Shell Keeper. This second book in the series picks up relatively close to the end of the first book. I just want to say that in my opinion, The Shell Seeker was definitely worth the wait to read.

The characters and plot are all so well-developed; I found myself really caring for the characters and hoping that they would come through their various issues relatively unscathed. I definitely appreciated that the story itself was so well-developed for its length. I would give this novella an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

May you read well and often