Book Review: A First Date with Death by Diana Orgain (Love or Money Mystery #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Page turning story, strong main characters

Cons: Mystery was weak, many characters on the flat side

The Bottom Line:

Reality death

And complicated romance

Very fun debut

Date This Debut

It’s always a delight to see an author you like start a new series.  Since I was a fan of Diana Orgain’s earlier series starring a new mother, I was thrilled to see A First Date with Death hit the shelves.  This new series is off to a fun start that promises many more adventures to come.

Georgia is doing something she never thought she’d do – go on a reality show.  Worse yet, she’s a contestant on a dating show, trying to decide which of the bachelors on the show are in it for the money or which are in it for love.

The first group date ends early with a tragic accident, however, and Georgia gets a huge shock when her former fiancée, a man who left her at the altar, takes that contestant’s place.  Paul is a cop, so that must mean that there was something sinister behind the accident and he’s only on the show to investigate, right?  The next day, another of the contestants is found dead.  What has Georgia signed up for?  And will she pick the right contestant if the show even continues?

The book starts out with that first group date, and it was a scene that fed into my fear of heights, so it definitely got the blood pumping.  I was intending to read just one chapter before I went to sleep, but I read another couple because I couldn’t stop there.

That level of interest never wavered as I was reading the book.  However as I read, I realized that the mystery often took a back seat to the dates and the choice that Georgia was facing as a contestant on this reality show.  But here’s the thing, I was so into that aspect of things, I didn’t mind the mystery taking a back seat.  That’s not to say that there wasn’t some deduction happening.  The mystery came to a logical and satisfying conclusion, although that part was rushed at the end.  Hopefully, the mystery will be stronger in future books in the series.

Likewise, the characters weren’t quite as strong as they could have been.  Georgia and a couple who are obviously going to be series regulars are strong.  In fact, it was Georgia and how likeable she is that really drew me into the story.  Part of the issue with character development is that there were just so many characters.  I was surprised at how easily I was able to keep track of them, but most of them weren’t quite as developed as I normally would have liked.  For those who didn’t stick around long, that wasn’t an issue, but this could have been a bit better overall.

Now neither of these complaints is to say I didn’t enjoy this book.  While I was aware of the flaws, I was also busy turning pages anxious to see how things would turn out.  And I had to keep from cheating to see if Georgia made the correct choice at the end.  That’s how much fun I was having and how much I cared for her.

So I am definitely looking forward to Georgia’s next adventure.  In fact, I’m very curious how Diana Orgain will be continuing this series.  If they are as good as A First Date with Death, I’ll be along for the entire ride.