Rating: 3 1/2 stars

David Anderson has been an agent of death—a grim reaper—for the past 60 years.

During his time in the Korean War, David humanely ended the lives of two badly suffering fellow soldiers and, after losing his own life the next day, found himself back on the battlefield collecting souls.

Despite the merciful intent of his actions, it was still considered a mortal sin in the eyes of Fate, and it’s in her employ that David reaps souls to pay penance for his deeds.

Currently, David is training newbie and former cop Adam Javorski, who by decree of the big boss is to be fast-tracked. David hopes Adam’s accelerated training means that his own debt has been satisfied.

After being badly injured, David is given aid by his concerned neighbor Sarah Griffith. The first thing David notices about Sarah is that he can’t compel her with his thoughts, and the second: she’s the first woman he has been attracted to in the past six decades.

A dedicated scientist, Sarah doesn’t believe in the supernatural, despite coming from a long line of psychics. However, her deep attractive to David cannot be ignored. Unable to resist her, David opens his heart to Sarah.

Sarah quickly becomes the only thing holding David together—so when her name shows up on his reap schedule, David must decide if he’s willing to risk everything in order to save the woman he loves.

“Death never took a holiday.” Such is the first line in Lori Sjoberg’s new para-romance series about the day in the life of metro Orlando, Florida reapers. Even more amusing than the cold opening, is Sjoberg’s comparison of Death’s persistence with the diligence of the U.S. Post Office in getting the job done, causing one to wonder if Death will also be modified to a five-day workweek.

Ms. Sjoberg’s decision to shirk the norm and make her reapers into flesh and blood, corporeal beings is a good one. Seeing them live a fairly normal human existence makes the story that much more relatable, and, no doubt, cuts way down on the cheese-factor that usually accompanies an author’s attempt to write sex scenes between a human and a wraith.

Along with hope-filled Adam, and the gorgeous leading man, David, Ms. Sjoberg manages to refrain from skimp on the quality of the secondary characters, and instead provides intriguing supporting roles that have a well- established sense of identity, as well as the promise of an interesting backstory.

Though it’s not exactly rocket science, Grave Intentions is a highly enjoyable, intelligently written story that is sure to entertain and keep you coming back for more.
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File Size: 586 KB
Print Length: 260 pages
Publisher: eKensington (January 3, 2013)
ASIN: B009T9SCDA