Will not re-read. Too simple.

Beauty to Die For
Kim Alexis and Mindy Starns Clark

Book Summary: Juliette Taylor walked away from her career as a supermodel twenty-five years ago. Now approaching fifty - an emotionally complex milestone -- she co-owns a beauty supply company that makes skincare products for salons and spas. Her niche is pampering Christian women who usually spend more time caring for others than for themselves under the slogan: Isn't it time someone took care of YOU for a change? When Juliette arrives at the Palm Grotto Spa to host a spiritual retreat, she runs into an old modeling colleague, Raven, who had always been disliked in the industry for many reasons. She isn't there for the retreat; in fact, her presence at the spa is somewhat mysterious. Not long after Raven makes a cryptic threat to Juliette, the unsympathetic back-then beauty is found dead, poisoned by something in the green clay of a chai soy wrap. The following morning, a banner for the retreat has been unceremoniously altered: It's your turn to be nurtured, to be restored . . . to be murdered. Suspicion is directed at Juliette who has history with Raven and certainly knows how to use beauty products. But for murder?! Now she must find the real killer before the police really take care of her.
Review: I found some the beginning to be slow. There was much background that merged with the present. That was nicely done overall. I found the mystery to be small in comparison to the romance. The mystery was actually well woven into the story. I thought that the suspense of the mystery could have been increased to make it a page turner. The ending was great and made reading the entire book fantastic. I found Marcus to be a little too good to be true. Didi, Crystal and the Stone family were great. They helped move the story along and were extremely believable. I am looking forward to the next book in the series with great anticipation of how the characters will continue in their relationships with each other, especially Didi and Marcus. While I would like more suspense I do think the way it was written is the way real mysteries unfold with little suspense and a lot of timing. I did guess who did it but more out of pure guessing than sleuthing. The ending brought me to tears and totally changed how I viewed the entire book.
I would like to thank Net Galley and B & H Publishing Group for allowing me to read and review this book in return for a free copy and I was never asked to write a favorable review by anyone. ( )

Author: Kim Alexis & Mindy Starns Clark
Published By: B & H Books
Age Recommended: Adult
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Blog For GMTA
Rating: 5

Review:

"Beauty to Die For" by Kim Alexis and Mindy Starns Clark was a good read. We got some drama, mystery, little romance, murder and lots of crimes going on...all that had a way of keeping you wondering just what, who....guessing till the very end. Be ready for a novel that will have some much going on you will have to pay close attention because of all of its twist and many turns.

Juliette was once a top supermodel now she owned a skin care company...was now hosting a spiritual retreat at the Palm Grotto Resort. Then there is Raven who Juliette had once been friendly with ...but now it seemed like things had changed as Raven had yelled she will murder her(Juliette) if she thinks she can take it (skin care) from her upon seeing her at the airport. This had been a natural for Raven to rant at people... only later to be found dead during a treamtnet with one of Juliette's products. Now this is the part where I will say you must pick up this good novel to see what is in store from all of this? It could be anyone.. why...because Raven wasn't liked by anyone....except? Something else was up...the FBI had found Juliettes's name on a terrorist list? Who will come to her rescue? Now, who is Marcus and how does he fit into this big picture? What will Juliette find in all of this process of what is going on in her life? Would Juliette and Marcus get together? Again, you will have to pick up "Beauty to Die for" to find out!

"Beauty to Die For" will present a smooth glimpse into the modeling field and just what one is willing to do...even kill to get just what they want. There were a great many characters that really made this novel so readable. I was surprised who was behind what had been going on and you may be too.

In the end after all the drama, mystery, romance, murder, and many twist and turns you will get a great finale. With that being said, I would recommend to you..."Beauty to Die For" as a excellent read. ( )

4 STARS

Beauty to Die For is a Spa Mystery.
It is a good who dun it mystery that kept me guessing till the end. I did not put the book down till I finshed it.
It is a clean read with a bit of a Christian flavor not much to turn anyone off.
Juliette Taylor was a supermodel who at the height of her career walked away from the money to choose a different path that made her happier.
Now she has a skin care company that sales mostly through spas. Now thier is someone
making fakes of her products and they are fighting back.
Juliette also does retreats and she has schedualed one that is for Christian women that give more and need to take time to take care of themselves too.
On her way to prepare the spa for her retreat thier she runs into a former supermodel she worked with years ago Raven. Raven saw her thier and yelled she will murder her if she thinks she can take it from her.
Raven treats everyone to rants but she does tip well. Only has one friend at the spa that she has been coming for decades always twice a year same time. Raven is found dead during a treatment with one of Juliette's products.
At the same time the FBI has found Juliette's name on a terrorist list with famous people. So they are wondering why it is thier. One member of the task force wants to warn and protect her. Marcus Stone met her years ago and that day changed both thier lives. He sees she is hosting a spa retreat and gets his mother to go with him so he can see Juliette again, warn her somehow without telling her about FBI taskforce and what they found.
I would read more mysteries with Kim and Mindy wrote in the future. It made the spa, the life of a supermodel seam real to me. I would love to go on a spa retreat like they wrote about without the murder of course.
I was given this ebook to read in exchange of honest review from Netgalley.
08/01/2012 PUB B&H Publishing Group 352 pages ( )

The premise of this book grabbed me from the start…the idea of a murder mystery taking place at a spa was both intriguing and terrifying! Who wants to run the risk of death while in such a relaxed state!

In the mix of this murder mystery we’ve got a love story and a whole separate set of crimes going on, so it’s a pretty busy plot with a lot of different relationships and characters to keep up with. Since no one knows why Raven was murdered, let alone who did it, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether or not the killer has disappeared, or is lurking in the spa somewhere ready to strike again.

To read the rest of my review, please visit my blog. ( )