Holding Court - An Entangled Teen Mystery?????

TITLE: Holding Court
AUTHOR: K.C. Held
PUBLISHER: Entangled Teen
PUBLISHING DATE: March 1, 2016

FROM GOODREADS: Sixteen-year-old Jules Verity knows exactly what's in store at her new job at castle-turned-dinner-theater Tudor Times. Some extra cash, wearing a fancy-pants dress, and plenty of time to secretly drool over the ever-so-tasty--and completely unavailable--Grayson Chandler. Except that it's not quite what she imagined.

For one, the costume Jules has to wear is awful. Then there's the dead body she finds that just kind of...well, disappears. Oh, and there's the small issue of Jules and her episodes of what her best friend calls "Psychic Tourette's Syndrome"--spontaneous and uncontrollable outbursts of seemingly absurd prophecies.

The only bright side? This whole dead body thing seems to have gotten Grayson's attention. Except that the more Jules investigates, the more she discovers that Grayson's interest might not be as courtly as she thought. In fact, it's starting to look suspicious...

MY THOUGHTS: 
Whenever I am headed toward a slump, I can usually count on an Entangled Teen title to bring me out of it. Jules Verity suffers from what her friends and family call "Psychic Tourette's Syndome." Basically she blurts out random things which may or may not give someone insight on something that is about to happen. This makes it difficult for Jules to find a summer job until she starts working at a local tourist attraction "Tudor Times" where her abilities tie right in with being the Mad Maid of Kent, who also had psychic powers. Jules summer is filled with quirky friends, a questionable love interest, and oh, a murder or two.

I did not expect this book to be a murder mystery and was pleasantly surprised by that element. Jules has some great interaction with her family and friends throughout "Holding Court" and although the book was somewhat predictable, it was a very enjoyable light read. Held does a great job weaving humor, mystery and offbeat elements to create a fast-paced book with likable characters. While not my usual read, it was just what I needed to fill the spot between some heavier and not-s0-well-liked previous books. I don't know if the author plans a sequel, but I think there are other characters in this book who deserve a story of their own.

RATING: 4 PAWS