Yasmine Galenorn - Legend of the Jade Dragon

Emerald O'Brien's business is doing well. She has a boyfriend who doesn't understand the demands of a single parent, but she's enjoying her time with him, and she has another potential suitor waiting in the wings. Her elderly neighbor comes to her asking for help. The neighbor's nephew has just been released from prison and is going to be staying with her, but she needs to leave town to stay with an old friend who is ill. Will Emerald help the nephew settle in? Of course Emerald says yes only to discover that the nephew is really creepy. On top of that, one of Emerald's customers is killed in a hit-and-run accident immediately after she reads his cards leaving a small jade dragon in Emerald's possession. Things go from good to bad to worse as her shop is broken into and trashed followed by escalating threats to Emerald and her children. Galenorn resolves some of the unbelievable elements from the first in the series but then goes on to create even more new ones in this book. The characterization falls flat here, and the supernatural elements used to resolve the climax are almost comic.