I picked this book up and could not put it down. This book had me ignoring a whole host of other things that I really wanted to do because I kept trying to find a good place to stop and there was no good place to stop. It is your run of the mill paranormal mystery novel, but the characters and the world and what was going on with Eliza personally really had me invested in the story. There is a weird love triangle that had me shaking my head, but I understand it's purpose in the plot even if there really is no competition when one of the options is out here doing your dishes unasked. Not a big fan of cops as romantic interests, but I put it aside for this wonderfully weird little book. A warning: the ending is weirdly abrupt and the book ends up feeling cut off in the middle of a conversation. Have book two on hand.

This was a great introduction to a new series, with great characters and an interesting plot. Eli tries to get away from the paranormal world, but life has other plans for her. The characters are all quite interesting, and I loved the banter between Eli and Dan, (seriously you can tell they're just meant to at least be partners if not romantically involved). Provost does a great job of introducing the paranormal side of the world, and I expect we'll probably get to learn more about it in later books. The plot moves along pretty smoothly, but don't expect too much tension, as this definitely has cozy mystery vibes. If you're looking for a fun, paranormal mystery with a light side of romance, then I'd grab this one.

⮞ 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 ⮜
The story revolves around Eliza who is a private investigator but also a seer, a life she thought she can leave behind but is always finding a way to return to her.

⮞ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 ⮜
The story is being told from Eliza's pov even tho there are multiple characters in the story that shape it in one way or the other. I couldn't connect unfortunately with any of the characters, I felt that even tho they went through emotional moments their feelings were just not there, they felt flat no matter what they've gone through. Their conversations also felt a bit off.

⮞ 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝-𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 ⮜
The world of the living is definitely complicated and full of ups and downs in Eliza's life, the world of death was hilarious. The way she was communicating with the dead was definitely a new perspective and I enjoyed it. There isn't much description or "world-building" into the world of the dead because we didn't get a more in-depth peek into that world it was just fragments and stuff told to us but what we've gotten was definitely interesting.

⮞ 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 ⮜
The magic system I felt it needed a bit more improvement, other than the fact Eliza is a seer there wasn't much information about that. I wish we could've gotten more details about her legacy, how everyone in her family is a seer and they got powers, and even about her friend who was a witch the information about her was very vague.

⮞ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 ⮜
I liked the information provided - it didn't feel like an info dump, it just felt natural. I liked the world-building related to Eli's life. I liked the paranormal mystery, the investigations, and the overall vibe of the story.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞
While reading I ended up being confused if the book tries to be scary or more like a paranormal mystery/comedy book because some of the scenes in the book were more hilarious than scary and the "exorcise" legit made me giggle because it started feeling scary and ended into a silly note lol.

However, the book was quick to read, fast-paced, and enjoyable.

Oleander is a paranormal mystery that follows Eliza Moore (or Eli, for friends), who is a seer. She comes from a long line of seers, but she is not all that keen on the lifestyle. So she became a private investigator. However, it seems that she cannot escape the magic - it seems to be following her. She had to perform an exorcism, a local witch elder is dead, and nothing is adding up. On top of that, she is getting close to Dan, a police investigator, who seems like he wants to be more than friends and is always there when she needs him.

This is the first book in the series, and it reads as such. It is not a bad thing per se, but it is something to be acknowledged. It presents the world, all of the important characters, establishes their relationships. It did a pretty good job in "worldbuilding", so to speak. I say it with quotation marks as it's set in the real world, but we've given a lot of lore about the magic, the families, the different types of people with powers, and what those powers are. It has an interesting plot - a paranormal, supernatural murder mystery that's being solved. And as a side plot, we have a developing relationship between Eli and Dan, which I really enjoyed.

As far as the characters go, I thought they were interesting, but some of the side characters felt somewhat flat. It felt like some characters' motivation wasn't very clear, making their actions seem strange at times. The main character Eli, is the best fleshed-out one, as you would expect but I wish we got to know her better. I also wish we got to learn more about Dan and Eli's friend Tessa, who's a witch. Other than that, an important character is Nick, and I feel like his character seems a bit flat for a lot of the book. He and Eli have some flirty scenes, but I fail to see the chemistry.

I am avoiding details so I don't spoil anything, but as murder is being investigated and a mystery is being uncovered, it's obvious there's a 'villain' hiding in plain sight. I thought that this was a bit too obvious, a bit too on the nose. Eli, as someone not new to the world and the paranormal, should have been more suspicious in my opinion, and she came off as naive a lot of the time because of this. We know her grandmother was also a seer, as they come from a long line of seers, and her grandmother was leading the community - a title Eli never wanted. However, as stakes are raised, she is pushed into the role. I wish this was more explained, what does the role entail? Is there a process that one goes through to accept that role? It felt somewhat rushed, she just decided she'd do it, and that was it. I suppose there will be more on that in the next book, but it was just glossed over in this one. There were some slight irregularities or unexplained things that we speed through at points that lowered my rating.

Overall, this was a fun book about a seer who's a PI, investigating a paranormal murder. If those things seem up your alley, I'd say give it a go. It's a quick read, it took me a moment to get into the story, but once you're in it reads really fast. Even though I had some issues with this book, I will continue with the series. It had an interesting community of supernatural, and I am curious about her new head seer role as well as her and Dan's relationship!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review!

This was okay, not terrible but not the best either. Really, this book just ultimately wasn’t for me. It was a fast read and I liked the premise, but the execution was lacking. There wasn’t a whole lot of character development, and the characters felt pretty flat. I don’t feel like there was actually any chemistry between Eli and Dan, and also in the summary it states this is a slow burn romance, which it most definitely is not. From the very beginning the two characters are into each other, and with this being only about 200 pages, they very quickly fall in love with each other.

I was very confused about their entire relationship, because in the beginning Eli makes it sound like she thinks Dan wants to arrest her but really he loves her? And once he finds out she’s a seer he just goes along with it and uses his resources as a cop to help her, which I feel like wouldn’t happen. A typical cop would probably think that Eli is delusional for saying she can see ghosts, or at least be a bit more skeptical about her claims.

I did have to double check a few times to make sure that this was actually the first book in the series and not a continuation or companion to another series, because there were definitely things that I felt like I was missing, especially when it came to the characters and their relationships to each other.

I also didn’t really like the way that the mystery started, we learn about Eli and her grandmother, and then suddenly we flash back to this event when Eli was a child where her friend pulled out a mirror and it was her first encounter with a spirit. But it also is the start of the whole mystery. I didn’t think the mystery was all that difficult, nor did I feel like there were any stakes in solving the mystery.

I also didn’t really like how Eli suddenly decided she would be the matriarch of the seers, like “okay I’m this now” and it just seems like something that maybe other seers would have a say in? The synopsis makes it clear that she was forced to take on the title ‘Mistress of Seers’, but the scene where it happens is just…anticlimactic. We’re also told that she’s an incredibly powerful seer, but we also don’t really get to see much of that either. I also didn’t like the interactions with Nick at all. Literally within one page, she would be thinking about her relationship with Dan and all of a sudden Nick would show up and she would be instantly all over him? It didn’t make any sense to me, and if the intention was to create a love triangle then I think the mark was missed.

I did like the pacing, and it was a fast read, but I don’t think I’ll be continuing the series. I’ve read other mystery series that I enjoyed a lot more than this one, but if the synopsis intrigues you, you should give it a shot!

Light paranormal detective story, perfect for people looking for a quick cozy fantasy read.
The writing is a little clumsy in places. I was a little put off by the exposition sentences at the beginning for example, it felt like this was a second novel and we were getting a few summaries of the previous events.
But the story overall is fine and everything flows quickly in a fun aventure.

Sometimes you just want a fun detective story. That's exactly what you'll get here. Don't try to solve along, just be along for the ride that is part sunshine detective, part buddy cop, and part romance novel. This isn't one of a deep book that you read six times looking for hidden clues, it's the fun thing you read and talk about during a boozy book club. and there is nothing wrong with that. The characters are interesting, I care about them as people, and I want to learn more of the magical hierarchy that Provost has created. Will likely be picking up more of her work.

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Read if you are a fan of magical mystery, strong female lead and slow-burn romance.

I unfortunately quit reading at about the halfway mark. I enjoyed the pacing but I wasn't as intrigued by the story as I would have hoped. This isn't at no fault of the author/the book, simply my own brain, but I kept comparing it to other "PI" / other-worldly investigator books (like Anita Blake..etc) and I just wasn't enjoying it enough to continue. I didn't feel the connections between the characters and I wasn't connected to the story.

Other people really enjoyed it though, so I suggest you give it a chance! I might come back to it later but as of now I wasn't really into it!

I am going to give 3 stars, because it has the potential for being a great book it just fell short for ME, but it might not for you!

I want to thank Jennifer Allis Provost,Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and Netgalley for this ARC.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! My main fear was the fact that the main character is a seer, I never necessarily liked this kind of supernatural in the other books I could read before. But I liked reading the story of Eliza, who tries as much as possible not to be a seer because of her past and hopes to have, as PI, the most normal investigations possible but of course, you can well imagine, it will be all the opposite. I loved the dynamic between Eliza and Dan the detective who will follow her around. I enjoyed that dan was made aware of the nature of Eliza, rather than having a whole story revolving around Eliza having to hide what she is from him. The fact that he knows her nature makes their relationship more real and muuuuch more interesting.
I liked the investigation and the surprises that the author reserved for us, and I can’t wait to read the rest of this series!

4.75 ⭐

So, this is an ARC I got it in exchange of a honest review. Logically, all the coming opinions are my own.

I haven't got much to say, the rating speaks for itself I ENJOYED it and didn't expect to enjoy it that much. This story is like the Ghost whisperer tv show and Sherlock Holmes had a baby lol with witch clans and all.
Aaaand a slow burn romance 👀
The writing style was nice, the pacing nearly flawless. You are soon drawn to the story and just in it. The characters are interesting and the mystery intriguing ! Overall a very nice quick read.
So why 4.75 ? A tiny little details bothered me during the "reveals". I was surprised by a reveal but then I was like wait ? How didn't one of the characters close to the MC didn't know sooner ? Well just a detail
And the last chapter finished quite abruptly 😂😂
I can't wait to read what's coming next !

Thank you for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
I was intrigued from the get go, and it got better the further into it I got.
Eli, came into herself and found her inner strength.
It was a light enjoyable read I will be definitely be looking out for the next in the series.

A light-hearted mystery with paranormal characters. Witches and Seers have often worked together, but in years past, certain slights have been made. Now as a seer who works as a private investigator uncovers the ghost of a witch, certain horrors come to light.

I was approved for an ARC of Oleander by Jennifer Provost for an honest review. I love a strong female lead and Eli is a private investigator who is also a powerful seer. I wish there would’ve been more developing of her character. I felt like we fed information about her past through monologues and flash backs. I didn’t love how her and Dan clearly had something starting and yet she made out with Nick. I loved the fact that she feeds her grandmas ghost cats and that her best friend is a witch. This book had a ton of potential but it wasn’t one for me, 2.5 stars