REVIEWS
Newest Release:
I'LL ALWAYS BE THERE FOR YOU...UNLESS I'M SOMEWHERE ELSE?! (Humor)
... Thoughtful and realistically reassuring reading, recommended, April 4, 2011
By MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW..."To think you can be the perfect spouse or parent is to be a fool. I'll Always Be There for You...Unless I'm Somewhere Else?! is a memoir of the modern mother and wife, as Diane Dean-Epps spins her own life of the real world into the table of the drive to be the best you can be and slowly learning to settle with what you can really be. With humor and poignancy, I'll Always be There for You... is thoughtful and realistically reassuring reading, recommended."
KILL-TV (Humorous Mystery)
By MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW..."When you have a major axe to grind with someone, it's never a good sign when they mysteriously turn up dead because suddenly you're the top suspect. Kill-TV follows Leslie Lloyd as she finds out her most hated co-worker is dead and dealing with the police overflow from it. Her life begins to fall apart all around her, all while the media frenzy wants to follow a murder suspect around for ratings. A charming satire on modern society and life itself, Kill-TV, is highly recommended for community library fiction collections and those who serve as its patrons."
By Myshelf.com..."K-I-L-L TV is a wonderfully written and delightful mystery to read. With charming, likable characters and a well-developed plot Diane Dean-Epps is a killer of a writer in the mystery genre. If you enjoy a good mystery—give K-I-L-L TV a try. It is a fast-paced, fun mystery that at times will have you laughing out loud."
By Odyssey Reviews: "...the audience...has a lot to look forward to. This book is geared more toward female readers, specifically those that like a little humor and a little mystery and have had their fair share of ups and downs in life. I can honestly say that I hope a large publishing house picks this book up...pick up a copy of this to read while relaxing and enjoying a cappuccino."
By Armchair Interviews: "From the first page, the author draws you into a murder mystery that takes place in the most unlikely place, control room A at KQPT-TV/channel 8. The key character in this upbeat mystery is news director Leslie Lloyd. She is assertive, can be bitchy and has definitely perfected foot-in-the-mouth disease. She is also the key suspect in the murder of the station manager, Lincoln Delaware Bradbury III.
Woven nicely into the mystery is a budding romantic relationship with none other than a police officer she meets during the murder investigation. Needless to say, this complicates her life and makes for interesting, fun, and compelling reading. Leslie is surrounded by a talented team of behind-the-scenes off- camera talent. During the investigation, disaster looms as Leslie’s close friend, Rob, a member of the KQPT-TV crew dies. Is his death of natural causes? It appears that way. However, Rob’s father seeks out Leslie to investigate Rob’s death as a murder. While Leslie is willing to help Rob’s father, she wonders privately if this is a grieving father’s folly.
Does the romance between Leslie and her new squeeze escalate or fizzle? You’ll wonder as she gives more attention to keeping herself free from arrest as a suspect in Lincoln’s death and pursuing Rob’s fathers’ plea to discover the cause of his son’s death. For the romantics in the crowd, you’ll find the relationship gathers momentum as the two lovers find their way.
In the midst of Leslie’s quest to establish her own alibi, and conduct the investigation of Rob’s death, yet another high-level station employee is murdered. The suspects are narrowed down and Leslie is doggedly engaged in her investigation to ultimately solve the murder mysteries.
The author’s ten-year career in television broadcasting adds authenticity to her story, while she creates a fun, funny and fictional storyline.
Don’t get left behind as Leslie finds who killed whom and why, and discovers romance in the process."
By Sacramento magazine: For Mamas (of kids and canines)
If Grass Valley author/mom/high school English teacher/speaker Diane Dean-Epps can “make you forget that your shoes and your budget are too tight but your face isn’t tight enough,” she figures she’s done her job.
From the funny bone of this Sacramento State graduate come Last Call, a humorous mystery, and Maternal Meanderings, an Erma Bombeck-esque romp through the family life of a baby boomer that’s earned the endorsement of Dr. Laura. Next up: KILL-TV, a humorous mystery based on the author’s former career in broadcast television, and I’ll Always Be There . . . Unless I’m Somewhere Else?!, a rib-tickling riff on parenting adolescents.
LAST CALL (Humorous Mystery)
By Good Reads: "This was a quick, funny and engaging little whodunit!! A really enjoyable read - the characters were likable, the plot was intriguing, and the dialogue was witty and "real".
A good book, all the way around."
By Blether Book Review Site: "Author Dean-Epps serves up a clever mystery in LAST CALL, enhanced by a harried amateur sleuth and clever dialogue."
MATERNAL MEANDERINGS (Humor/Mommy Lit)
"A humorous look at married life"
By The Best Reviews: "Maternal Meanderings is a series of humorous vignettes written by comedienne author Diane Dean-Epps that are based on her life experiences. Separated into four chapters that she has titled (and subtitled); Marriage (In-Volvement), Maternity (In-Utero), Motherhood (In-Sanity and Management (In-House), she shares her take on the way life often is for the married woman, her husband and children. She gives us important pointers such as how to pick out a married man from a crowd; he is the well-dressed one (his wife dresses him to show him off) and the one whose female companion "pulls out her own chair, orders her own drink and moves over when he tells her he can't see the game on television set in the bar. This is a ...mix of how to's, sage advice, lists, and jokes that read like stand up routines. Some of which were quite funny, causing me to re-read them to enjoy the humor again...A good book to keep around for a quick laugh..."
Dr. Laura Schlessinger said, "...BUY THIS BOOK!"