She Smells the Dead - E.J. Stevens **I first want to thank EJ for sharing this and Spirit Storm with me for free. It's very hard for me to find these books at my local library and to purchase them is nearly impossible. I've been begging them to allow me to give them a listing of future releases so that they can go out and requisition them prior to release. This is one of those books I’ve been asking to be purchased so that others can read this series.Unfortunately, since I don't have a job, (2 years now) it makes things very difficult to keep up with the current crop of new books. Thankfully with EJ, and other authors like Elisa Paige, who I've met on Goodreads, I'm able to enjoy these books on my computer. So, again, thank you kind writers for your diligence and your wonderful help. Maybe one day I can return the favor. ****Review** She Smells the Dead is the story of Vanessa (Yuki) Stennings who can smell the dead. She is determined to help the undead find answers so that they can cross over into whatever realm they end up. Yuki is a senior who is very different from the rest of her school mates. She dresses like a witch, but doesn’t practice Wiccan. That doesn’t stop the jealous and insane from making mockery of themselves in the name calling. Her friends are Emma, a vegan who smells death in the meat that students eat and who wants to go to school for veterinary medicine. Calvin Miller, who always seems to smell like a wet dog and whose own coming out party surprises, but doesn’t turn off Yuki. Yuki starts to realize that Calvin is a pretty good guy. Gordan Avery is Yuki’s anime club friend who actually thought she was some kind of hero for changing her name to Yuki and he doesn’t care how fashionably wrong she dresses. Emma and Calvin also know Yuki’s secret, which they keep to themselves.On the first day of school of her senior year, Yuki starts to smell vinegar, which is the first indication that a ghost needs her help. After putting two and two together, she ends up finding that the dead person she is looking to help is Jackson Green, owner of Green Orchards Apple Cider Vinegar Company.But, this story is also about discovery as well. Yuki discovers that Calvin is so much more than she ever would have imagined. When his secret finally does come out, it’s also revealed that they are in essence, soul mates because of their animal spirits. Yuki’s spirit animal is a Scarab Beetle. Calvin calls her his Dung Beetle Princess. It's no secret that Calvin is a werewolf.We also meet the mysterious Simon who tells Yuki that she has a mission: Help the lost ones find their way. She must be the flame in the darkness. The book ended before Samhain was about to happen, so, I'm hoping that the next book picks up where this one stopped. This story is clearly for the Young Adult genre, but I still enjoyed it as an adult reader. Yes, there is a romance side as well as a paranormal side. This is the first book in the series, and leads directly into Spirit Storm, which I plan on reading next. The one thing I did enjoy was the fact that Ms. Stevens has used Native American folklore in her history of the werewolves. This isn’t about being bitten. It is about a deal between two cultures that allowed both of them to survive and conceive children who one day changes into their true natures. Another plus, there’s no swearing or sex scenes involved in this story line. I'm rating this as 3.5 stars