And then there are stories that make you go “what the h_ll?”

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Dead started out alright. Cute title, cute cover, cute premise. Cindy’s Uncle Buck is more than he appears. For one thing, he’s died three times in the last ten years. But he’s never quite ready to give up on life and his quest to see his stubborn niece happily settled down. It helps that he’s a shifter and thus in possession of some interesting properties.

Each time he dies, Buck leaves a will in which he stipulates a task Cindy must complete. He also reincarnates with the ability to shift into another animal. This time, he’s chosen a chimpanzee. Sure a were-chimp is a bit unorthodox, but he’s able to be legally kept as a pet and can keep an eye on Cindy as he puts her through her most dangerous quest yet.

With me so far? Good. There’s also Tanner, a cowboy and friend of Buck’s with whom Cindy shares a tempestuous past. For reasons never fully explained, Cindy thinks he’s a complete jerk, but must deal with him anyway as Buck’s will stipulates that the two be together to complete their task.

This is the point where things get a little haywire. The story has been okay up to this point. There have been some rough spots sure, but all forgivable. The first person narrative is light, the characters likable. Cindy’s resentment of Tanner has built up some suspense and introduced him as the hero. But the plot? Well the plot goes shooting off into left field, with the reader left behind, entirely bewildered.

The novella is only about fifty pages long. But Romano introduces novel-length plot elements. Suddenly there’s a full scale battle for Earth, complete with good and bad shapeshifters, vampires, and other paranormal characters. Cindy develops, unexplained, the ability to mind read. There’s a whole section with a brooch that is never explained.

In fact, most of the plot is never explained. Romano keeps promising explanations: more than once Cindy is told that all will become clear. It never is. Not for her, not for me. Cindy is more forgiving about this problem. She just accepts. I’m annoyed. To this point, I still have no idea what the main suspense plot was even about, let alone how the resolution – tied up in a rodeo – was, well, resolved. Couple this with a sudden about face in Cindy’s feelings for Tanner and you’ve got a recipe for utter confusion, not a satisfying romance short.