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Book Review of Haunted and Harrowed, by Irene Preston & Liv Rancourt

Some time ago I picked up a copy of Haunted, by Irene Preston and Liv Rancourt, from Amazon as a freebie. I honestly meant to read it ages ago, but somehow it ended up buried in the TBR. But when the authors sent me a copy of Harrowed for review, I got the opportunity to read them together.

Description of Haunted:
Noel Chandler had a good reason for leaving the L.A.P.D. for New Orleans, but when he walks into a burned out Garden District mansion, he discovers there are some things he can’t outrun. The spooks can find him anywhere.

As the resident historian for the cable show Haunts and Hoaxes, Professor Adam Morales keeps an open mind about the supernatural. Or that’s what he tells himself, until he meets a man who puts that principle to the test. Noel’s smart, sexy, and has killer cop instincts. One glance from his bedroom eyes has Adam ready to believe anything.

But is Noel haunted, crazy, or just another hoax?

Review:
I enjoyed this. I liked the characters and the setting. Plus, having read the Hours of Night series, it was fun to see what was happening around the events of those books. I did think the ‘romance’ progressed a little too quickly and I didn’t feel the ending was particularly satisfying. It felt like a preamble to something else, which I suppose it is. I’m really glad to have held off and gotten to read this together with the longer book, Harrowed. But the writing is excellent and I can’t wait for more.

Description Harrowed:
There’s nothing scarier than the truth…

Noel’s got issues. Like, he doesn’t know what to call his lover. Are they boyfriends? A fling that got out of control? Something more? Even worse, he may sometimes get waylaid by a random ghost or two.

Or else he’s losing his mind.

Now Adam? He’s stable and solid and warm; the kind of guy Noel never knew he wanted. He’s also the historian on Haunts and Hoaxes, which gives him a professional interest in Noel’s “special talent”.

When the ghosthunting crew turns up something weirder than normal at a Louisiana plantation, Adam convinces Noel to check it out. Instead of finding a haunt, they uncover a mystery. Noel used to be a cop and he grabs the chance to investigate something real. DNA is evidence. No matter what Adam says, the ghosts don’t prove anything.

But the past is done hiding and the spirits are going to have their say. Noel better figure out how to listen, because Adam’s job, their relationship, and even his sanity are at risk.

Review:
As much as I liked Haunted, I liked Harrowed more. Being a full-length novel gives it the heft I appreciate. It also gave me two complicated, flawed heroes trying to make the most of a difficult situation. I’ll admit that I got frustrated with Noel’s unwillingness to face or speak about his experiences, even when he and Adam were explicitly trying to explore them. While I academically understood why he kept his secrets (emotions don’t always make sense), I felt it went on until it started to grate on my patience.

I also very much appreciated the subject matter the book works with. It’s not an easy history and it would have been very easy for the writing to fall into didacticism. Or rather, I suppose the book is an example of didacticism (there’s certainly a lesson in it), but never comes across as too heavily didactic. I actually hate when authors let their sermon overwhelm their story in a fiction book. Preston and Rancourt don’t let that happen and I appreciated it.

All in all, I’ll call it a success.

Giveaway

As an added bonus, the authors happen to be running a giveaway for a $25 Amazon or B&N gift card. It’s running through the end of the month.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

the grim assistant

Review of The Grim Assistant, by Jodi Hutchins

I picked up a copy of Jodi HutchinsThe Grim Assistant from the publisher (Nine Star Press).

Description from Goodreads:

Postal carrier and amateur surfer, Samantha Diaz, lives an uncomplicated life. Well, other than helping her sister with childcare, crushing on her unavailable customer, Lauren Brennan, and catching as many waves as possible before hurricane season begins. Suffice to say, she isn’t looking for much more, but when Lauren invites her to a monthly game night at her house, Sam happily agrees.

When Sam sets out on an early morning surf, the last thing she expects to do is die, but a sudden thunderstorm thrashes offshore, creating a riptide that steals Sam’s life. She awakens to a snarky woman named Margo speaking cryptic nonsense. Not only does she claim to be one of the many Grim Reapers, or Grims, in the world, Margo makes Sam an offer: she’ll bring Sam back from the dead, as long as she becomes Margo’s temporary assistant. Sam accepts but soon realizes the deal was too good to be true, and the consequences she faces may be worse than the death she dodged.

Review:

I think the best way to describe my relationship with this book is to admit that I checked my progress at the end of EVERY chapter. I was literally counting down until the end. The reason is that I was BORED. This book seemed focused on all the wrong places, the pacing was inconsistent, as was Lauren’s character. It’s predictable, repetitive, and written largely in tell (instead of show), so I didn’t feel connected to anyone.

Matchmaking Beyond the Veil

Book Review of Matchmaking Beyond the Veil, by Mara Townsend

I’ve had Matchmaking Beyond the Veil, by Mara Townsend, for a while. I think I picked it up as an Amazon freebie.

Description from Goodreads:

Endure the company of his rival…or suffer ghostly retaliation.

Emery Belmont is a snarky, uptight realist who likes his life ordinary. Like any skeptic, he’s content using mundane explanations to write off signs of paranormal activity. That’s no longer an option when the spirit haunting his house wrecks his new kitchen, forcing Emery closer to facing the supernatural truth. Desperate for a new handyman, he unknowingly hires his hot ex-rival from high school to fix it. Paxton Santos, Emery’s former lacrosse team captain, followed in his father’s footsteps to take over the family business. Annoyingly, Emery requires his talented hands more than he needs to keep Paxton out of his life. However, getting Paxton to leave after the repairs may prove difficult with the meddlesome ghost taking a shine to him, which Paxton seems to take in his grating, good-natured stride, remaining irritatingly unruffled by numerous weird occurrences.

Emery is bombarded by mysterious paranormal hijinks, keeping Paxton at arm’s length, and deciphering things that aren’t quite what they seem. There’s nothing Emery hates more than an unfinished puzzle. In his determination to solve this one, Emery reluctantly opens himself up to new possibilities all while trying to remain firmly rooted in life the way he prefers it—orderly, logically explainable, and, above all else, ghost-free.

Join Emery and Paxton as they face off with a spirit that has no limits to how far it will go to push them together, enduring locked doors, faulty plumbing, and sharing a bed. Together they are determined to navigate their way out of this mess using any means necessary to send the ghost packing. Will they make it out of the traps awaiting them before their pesky tormenter gets any other ideas to make things worse and further blur the line between them?

Review:

Soooo, I hated this book. That’s a pretty blunt, but true statement. I finished by force of will alone and I frequently felt like I would never reach the end. The problem was that I simply HATED the main character. Emery was selfish, snobbish, and self-centered. And he was just as selfish, snobbish, and self-centered at the end of the book as he was at the beginning. He didn’t even grow as a person or character. The fact that the Paxton was too much of a kind himbo to realize Emery was actually being cruel doesn’t make Emery’s abusive behavior less horrendous. And Paxton was a gem. I didn’t want to see him saddled with Emery in the least.

Then there were the completely graceless changes of mind on Emery’s part. He spends his whole life hating his high school rival (who holds on to shit like that) and then SUDDENLY out of nowhere decides it was all one-sided and in his head. What’s more, he thinks Paxton is the same as always. So, kind and generous and giving? If that’s how he’s always been, how am I supposed to believe anyone (except maybe a selfish, snobbish, and self-centered asshat) would think him the machiavellian villain Emery was supposed to have believed him to be. It was 100% unbelievable. The transition between never being willing to enter a relationship and desperately wanting one with Paxton was just as sudden. And the reason Emery never again wanted a relationship was never addressed, despite being harped on forever.

If you’re hoping for some good paranormal fun, don’t look here. It doesn’t even enter the book until the halfway mark and then it’s ridiculous. All in all, I am really glad to be done with this book and I will not be continuing the series.