This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Published by Ampersand Publishing Inc.
Released on October 29, 2019
Pages: 324
Format: eARC
Source: Book Tour Provided
The Delight
I wanted to get back to reading Kristen Proby’s books. Her stories seem to be great, but sometimes the bedrooms scenes are over the top to many or really behind a door for us to only imagine. That is the balance I am missing when I read her stories. So if you ignore the bedroom parts of romance, this book has some really horrifying suspense that will leave your crossing yourself!
Review
Brielle is your normal everyday tour guide of haunted buildings in New Orleans. Ok, I lied. She isn’t normal at all, but she tries hard to be. Since a young age, Brielle has seen shadows, or ghosts of people who have passed. She’s learned to block her mind from outside forces and keeps to a strict route and schedule for her tours so she doesn’t get involved surprised by new hauntings in a town with a lot of them. Her life was never great. Growing up with her two sisters who also have special powers, she has learned to adjust.
When Cassian is force to take a leave of absence from his FBI profiler job, he goes to visit his brother in New Orleans. He takes a haunted tour and becomes facinated with Brielle. Comfortable like he has known her forever. Attracted. Maybe they were lovers in a previous life. He doesn’t believe in the paranormal and really hasn’t had anything to test that theory.
When Brielle and Cash start showing up in the same spots, sparks fly and they really find they are attracted to each other. But dead women start showing up in the shadows trying to talk to Brielle. They all look like Brielle, well, from what she can see since the murder tortures these women beyond what I want to describe in this review.
Cash wants to protect Brielle, and Brielle wants to protect Cash. The two fall into an insta-love kind of situation that really is never explained to my satisfaction. There are elements of witches and curses. Things that can’t be explained. Or at least in the real world can’t be. How do you hunt for a killer when the world isn’t part of the paranormal world and would think you were crazy.
The Good: This made for a great October scary book. The evil is truly evil and you get their POV from time to time.
The Bad: The sex. Oh, my. For the most of the part it happened behind a closed door. It wasn’t as if they were prudish. The first time only goes so far into the sex and just moves onto the next chapter. It left a lot to be desired. Literally.
The Off Putting: The evil is real and it is violent. Graphic to a point, but also letting you mind make up what they did. It is really creepy.
There were elements that were not quite explained, but there are more books in the series, so I expect that they might get answered later on. Like the insta-love – it just didn’t play out. This story was more a thriller/horror/paranormal story than a love story. The couple gets along way to easily and the conflict mostly comes from the big evil.
If you are looking for a scary story, this is it. If you are looking for a deeply passionate story, keep looking. If you want a easy love, big bad guy…Yep this will do it for you.
Challenges Met
Review Writing Challenge #57
New Release Challenge #24
Try Something New Challenge #27 – New Series
Literary Pickers Challenge #43 – Fated Mates/Instalove
Books ‘N’ Tunes Challenge #35 – I Put a Spell On You by Annie Lennox
Preview
“Shadows had it all—a chilling villain, witches, spells, and a captivating romance!” – Jennifer Probst, New York Times bestselling author
Shadows, an all-new spine-tingling paranormal romance from New York Times bestselling author Kristen Proby, is available now!
I am never alone. Not even when I am alone.
I see the unquiet dead, the souls that wander through the French Quarter.
They can’t move on, and I can’t stop seeing them.
I wear malachite for protection, and I control what I let in. It’s the only way to stay sane. Everything changes the day Cassian Winslow joins my ghost walking tour and knocks my world off its axis with green eyes the color of the stone around my neck.
An unspeakable evil is loose in New Orleans, taking young women and leaving a bloodbath in his wake. More shadows lurking for me. More unhappy dead. There might be a way to stop it.
Open myself up to Cassian.
If I do, it could spell his death.
But if I don’t, it’s mine.
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Excerpt
“As I was about to walk down the street, I turned, and there was a shadow on the sidewalk. Just standing there. I’ve never seen her before.”
“Her?”
“Yeah, she was about my height. Very feminine.”
“Did she say anything?”
“Not that I heard. It just threw me because you know how careful I am about my route. I don’t like surprises, especially not like this. It’s creepy as hell. And, yes, I know I should be used to it by now, but—”
“It’s creepy, like you said.” She leans on the counter and bites her lip, thinking. “It probably means that someone recently died there.”
“I know that.”
“And now it’s a new spirit on your tour. Too bad she didn’t say anything. If she did, you could add it to your show. Could be fun. ‘Lucy was killed in this building three days ago, and her spirit now wanders the sidewalk in front of her former home.’”
“Talk about creepy.”
I sigh and run my fingers through my hair. “Did you sweep this area recently?”
“Is the floor dirty?”
I look at her as if she’s being obtuse on purpose. “You know what I mean.”
“It’s been about a week.”
“You need to do it again.”
Millie frowns, looking around the space. Her shields are as strong as mine, maybe stronger because she doesn’t just see the dead, she feels them, and that’s much more dangerous.
She fiddles with the amethyst around her neck.
“What do you see?”
I narrow my eyes. “I shouldn’t tell you.”
“I don’t want to look, Bri. I dropped my guard for just a second earlier and was slammed with the pervy thoughts of a nineteen-year-old college kid who couldn’t take his eyes off my ass. So, just tell me. Is it the little girl again?”
“Yeah. And she brought a friend.” I reach over to take my sister’s hand. “Don’t drop your shields anymore, Mill. Not for a minute. Ever. I know we live and work here in the Quarter because it’s where we make our living, but it could really hurt us.”
“I know.”
“I couldn’t bear it if I lost you, too.”
About Kristen Proby
Kristen was born and raised in a small resort town in her beloved Montana. In her mid-twenties, she decided to stretch her wings and move to the Pacific Northwest, where she made her home for more than a dozen years.
During that time, Kristen wrote many romance novels and joined organizations such as RWA and other small writing groups. She spent countless hours in workshops, and more mornings than she can count up before the dawn so she could write before going to work. She submitted many manuscripts to agents and editors alike, but was always told no. In the summer of 2012, the self-publishing scene was new and thriving, and Kristen had one goal: to publish just one book. It was something she longed to cross off of her bucket list.
Not only did she publish one book, she’s since published close to thirty titles, many of which have hit the USA Today, New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestsellers lists. She continues to self publish, best known for her With Me In Seattle and Boudreaux series, and is also proud to work with William Morrow, a division of HarperCollins, with the Fusion Series.
Kristen and her husband, John, make their home in her hometown of Whitefish, Montana with their two pugs and two cats.
Connect with Kristen
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Website: https://www.kristenprobyauthor.com/
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Shari
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Oooh, this does sound like a great October spooky read with her seeing ghosts along her haunted house tours. Reminds me of a series I’m working my way through right now.
Too bad about the bedroom stuff. Guess we can skip it and read the rest. 🙂
Most of the ghosts are blurred so when she sees them clearly, that is when it gets creepy. One sister makes love potions and owns a coffee shop. The other touches things and sees what happened. The evil will be back I am sure. This much evil never truly goes away.
It looks perfect for Halloween
Exactly
I like the excerpt! I’m always up for a spooky type read and it sounds like it would be. The “behind closed doors’ thing is too bad though. Still sounds good!
The romance just wasn’t believable and throw in the evil aspect, I came out feeling let down. But I am going to read the next book because I am hooked to find out what happens next.
I liked this one….but I wasn’t a fan of the insta-love. I just didn’t buy their relationship at all. I agree that it was pretty graphic at times (which I actually liked).
I had a love/hate relationship with the story. The insta-love was off-putting without an explaination and then to just put it behind closed doors felt off from what I have read from this author before. I didn’t buy the relationship either. It was a little over the top graphic. Creepy beyond just trying to creep us out. I think some of that could have been toned down some, but I guess she is trying to set this up for something in future books.
I really like the plot, but am also uninterested when there is too much sex and violence. Good and/or scary stories can be told with the right balance and sometimes I guess it tough for authors to find that.
It had very little sex – the first time stops in the middle of it and the rest happens off page. The evil builds up some. You see it, then it gets worse and worse and then horrifyingly worse and even tremendously worse. It wasn’t in your face the entire story. You knew the evil was there, just not the extent till later. It needed a little more on the romance side for this one to have been a great read. Maybe even just a tad little less gore.
Interesting. I don’t need the romance, butI like the dark creepy factor.
Mhmmm I am intrigued.