Publisher: Sapphire Blue Publishing
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Heat Rating: 2
Blurb
At the New England New Age (NENA) Investigations, no case is too weird. The paranormal detective agency relies on the familial talents of siblings Duncan and Samantha MacDougal and their cousin Tara Conroy. While Duncan and Samantha tend to the field work, Tara mans the office tapping sources in both the physical and spirit world. Fate takes a hand when a killer named Jeffrey Wiles begins a death-dealing spree that puts the lives and loves of these investigators on the line.
Lia’s Review
Frozen Hell by Lisa Pietsch:
Danyelle Roy is a private investigator feeling the pinch of the economy. When she begs her friend Murphy, a bail bondsman, to give her some work, he does so reluctantly. Jeffrey Wiles isn't the kind of criminal you want to send a cute redhead after. He slaughtered a 13-year-old girl while her parents slept and then used her blood to paint Satanic graffiti on the walls. Duncan MacDougal is a specialist in paranormal investigations and he's never seen anything like the Satanic spellcasting done by Jeffrey Wiles. When Duncan and Dani team up to capture Wiles, the magic is overpowering.
The instant I started reading this story I felt as though I was watching a bad movie filmed in a scenic location but with robots instead of actors. This story concentrated so much on details and what everything looked liked instead of character feelings. In the second scene of the story when Wiles attacks and kills a little girl, instead of her feeling any real emotion, all the details concentrated on the candles that Wiles lit. Although the story did get better as it progressed, it lacked conflict. I felt like the only reason that Dani and Duncan fell in love is because her cat told him they’re soul mates. I liked Dani, she was an enjoyable character, although the rest of the story needed to be developed more.
Star Light, Blood Bright by K.F. Zululo:
Samantha MacDougal can see auras. Her gift usually helps her pursue rascals and wraiths for her family’s business, New England New Age Investigations. But when she begins to track Satanic serial murderer Jeffrey Wiles along icy Boston streets, her own life’s light is in danger of being extinguished. She is alone in her struggle until handsome Boston detective Ike Marshall mysteriously provides a supernatural shield of light that warms her as never before.
I didn’t like this story at all. There was too much concentration on details (just like in the first) and no concentration on plot or character development. It lacked conflict, especially in the romance department. Ike Starr, the hero, had no personality whatsoever and Sam MacDougal was a very dumb heroine. When she started to see the evil specks of aura, instead of realizing them as Wiles spirit, she instead just wrote them off as nothing. Then, when Wiles (while possessing her neighbor) came to her door, and she was warned that it’s Wiles, Sam still opened the door instead of run and hide. By the end of this story, I was so annoyed with this heroine that I skipped the last three chapters and moved on to the last story.
13th Night by Heather Long:
Since the day she learned to put her ABCs together, Tara Conroy has been sharing a ghostly correspondence with the spirit world. One spirit, in particular, Darian, has been talking to her since she was twelve years old. His letters take a darker turn as she and her cousins hunt down killer Jeffrey Wiles.
Darian Barnes ran afoul of a witch in 1929 as the stock market crashed. She cursed him, and for nearly a century Darian has existed as a spirit, always seeing, never touching or experiencing, until one day he encountered Tara. For the first time in eighty years, someone could hear him. He watched over her, guiding, protecting and advising—always there when she needed a friend.
Now Darian and Tara must find a way to bring their love into the physical world and destroy Jeffrey Wiles once and for all…
After reading and being disappointed with the first two stories, I was a bit reluctant to read this one. I was very shocked to see that this one actually had a plot and well developed characters. The conflict wasn’t just a part of the plot, but there was conflict between the characters. Tara and Darian were both very enjoyable characters. I was rooting for them to succeed the entire time. This story was not filled with any of the purple prose the first two stories contained. It was an enjoyable end to this poorly written anthology. Ms Long definitely gained a new reader with her story.
2 ½ Tea Cups!
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