Between Worlds

Finally I got around to reading this second novel in the Cemetery Tours series and my only regret is not getting to it sooner!

After Micheal Sinclair declared to the world that yes, he does in fact see ghosts, his friend Luke Reiner approaches him once more asking to join him on his show Cemetery Tours. This time, his presence is a stipulation one of the home owners has placed on their allowing the tv show to film there. Michael reluctantly agrees after Luke and Kate, Micheal's now girlfriend, team up against him. We join Michael, Luke, and Kate once more on a ghost hunt that gets out of hand as the crew learns more about the ghost haunting a home in Maine.

I loved getting to join the team once more for a wild and humorous ride. Jacqueline has a unique gift in building up the world of Michael Sinclair where he can talk to ghosts, Kate can sense them, and Luke likes to poke them with a stick. The banter between the characters, including Brink, Michael's ghostly roommate, really makes you laugh out loud at least a half dozen times. Also in this one is a tragic love story that focuses around the ghosts the team is trying to find evidence of, and the heartbreak leads to some pretty crazy moments for everyone.

Jacqueline also steps outside her zone and takes us to the stunningly beautiful Maine, describing an incredible home and a quaint town that made me wish I could take a trip up there while reading this one.

Of course I am going to recommend everyone read this second great novel from Smith. Specifically to those that took the chance in reading the first one. This was a great follow up novel and I am looking forward to the third one.

The Dark Rose

Within The Dark Rose are two main characters, Louisa and Paul, both with dark pasts that have brought them to work at the sight of Kelstice Lodge to help restore the grounds to their former glory. Along with revealing what happens at the Lodge between these two people, Erin Kelly also weaves in the stories of their pasts where both have come far closer to death than either would have liked.

Kelly does an excellent job of winding three different stories together in a way that does not distract from any of the plots, avoiding the problem of the reader wanting to get back to a certain thread when the others are being given. With each chapter I was just as thrilled to read whatever new bit Kelly was going to give me, no matter which part of the story it was about. Slowly, Kelly unravels two stories that come together in  multiple ways before the end and had me sitting on the edge of my seat as every event unfolded. And wow, I was not prepared for the ending at all! The epilogue was just icing on the surprise cake!

If you've seen any of my other reviews you may know I am not one for mystery, and yet here I am again stepping out of my comfort zone and loving it! This is one of the darker novels I have read, with the exception of Sleeping in Eden earlier this year. And just like that novel, I was a bit shaken by this book, given a few ideas for a darker story of my own, and intrigued enough to look for more by this author!

I definitely recommend everyone pick this books up ad get pulled into these character's lives as well as the excellent writing style of Erin Kelly. And if you have read her work before and have recommendations for me on her other books or perhaps more in the genre, please leave a comment! I will be giving more books like this one a chance in the future.

Sleeping In Eden

There are two stories to tell here. Dr. Lucas Hudson is a small town doctor trying hard to hold onto a failing marriage. And he definitely regrets answering the phone when his friend Alex called, because he did not like the thought of acting as coroner with the body of the town's most reclusive alcoholic hanging from the rafters. But it's too late to change the past and things are about to get far too complicated for Lucas to pull back now.

Meg Painter is a young girl just trying to figure life out, which seems like the usual fair for any fourteen year old. And wouldn't things just be more fun if she was being tossed between the ups and downs of first love, first heartbreak, best friends, and boyfriends, all with two boys in the mix? No. No, it wouldn't be fun. But Meg has been given these circumstances and she is trying to untangle it all.

Slowly these two stories unfold and grow closer together in this wonderfully woven tale by Nicola Baart. At first I hated the alternating chapters, bouncing from one character's story to the next. As soon as I would feel invested in one plot line, she would throw me into the other. But as the stories got closer to intersecting, I found that I was deeply invested in both, needing to know how they came to meet, how things could possibly be resolved, how things had happened. Due to the nature of the story, I was kinda expecting the ending, just a little. I didn't know the finer points, and I was unprepared for the heartbreak that would accompany the details. I tweeted the author when I finished: "Thanks @NicoleLynnBaart for ripping my heart to pieces and stitching it back together with a fine thread. SLEEPING IN EDEN was wonderful." And that is the best way I can say how the ending affected me.

I really recommend this book. To the lovers of mystery, twists and turns, love, and heartbreak, and Hope. This is a great read by a talented author. I look forward to reading more of her work!