Title: Haunted
Series: Hours of the Night: Book 2.5
Authors: Irene Preston and Liv Rancourt
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 60 Pages
Category: Contemporary, Paranormal
At a Glance: This novella did exactly what a good short story is supposed to do—left me wanting more from its characters. Mission accomplished.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: 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: Adam Morales is a professor who also happens to host a cable television show, Haunts and Hoaxes. So, what better place for him to be doing research for another episode than in New Orleans, a city not only steeped in history but with a hoodoo flavor and charm all its own. Not to mention some of the most allegedly haunted cemeteries in the world. Adam tries to keep an open mind about the paranormal. Or, at least that’s the public face he wears for his show. When he meets Noel Chandler, his mantra is tested in a real and shocking way.
Noel is an ex LAPD detective who left his high profile job and the City of Angels behind to make a fresh start in NOLA as an insurance investigator. He’s in charge of investigating an event which occurred in Nocturne, book two of the Hours of the Night series—the burning of Thaddeus Dupont’s home—to ensure Thad isn’t attempting to commit insurance fraud. Sara being at the heart of both this and the explosion of another house gives Noel good reason to examine this case with a fine-tooth comb, and that’s what he’s doing when he not only runs into Adam trespassing on what is surely still a crime scene but also experiences a hair-raising phenomenon that can’t possibly have happened. Or could it…?
I have loved both novels and the connected novellas in this series (Bonfires, Change of Heart, and now Haunted) and was so excited when I found out about this short story being offered in the M/M Romance Valentines Giveaway. It lived up to my expectations of this duo’s storytelling skills and introduced two new characters I want to know so much more about. Because together they make one intensely interesting pair—not only in the romantic sense but the supernatural sense as well.
The introduction of Noel and the things he experiences are only teased out to us here but seem chock full of expansion potential, and Adam appears the be the perfect complement to Noel’s ability, that which was the cause of him leaving the LAPD. Whether the authors would consider morphing this short into a full length novel, adding an Adam and Noel novel to the Hours of the Night -verse, or would build upon what’s here and weave these characters into a Thad and Sara novel, I don’t know, but I’m on board for future adventures with Adam and Noel, which is the ideal side effect of a good short story—always leave us wanting more. Mission accomplished.
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