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Black Ghost Runner
Beth learned one thing first before she began running—never help a shifter. Remember that old saying...no good deed goes unpunished.
Well she had not actually meant to help him. He had been injured and taken advantage of her so she helped him the first time and because of this, she lost her job and career. Great, she hoped she never saw this strange man again. Beth ran, except she was left with a strange memory of his eyes changing to those of a cat.
But he found her again because he needed help once more. Beth did what was necessary to get rid of him and helped him get his funds, except she was left with a strange bite mark and the memory of a huge black cat in the night above her in her bed. This time she was running with a serious thought, not to have him find her ever again. There was something more than just strange about this man, he was a threat to her in ways she did not want to admit.
Beth ran from the black ghost through Indian Reservations, from archeological digs in the northwest, down to the lost areas of poorer Mexico, through jungles and back into the giant towering buildings of bustling cities.
Yet, where ever she went was a black ghost that haunted her dreams and sent a sexual pull that she could not turn off.
Well she had not actually meant to help him. He had been injured and taken advantage of her so she helped him the first time and because of this, she lost her job and career. Great, she hoped she never saw this strange man again. Beth ran, except she was left with a strange memory of his eyes changing to those of a cat.
But he found her again because he needed help once more. Beth did what was necessary to get rid of him and helped him get his funds, except she was left with a strange bite mark and the memory of a huge black cat in the night above her in her bed. This time she was running with a serious thought, not to have him find her ever again. There was something more than just strange about this man, he was a threat to her in ways she did not want to admit.
Beth ran from the black ghost through Indian Reservations, from archeological digs in the northwest, down to the lost areas of poorer Mexico, through jungles and back into the giant towering buildings of bustling cities.
Yet, where ever she went was a black ghost that haunted her dreams and sent a sexual pull that she could not turn off.
- GenresRomance
122 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2013
1 person is currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
M. Garnet
87 books17 followersThe author lives in Florida and under the pen name of M. Garnet (Muriel Garnet Yantiss) spends all her time writing, reading or talking to writers and readers.
She writes SciFi, Fantasy and Contemporary Mystery with her new award winning 50th released book, THE STORM TAMER. Visit her web site at www.mgarnet.com to see other books she has written. You can find her on Amazon at her Author’s site at: https://www.amazon.com/author/m.garnet
She loves to hear from you at mgarnet2@yahoo.com. She answers all her emails and if you would be kind enough to drop a note where you got this book, it helps others decide what to read.
She writes SciFi, Fantasy and Contemporary Mystery with her new award winning 50th released book, THE STORM TAMER. Visit her web site at www.mgarnet.com to see other books she has written. You can find her on Amazon at her Author’s site at: https://www.amazon.com/author/m.garnet
She loves to hear from you at mgarnet2@yahoo.com. She answers all her emails and if you would be kind enough to drop a note where you got this book, it helps others decide what to read.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 6, 2014
Beth is a human woman with a safe, boring life and job. One night her co-worker leaves her alone for a few minutes and the Black Ghost bursts into her normally staid life demanding she help with an injury. Each time she meets up with him, along with having an almost overpowering lust for him, her life changes drastically and she has to run, from the people after him … maybe even him too. She starts a life that is far from normal, including having to change identities, work odd jobs ranging from office worker to bartender at a bar in Mexico, to working as a performer in a traveling circus. She cannot run forever, but if and when she decides to stop, will it be too late?
Noble is a powerful, alpha shifter on the run from his pack’s enemies. One night he needs help with his wounds and breaks into a veterinarian clinic in the search for medical supplies. There he finds his supplies and gets help in the form of Beth, not knowing that meeting her is just the beginning of a new obsession for him. He is on the run and focused on protecting his kind from the many who are after them, including a rich foreign hunter who is in search of immortality. He feels bad for involving Beth and upending her life, but he cannot seem to help himself, especially after he bites her, marking her. Can he catch up to her in time and keep her safe?
Beth finds herself bartending in Mexico, where trouble seems to follow. That trouble, in the shape of the arrival of two shifters, has her feeling the need to go. One shifter tells her that she is safe from them, that Noble is seriously hurt, and he needs her to go to him. Plans are made to transport the injured Noble back to the U.S. using a traveling circus for a disguise. Once they make it over the border Beth overhears something that makes her feel that she is in danger again … this time from Noble so she bolts. Eventually a mysterious and shadowy agency finds her at the same time as Noble … the question is who will get to her first?
The story seemed to be all over the place in terms of what was happening or going to happen, things were introduced which made me think the story was going one way, but I thought wrong. They were resolved “out of screen” or in the next few pages … or were simply abandoned. Some descriptions and details for the people and places were too much at times, overshadowing the main story—like the extensive research and set-up for each of Beth’s moves. She was a rather inconsistent character, at times she seemed very smart, and at other times she was painfully naïve about things. I did not feel the urgency and danger that Beth felt and I am thinking Beth didn’t know either once she was in Noble’s presence. There was more “telling” of what emotions there were rather than “showing.”
Official Review @Coffee Time Romance & More
Noble is a powerful, alpha shifter on the run from his pack’s enemies. One night he needs help with his wounds and breaks into a veterinarian clinic in the search for medical supplies. There he finds his supplies and gets help in the form of Beth, not knowing that meeting her is just the beginning of a new obsession for him. He is on the run and focused on protecting his kind from the many who are after them, including a rich foreign hunter who is in search of immortality. He feels bad for involving Beth and upending her life, but he cannot seem to help himself, especially after he bites her, marking her. Can he catch up to her in time and keep her safe?
Beth finds herself bartending in Mexico, where trouble seems to follow. That trouble, in the shape of the arrival of two shifters, has her feeling the need to go. One shifter tells her that she is safe from them, that Noble is seriously hurt, and he needs her to go to him. Plans are made to transport the injured Noble back to the U.S. using a traveling circus for a disguise. Once they make it over the border Beth overhears something that makes her feel that she is in danger again … this time from Noble so she bolts. Eventually a mysterious and shadowy agency finds her at the same time as Noble … the question is who will get to her first?
The story seemed to be all over the place in terms of what was happening or going to happen, things were introduced which made me think the story was going one way, but I thought wrong. They were resolved “out of screen” or in the next few pages … or were simply abandoned. Some descriptions and details for the people and places were too much at times, overshadowing the main story—like the extensive research and set-up for each of Beth’s moves. She was a rather inconsistent character, at times she seemed very smart, and at other times she was painfully naïve about things. I did not feel the urgency and danger that Beth felt and I am thinking Beth didn’t know either once she was in Noble’s presence. There was more “telling” of what emotions there were rather than “showing.”
Official Review @Coffee Time Romance & More
August 13, 2014
We pick up the story of a young woman currently named Beth. I say currently because she will change her name several times during the story. Beth works as a auditor for a chain of veterinary clinics. She likes her job and is good at it; she has an obnoxious coworker who doesn't like the job and isn't good at it. He is also an asthmatic, which provides him with an excuse to get out of the office long past closing to run to the QuickyMart just up the street for a new inhaler, thus leaving her alone at the clinic where she will soon be assaulted by "the Dark Ghost". This happens within the first pages of the book, and already I think- so if this dude has such an awful case of asthma, why doesn't he have a backup inhaler? And what kind of QuickyMart in a lousy area of town carries inhalers which are prescription only anyway?? However, I get it that this is merely a tool the author uses to get him out of the building thus providing the opportunity for The Ghost to bust his way in, assault Beth, have her apply and steal some meds, and then take off, leaving her to wonder what on earth just happened. She calls the cops, who can't make sense of the crime scene or her story, the coworker returns --clueless, and they wrap up their night. Beth is subsequently fired, not given a reference, her retirement funds taken away, and totally without cash, a job, or a plan. Thinking that she can hide from this strange man/creature, she takes a new job and while out with the crew on a Friday night, she backs up into him. He strong arms her into her jeep, tells her to go to her apartment (which he has cased out) and they proceed to spend the night together. Ghost needs her to do a little banking for him. She has dreams of passionate love and a big black panther laying over her. The next day, she does the banking for him and he is gone? She hops a bus and heads west. Without any real plan, she get off the bus at a sleepy town wherein she sits in the diner for a few days, learns of a bookkeeping job and decides to fill it.
Again, " The Ghost" finds her. By this time she has some ideas about what he may be, cuz it surely isn't all human. His eyes change to the "color of old gold" (that wildly descriptive phrase used no less than three times in the first two chapters) with no white showing. She begins to think he is a shifter. There is a local Indian reservation nearby and since she is interested in all things Indian, something that just pops up, by the way, she goes to visit an elder. They have a lovely visit, he likes the chocolate she brings. And she too moves on. Only he finds her again, brings her to a home he gives her, along with an extensive backstory. She realizes that she doesn't want him to leave, and some crazy sex happens. The rest of the story progresses in similar fashion. She winds up in Mexico running a bar and brothel in some small out of the way town. She runs again, only to wind up ambushed in the jungle by god-knows-who and running for her life through the jungle. Eventually she sees another panther, watches it go behind the waterfall she would otherwise fall down, and follows it into a cave which (surprise!) has dry kindling for firewood, medicine, and bottles of fresh water. She awakens to find herself tethered to the wall. The panther is there and eventually others from the pride show up. Decision made--join the circus. They group continues traveling and performing in Mexico until US government agents find them. And so the drama of the story continues to unfold in a very predictable patten. I won't spoil the ending for you.
I quickly became frustrated with this book. The editing (I read an ARC) was terribly incomplete. There were several hanging sentences and thing that made no sense when put together. There are logical inconsistencies throughout. In many places it seemed that the writer went into too much detail, and others not enough. The story follows one direction and then abandons that thought to pursue a different way. Again, hanging. The character development is shallow. I can't figure out what the protagonists do for each other, other than have some major lust. I generally enjoy this genre (paranormal romance), but this story left me cold. I wonder whether the writer did much research and editing before putting this out. I hate to pan another's effort, but this just didn't do it for me on so many levels.
I reviewed this for netgalley.com as an Advance Reader Copy. I assume that all typos and grammar errors will be corrected prior to publication.
Again, " The Ghost" finds her. By this time she has some ideas about what he may be, cuz it surely isn't all human. His eyes change to the "color of old gold" (that wildly descriptive phrase used no less than three times in the first two chapters) with no white showing. She begins to think he is a shifter. There is a local Indian reservation nearby and since she is interested in all things Indian, something that just pops up, by the way, she goes to visit an elder. They have a lovely visit, he likes the chocolate she brings. And she too moves on. Only he finds her again, brings her to a home he gives her, along with an extensive backstory. She realizes that she doesn't want him to leave, and some crazy sex happens. The rest of the story progresses in similar fashion. She winds up in Mexico running a bar and brothel in some small out of the way town. She runs again, only to wind up ambushed in the jungle by god-knows-who and running for her life through the jungle. Eventually she sees another panther, watches it go behind the waterfall she would otherwise fall down, and follows it into a cave which (surprise!) has dry kindling for firewood, medicine, and bottles of fresh water. She awakens to find herself tethered to the wall. The panther is there and eventually others from the pride show up. Decision made--join the circus. They group continues traveling and performing in Mexico until US government agents find them. And so the drama of the story continues to unfold in a very predictable patten. I won't spoil the ending for you.
I quickly became frustrated with this book. The editing (I read an ARC) was terribly incomplete. There were several hanging sentences and thing that made no sense when put together. There are logical inconsistencies throughout. In many places it seemed that the writer went into too much detail, and others not enough. The story follows one direction and then abandons that thought to pursue a different way. Again, hanging. The character development is shallow. I can't figure out what the protagonists do for each other, other than have some major lust. I generally enjoy this genre (paranormal romance), but this story left me cold. I wonder whether the writer did much research and editing before putting this out. I hate to pan another's effort, but this just didn't do it for me on so many levels.
I reviewed this for netgalley.com as an Advance Reader Copy. I assume that all typos and grammar errors will be corrected prior to publication.
March 13, 2015
I had a hard time deciding whether to give this 1 or 2 stars. I didn't actually dislike it, I was curious enough to see how it finished, but it's not ok as a romance of any sort (paranormal, suspense, etc) nor is it good urban fantasy. It's definitely not "Explicitly Exciting" as Ecstasy books, it's publisher promotes.
Why not good as romance? The characters, Beth and Noble, spend almost no time together. He pops up briefly a few times and gets Beth in trouble or out of it and then disappears. They don't talk except for him to give orders. They had one brief clothes on make out scene which is primarily so he can bite her so he can follow her. But why does he want to do that, there doesn't seem to be a destined mate theme in this book. They do have sex once and it's hardly the scene of one's dreams, nor is it so animalistic it's got it's own appeal. I think the term "rigid tool" is used, something tool at least. There is no chemistry between the characters, none.
As urban fantasy it's totally off the mark. The story focuses on human Beth and her new lives in the human world as she moves, nothing supe happening. The shifters are totally secondary and we (and Beth) are given very little information about the shifter world. Noble is an alpha, there's a bad guy who wants to experiment on them so he can extend his life and that there are other shifters out there. That's it. Beth does meet a few more shifters towards the end and half the time they aren't even given names, that's how important they are.
I was not expecting a story that focused on a single woman traveling around the US to escape a nameless bad guy, going from job to job. Yes, human females and their shifter lovers running from bad guys is a common theme, but a human female running on her own was new especially with the story focusing on her at work and not on her and the guy doing stuff together. Also, unrealistic. Beth was an accountant for a chain of vet clinics. When did she come up with mad computer skills, able to come up with her own false documents? Documents good enough to fool a police chief apparently. How can she be a bar manager/pimp (yes, PIMP) in a bar in small town Mexico without being sexually abused, she's supposed to had a lush figure and attractive. She also goes to school at one point and it reads as if it's her first time, but she was an accountant, maybe not a CPA, but she must have had some college. And as a new student, she goes on a dig. That's usually for more advanced students (there is some mention she may have used money to buy her way in, what?!?). Near the end, Beth, Noble and some other shifters escape Mexico and come back into the US as part of a circus act. It isn't that easy to bring a wild cat (Noble in shifted form) over the boarder. Then again, the shifters seem to have crazy computer skills too. It's never clearly explained how Noble gets seriously hurt, so that Beth is brought to him. It's alluded to that she can help heal him, but it's dropped. While she's with him in the jungle as he's healing, her hands are bound. Why? Where's she going to go? She's never exhibited violence either. He's in animal form, so again, no talking.
So, Beth is a likable character, we don't spend enough time with Noble to care what he's like, the story goes in wildly different directions in each of Beth's new incarnations on her escape route, but that's the problem. The story is all over the place and while the story covers a year or two (seasons are mentioned changing), we are given mere snapshots at a life and not a cohesive, developed story.
I liked how the writing flowed, I just think the concept of the book or the direction it was taken was unconventional for any mainstream genre and didn't match the cover. There was too much thrown in the mix and none of it was developed enough.
I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Why not good as romance? The characters, Beth and Noble, spend almost no time together. He pops up briefly a few times and gets Beth in trouble or out of it and then disappears. They don't talk except for him to give orders. They had one brief clothes on make out scene which is primarily so he can bite her so he can follow her. But why does he want to do that, there doesn't seem to be a destined mate theme in this book. They do have sex once and it's hardly the scene of one's dreams, nor is it so animalistic it's got it's own appeal. I think the term "rigid tool" is used, something tool at least. There is no chemistry between the characters, none.
As urban fantasy it's totally off the mark. The story focuses on human Beth and her new lives in the human world as she moves, nothing supe happening. The shifters are totally secondary and we (and Beth) are given very little information about the shifter world. Noble is an alpha, there's a bad guy who wants to experiment on them so he can extend his life and that there are other shifters out there. That's it. Beth does meet a few more shifters towards the end and half the time they aren't even given names, that's how important they are.
I was not expecting a story that focused on a single woman traveling around the US to escape a nameless bad guy, going from job to job. Yes, human females and their shifter lovers running from bad guys is a common theme, but a human female running on her own was new especially with the story focusing on her at work and not on her and the guy doing stuff together. Also, unrealistic. Beth was an accountant for a chain of vet clinics. When did she come up with mad computer skills, able to come up with her own false documents? Documents good enough to fool a police chief apparently. How can she be a bar manager/pimp (yes, PIMP) in a bar in small town Mexico without being sexually abused, she's supposed to had a lush figure and attractive. She also goes to school at one point and it reads as if it's her first time, but she was an accountant, maybe not a CPA, but she must have had some college. And as a new student, she goes on a dig. That's usually for more advanced students (there is some mention she may have used money to buy her way in, what?!?). Near the end, Beth, Noble and some other shifters escape Mexico and come back into the US as part of a circus act. It isn't that easy to bring a wild cat (Noble in shifted form) over the boarder. Then again, the shifters seem to have crazy computer skills too. It's never clearly explained how Noble gets seriously hurt, so that Beth is brought to him. It's alluded to that she can help heal him, but it's dropped. While she's with him in the jungle as he's healing, her hands are bound. Why? Where's she going to go? She's never exhibited violence either. He's in animal form, so again, no talking.
So, Beth is a likable character, we don't spend enough time with Noble to care what he's like, the story goes in wildly different directions in each of Beth's new incarnations on her escape route, but that's the problem. The story is all over the place and while the story covers a year or two (seasons are mentioned changing), we are given mere snapshots at a life and not a cohesive, developed story.
I liked how the writing flowed, I just think the concept of the book or the direction it was taken was unconventional for any mainstream genre and didn't match the cover. There was too much thrown in the mix and none of it was developed enough.
I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
December 23, 2014
I loved the cover of this book and that is what really brought my attention to the book. After I read what the book was about I really had to read it and I have to say that I loved this book.
Beth was just enjoying her job and being able to also have some fun with the animals that were in the building. She didn't like her partner much because he complained about everything. One night while she was alone in the building and thought it was her co-worker knocking at the door. She opened it and got the biggest surprise of her life. It was a man that she would name the black ghost.
Noble is the alpha of his pack. He needs help and meets Beth. He seems to cause her nothing but bad luck. He makes her loose her job and she then decides to just move and take another name. She hopes that she won't run into Noble anymore. Noble knows where she is because of the bite mark he gave her.
This was one exciting book. You start reading and you can't put it down because you have to know what happens next. You will be in another country or doing some real exciting job. It almost makes me want to have my own black ghost. I would have just given up at the first thing of trouble. Beth is a woman that can do whatever she needs to, to survive.
I know that I will be reading more books by this author. I can't wait to see what other books she writes. I know that there will never be a boring moment.
Beth was just enjoying her job and being able to also have some fun with the animals that were in the building. She didn't like her partner much because he complained about everything. One night while she was alone in the building and thought it was her co-worker knocking at the door. She opened it and got the biggest surprise of her life. It was a man that she would name the black ghost.
Noble is the alpha of his pack. He needs help and meets Beth. He seems to cause her nothing but bad luck. He makes her loose her job and she then decides to just move and take another name. She hopes that she won't run into Noble anymore. Noble knows where she is because of the bite mark he gave her.
This was one exciting book. You start reading and you can't put it down because you have to know what happens next. You will be in another country or doing some real exciting job. It almost makes me want to have my own black ghost. I would have just given up at the first thing of trouble. Beth is a woman that can do whatever she needs to, to survive.
I know that I will be reading more books by this author. I can't wait to see what other books she writes. I know that there will never be a boring moment.
August 7, 2014
This was a very interesting book I read it rather quickly as I could not put it down and when only absolutely necessary this was a nice romance with the paranormal twist not only is noble a shifter he's a criminal made that way because he seems to be always running and now he has marked beth and pulled her into the mess she has to keep moving and changing identities to stay ahead of the bad guys but noble never seems to want to risk being with her permanently afraid he will shift and hurt her so he keeps showing up on the pretence of saving her but somehow she always has to run it will take a life or death decision for him to turn her let's hope she is strong enough to survive ir
I think it needs a little polish and a added chapter and it would be great
I think it needs a little polish and a added chapter and it would be great
August 22, 2014
NetGalley Free Book
Beth was in the wrong place at the wrong time. As a traveling bookkeeper she was located at a pet hospital at night when she was interrupted by an injured man. He demanded her help in patching him up. In return she was not only fired from her job but now she was on the run from this same man. He found her wherever she went and soon found out how....he was a shifter.
I just could not seem to connect with the characters. Beth was on the run so much and her named changed everytime that as a reader I just could not decide who she was or even if I liked her.
The story line was constantly changing also. It was hard to keep up with. The plot was pretty simple but there was just something to this book that did not grab my attention.
Beth was in the wrong place at the wrong time. As a traveling bookkeeper she was located at a pet hospital at night when she was interrupted by an injured man. He demanded her help in patching him up. In return she was not only fired from her job but now she was on the run from this same man. He found her wherever she went and soon found out how....he was a shifter.
I just could not seem to connect with the characters. Beth was on the run so much and her named changed everytime that as a reader I just could not decide who she was or even if I liked her.
The story line was constantly changing also. It was hard to keep up with. The plot was pretty simple but there was just something to this book that did not grab my attention.
September 8, 2014
I thought this one sounded like it would be a great interesting read. This book starts out with Beth who is at a vet place doing auditing of the books. This book jumped around and was hard to follow. I stopped reading it because I wasn't connecting to the story of characters. I wouldn't recommend this book nor the author.
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August 25, 2014I received this in exchange for an honest review. However, I just could not finish it. I usually love shapeshifting books just did not pull me in.
August 30, 2014
I received this book from Netgalley. Well I don't know what to say I could not even finish this one. I love shifter books but this story jumped around and honestly made no sense.
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September 12, 2014Thanks netgalley for a free read in exchange for my opinion. I think the book needs proof reading, and some fill in the blanks. It jumped around too much.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews