I like the fact these authors bundled together five novellas about ghosts. It was a fun Halloween read. However, I enjoy ghost stories anytime. I had read two of the five authors previously and was impressed by their stories, so when I got to sample three other authors’ works, it was only icing on the cake. All the stories were fun, entertaining, some more suspenseful than others. I read each and every one. Thank you, authors, for such an awesome group of stories!
Elle, the heroine, in this story fights her destiny, fights the appearance of a ghost and her fate of helping the fairies. She makes a decision to save her brother, Erik. She is also gifted something special from the fairies, a gift she has no choice to accept or reject.
A quote I lingered on from Laird of Shadows by Eliza Knight:
“Ye see, life is really only filled with the appearances of choice. The rest is simply our response."
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Deep Into Darkness by Kathryn Le Veque is the only of the five novellas which take us into present day, peering into the year 1290 A.D. It’s very unique because it follows in part the poem of The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe. I’ve read many of Kathryn Le Veque’s stories and they are masterpieces, in my opinion. She takes the hero and heroine of The Red Lion, a book recently released, weaves them into a very scary, page-turning story.
Heather works at a show called “World’s Best haunts”. She and another woman, Lynn, travel to sites where history speaks of haunts, hence, that’s why she’s in a village close to Findlater Castle, trying to discover something about the castle. We are then moved to the past where Lady Havilland and Jamison Munro take refuge from a heavy deluge of rain, cold, miserable and hungry at Findlater Castle. They find much more than shelter. They find danger as they’ve never experienced before. Unfortunately, Jamie is terribly ill, leaving Lady Hallivand to take things into her own hands, but can she keep herself and her husband safe?
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Upon a Misty Skye, by Terri Brisbin: Captures the cruelty of greed where a father, Ranald MacLeod, tortures his own daughter so she should do his bidding, marry a man to fill Ranald’s coffers. She escapes his malvolent character, through Alex’s swift intervention. They had secretly married weeks before. They hide within the ruins of Duntulm Castle, only to confront another anguished soul whose offers protection. Through Isabel’s journey, she discoveres the love of her mother and those who would have her safe.
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In A Ghostly Tale of Forbidden Love by Madeline Martin, Senara is a strong, formidable woman, ready to take care of herself. A woman of fire and a heart full of bruises and yet her innocent and pure heart is apparent to Gavin, who happens upon her protecting herself against four villains trying to take her horse, Norbert. She is out to find her fortune so she can help her family who have been stripped of most of what they own. Gavin is fascinated and intrigued with her thinking and finds she completes what he wants from life.
Sweet words from Senara, speaking her mind to Gavin,
“Love is too special to be bought no matter how much wealth ye have” she shrugged her slender shoulders again. “Besides, it doesna matter.”
He frowned. “Why is that”?
Her grin turned playful. “Because I’ve no’ anything to my name but Norbert and a sword. They’re worth the weight of my heart, but I know my fortune. No man will marry me for anything but love.”
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Words from Jamie, pride shining in his words as he gazes at his home, Caerlaverock Castle from The Maxwell Ghost by Ruth A. Casie.
“It pulls at my heart with its beauty and purpose. I represents all I hold dear in a person, it that’s possible, heart, soul and strength.
Here the heroine rushes into battle, so to speak, to save a man’s soul, someone who had died in Caerlaerock and is haunting the place. Laura has a way with ghosts as her mother. Jamie Maxwell is attracted to Laura, who in secret is attracted to him. She takes him as a good friend, since he is known for his dalliances, but the attraction from both sides cannot be denied. They work together to free this ghost’s spirit. Time is of the essence, three weeks has past since the demise of Evan and the ghost haunting has begun. They had only one week to free him or he would continue as a ghost.
A fun read with quite a bit of suspense!