Alive

The Ghost of Cambria #1

by Joseph Stone

Kristen Cole is not alone in her house.

Misfortune shakes the young psychologist when her retired father falls victim to a terrible accident.  She journeys to the seaside hamlet of Cambria, California, where she lays his body to rest. Distraught and faced with a need to sell her father’s house quickly, Cole employs a local carpenter to renovate it for sale.

Tony De Luca is a young man in search of becoming a successful woodwork artisan. When Tony lands the opportunity to restore a magnificent old house, he believes he can reverse the effects of time to make the handsome property the cornerstone of his portfolio. However, Tony’s fiery new boss becomes a distraction he never expected to want.

Ryan Hoffman is an entrepreneur and protégé of Kristen’s father. When he comforts the red siren after her father’s passing, the clever man soon swipes Kristen off her feet.  At the chance to win her hand forever, Ryan stops at nothing to impress her.

Neither man understands that someone else covets Kristen Cole, the unseen occupant of 515 Cambria Pines Road, and no rival will survive a night in his house.

The Ghost of Cambria is a dark fantasy trilogy that will force you to question what is real and what is a delusion.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Supernatural, Paranormal, Romance

232 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2019

About the author

Joseph Stone is a historical, dark-fantasy novelist who lives in San Diego, California.  He holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from San Diego State University and a Master of Arts in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

Reviews

[Anastasia ｼ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
Kinda really slow... took too long for things to go anywhere
It has potential but...wasn't for me.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alive by Joseph Stone is not your typical romance novel. Stone’s novel focuses heavily on psychological self-reflection, a love triangle and minor paranormal activity. The psychological self-reflection I found was a clever way for the author to tie in his area of expertise into the novel, however in a female form which could explain why the character Kristen lacked some emotional characteristics as ‘typically’ found in other works that females are portrayed. I found the constantly self-reflections both interesting as I wanted to research some of the methods and terminology that has arisen, but at the same time it slowed down the story line as there was more thinking rather than doing. The love triangle between Kristen, Tony, and Ryan was not a surprise, based on the Kristen’s perceptions of each man. While both Tony and Ryan were different from one another, this readers wonders if each character has what she has been lacking in her life. For example Tony’s expertise with Huskies who assists Kristen in her educating on how to raise one. In regards to the paranormal activity, it was a very slow reveal which was surprising as the series is called “Ghost of Cambria.” As the last couple chapters started revealing the backstory and more paranormal activity, hopefully the next two novels in the series pushes the paranormal aspect more. Besides the story’s slow movement, another aspect that this reader did not appreciate is the too much detail of the next two novels. Now while this reader does not mind an excerpt of the next novel in the series, this author did not need to include the one after it as well. Having excerpts from the next two novels at the end of the text, revealed too much information that takes away the cliffhanger characteristic for wanting to continue reading the series. Overall, while this novel is not your typical romance novel, it has a different approach to the genre that can be both refreshing and conflicting for those who prefer the ‘typical romances.’

[One · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it’s really well written and the story is addictive. For me after a few chapters in kind of turned into a RomCom which is fine I just thought “he” would show up a lot more. The ending and explanation felt kind of rushed but that isn’t going to stop be from reading the next book.

[Helgaleena Healingline · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main character of this series is Dr. Kirsten Cole, a psychiatrist and hot babe, surrounded by a lot of California hot men and a malevolent entity that is killing people in her parents' house. She struck me as self-centered but possibly that is how everyone of a certain social stratum acts nowadays on the West coast. A promising mystery involving Hearst Castle is tied in by the end of the book, but it's too late and the corpses are starting to pile up. I found the prose annoyingly atrocious however, so I looked ahead to the next two volumes and *SPOILER* the dog dies! It's simply not worth it to me to wade through this terrible grammar just to see how long it takes for her to wise up to what's going on, and/or the working class hero Tony rescues her even though the dog dies.

That was simply the last straw; you Don't Kill the Dog!

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book that I have read by this author. I read the book blurb on this book and found it interesting so I selected it. The story line is good but I found the story too long in spots and not enough in others. The characters were alright but I didn't find myself connecting with them. The book needs an edit and usually I can overlook these things but this one made for a tough read.
I received a free copy of this book from Hidden Gems and I am leaving my honest review.

[Emma]

I had to DNF this book, as I simply couldn’t get into the plot

[Chantelle-emma Hilton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately I was unable to finish the book, very slow to go anywhere, lead character was unlikeable and unrelateable and never got to any paranormal footing. Between the dull plot, irrelevant rambling and POV switching along with misspelled and missing words this book was a no for me.