ORDER A COPY: Haunted, a Paranormal Romance (Spiritus Series, Book #2)
Publisher: self-published
Publishing Date: April 12, 2012
eBook: 127 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Alastor came at me then, forcing me back against the wall. He was so solid that I could feel his weight against me. I could feel his frozen breath on my face….He ran his hand up my arm, over my shoulder, and rested at the base of my throat. His blue eyes glittered dangerously.
Becca has accepted the horrors of her past life, and emerged with her ghostly love Alastor at her side. But her happiness is short lived when she realizes that balancing her past and present won’t be easy…
Becca has already decided that it’s Alastor that she loves, but now, as their uncommon relationship limits Becca’s future, Alastor must decide if he’s willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for Becca’s happiness….And will Becca’s sanity survive?
I was truly excited when I saw that Book 2 of the Spiritus series was out. I had enjoyed the characters in Spiritus and I thought it was a well written story and I was frustrated when it ended leaving me hanging until the next book. (See my review of Spiritus.)
I will tell you that Haunted was also a well written story, but personally I was disappointed. I know that the storyline of a woman and her ghost-husband-from-a-previous-lifetime is one of those–just not gonna have a happy ending type story, but I liked the characters of Alastor and Becca.
Spiritus left us on the afternoon of Becca’s graduation of high school. Alastor had disappeared for Becca’s own good but we do catch a glimpse of his watching over her from afar. Haunted picks up with Becca at age 23, and she is currently being held for observation in a psychiatric ward. Alastor obviously didn’t stay away for long, and although he is “living with” Becca up in her room again, he has (once again) come to the conclusion that Becca needs to move on with living her life. This time Alastor is pushing Becca toward Jonah, and although Alastor talks about her having a life, he is hanging on as the secret third wheel in the relationship. Since Alastor is the man Becca wants, it comes off as Becca is just going along with whatever Alastor wants like a puppet and although she doesn’t dislike Jonah, she showed more interest in him in Book 1, than in this story where they actually have a relationship.
Further, I didn’t like the aspect of the psychiatric ward and spending half the book viewing Becca through the eyes of the psychiatrist trying to help her over her delusion. I was never left with the question after reading Spiritus of whether or not she was crazy. We even have that moment when Alastor makes himself solid and Becca’s friends see him (see my favorite scene from Spiritus). If I was left wondering if she was loosing it, then I would have found this intriguing. If Spiritus was intended to be written in a “maybe she’s just crazy” story, then I missed that entirely.
I gave this story 4 stars since the writing was well done, and Book 2 builds on the story where Book 1 left off. I can’t fault the author because it didn’t go where I personally imagined it should. Not her fault, just my fault for jumping ahead.
Dana indicates where she will be leading us for Book 3, which will be the final story in the series, and I am looking forward to see how she concludes the story of Alastor and Becca.
Received ARC from the author. Thank you.
Go to Interviews to find out more about Dana Michelle Burnett and her Spiritus series.
Interview with Dana Michelle Burnett
Favorite Scene:
“What did the boy want?” Alastor asked as he swept around me.
“I don’t want to talk about him,” I whispered, trying to focus on the sound of Alastor’s voice and the feeling of him swirling around me.
Suddenly, Alastor was standing behind me. I could feel his icy lips hovering near my cheek.
“I also prefer not to talk about him,” he said with a frosty sigh. “But you seem upset.”
I walked towards my room, ready to shut the door to the outside world. “Alastor, I’m fine.”
He appeared in the doorway then, smiling and looking very real and very solid. He leaned against the frame and crossed his arms. His illusion was so strong; I could almost hear the cloth of his shirt scraping against his skin.
“You always were a terrible liar.” He said, moving aside so that I could walk past him.
I went over to the bed and sat down, “It’s nothing, he is just so annoying.”
“He is just a boy,” Alastor soothed, moving beside me and brushing my face with his chilling touch. “Think nothing more of him.”
“That’s fine with me,” I whispered as I closed my eyes and gave myself over to his touch.
“But I’ll tell you one thing, when I have a daughter; I’m going to warn her how annoying guys can be.”
A blast of cold air pushed against me and shook the walls. Alastor exploded out into the air, swirling around me frantically. I spun around, wanting to move away from him, but not knowing for sure exactly where he was.
“Alastor, what’s the matter with you?”
“You know that is not possible.” He said from everywhere, vibrating the air and causing books to fall from the shelves.
“What?”
He came closer, hovering just over my head, brewing and churning like a thunderstorm.
“You said when you have a daughter and you know that is not possible between us.”
Blushing, I looked up into the empty air, “I didn’t mean it like that.”
Alastor’s ghostly breath blew against my neck, “Oh, my darling, I think you did.”
