The Summons by Jo Barrett

TITLE: The Summons
AUTHOR: Jo Barrett
PUBLISHER: Wild Rose Press
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 6k)
GENRE: Paranormal romance
COST: $1.50

Overworked nurse Lindsay Sumner thinks the gorgeous Scot she’s dreaming about is the result of too many long hours and not enough recreation. Her so-called imaginary Highlander has a different opinion…

After being so frustrated with Monday’s review, I decided to pick something from my TBR pile that was a comfort read. I didn’t want an author I hadn’t fallen for in the past. I didn’t want to indulge in a kink on the mere hope of it being satisfied. So even though I knew this was a very short story, I pulled it out anyway, and was rewarded with a sweet, mild diversion that left a smile on my face rather than a frown.

There’s very little to the actual plot. Lindsay finds herself having sexy dreams about a Scot named Roan, and grows increasingly convinced that she’s insane for falling for a figment of her imagination. She has justifications for their coming together, all the way to the end, which makes for nice realism on the author’s part, if the fact that she talks out loud so much to herself annoys me to death. Roan doesn’t get much room to play until the time for the reasons for their coming together gets explained, but even then, it’s fairly superficial.

There’s absolutely nothing demanding about this sweet little story, nor is there anything offensive. It’s a nice distraction from real life for a few minutes, with nice romantic overtones to shade your day. I wouldn’t suggest this be a reader’s first exposure to this author’s work, as it only hints at how well she can create a romantic atmosphere, but for readers who already appreciate the author’s style, it makes a tasty little nibble.

Readability	8/10 – Simple and sweet, with only a few errors.
Hero	5/10 – She thinks he’s a dream for most of it, and the story is only 6k long. Does that give you an idea of how fleshed he is?
Heroine	6/10 – I can do without the talking out loud to herself she does, but she’s fine otherwise.
Entertainment value	7/10 – Sweet and diverting
World building	6/10 – There’s not really enough room in this for world building, exposition, and romance. World building loses.
TOTAL:	32/50