Ghost Unlaid by Marie Treanor

TITLE: Ghost Unlaid
AUTHOR: Marie Treanor
PUBLISHER: Wild Rose Press
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 28k)
GENRE: Paranormal romance
COST: $3.50

Julie Macbeth works for the Scottish National Library, but her latest assignment has her more excited than ever. It’s one of the largest personal collections she has ever seen, and her job is to catalog it. It’s not just comprised of books, however. The library in which it’s housed is haunted by the ghost of a man who claims to be a Scottish king, killed over a thousand years ago. Julie doesn’t see him as a ghost, but as a man who’s reminded her what it’s like to love again…

Since I’ve been having less than great luck lately, I decided to go with an author I usually enjoy. I wasn’t disappointed, though I didn’t love this as much as I’ve loved other work by her.

Julie Macbeth works with rare books for the National Library in Edinburgh. Her new boss, a man she resents for taking the job she wanted, punishes her for a minor indiscretion by assigning her to catalog a new collection that’s become available to them. The owner is eager to sell as he’s convinced the house he’s inherited is haunted. She goes to work on it, and in the library meets a man who spends most of his day reading. She assumes it’s the owner, but speaking with the housekeeper later proves that wrong. The lack of information on who he really is doesn’t bother her that much, since he’s funny and gorgeous, thoroughly charming her very quickly. It’s not until she starts to suspect that he’s crazy because he thinks he’s a ghost that problems arise.

Ghost stories always require a measure of suspending disbelief in order to work. They’re helped when characters act and react in what I consider intelligent ways. This novella benefits from having a heroine with just the right amount of skepticism about what she’s being told. She doesn’t accept it blindly, but at the same time, there’s not a ton of time wasted over her agonizing about it all. It’s a delicate balance, and works extremely well here, primarily because the chemistry between the hero and heroine was already off the charts by the time the truth is exposed. I really liked Julie, for her go-getter attitude and her refusal to be played a fool. She’s highly relatable, and if I didn’t buy the ending, that’s through no fault of her character.

Lulach, the hero, isn’t quite as well-rounded, but that’s mostly because we only get to see him through Julie’s eyes (barring the very brief prologue). He carries a vibe of too good to be true, but I guess if I was a king in a previous life, I might give that off, too. Still, in contrast with how real Julie seemed, it was a little jarring. In spite of that mild disconnect, though, I was still able to fall for their chemistry.

What wasn’t as easy to accept was the slightly odd ending. It’s an inherent flaw in ghost stories that attempt to be romantic, however, and at least the characters acted intelligently to get to that place. I probably held too high of expectations and was disappointed as a result of that. This is an early work by this author, and I know for a fact she’s grown a lot since this was originally published. Still, it was more enjoyable than a lot of what I’d tried to read lately, with a surprising heat level considering it’s not an erotic romance. That’s down to the characters, and for getting to share that with them, I’m highly grateful.

Readability	8/10 – Dialogue that snaps along, enough description to make it visual…yep, it works for me.
Hero	6/10 – Hunky and adorable if a little too good to be true
Heroine	7/10 – A go-getter with just enough skepticism to make her palatable
Entertainment value	7/10 – I can’t say I really cared for the way it all worked out, but I was wrapped up in the romance of it throughout the entire story
World building	6/10 – The paranormal explanations left a lot to be desired, but the Scottish setting is more than real
TOTAL:	34/50

Killing Joe by Marie Treanor

TITLE: Killing Joe
AUTHOR: Marie Treanor
PUBLISHER: Samhain
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 27k)
GENRE: Paranormal romance
COST: $3.50

Crash test researcher Dr. Anna Baird is on the verge of exposing one of the most dangerous cars in Scotland, unless the assassin sent to kill her gets to her first. The only problem is…he doesn’t. He’s a victim of irony that puts him in a coma, a deep sleep that somehow connects him to Anna’s world…

I picked up this novella from my TBR after finishing the last story because I’d hoped reading an author I’d liked in the past would help me bounce back. The bounce wasn’t that far, unfortunately, as I picked an older story that lacks some of her later finesse.

Dr. Anna Baird is a crash test dummy expert, working at the Institute of Crash Research in Edinburgh. At the story’s start, she is being stalked by an assassin who calls himself Joe, who plans to kill her in a car accident using her own research. Cosmic irony, he figures. Except the irony is, he gets in his own accident before he can do it, sending him into a coma with dangerous injuries. At the time of his accident, Anna sees his face on her special crash test dummy, then later on, when she’s alone, she sees him when he takes the dummy’s place in storage.

It’s a fascinating idea, but it never really rises above that. Much of Joe’s presence in Anna’s world is left to the mystical, and the lack of explanation is frustrating when the rest of the story feels so realistic. This lack ends up working against Anna’s characterization as it makes her come across as highly emotional and a little unbalanced, instead of proving reasons for her to respond the way she does. When she falls for Joe so quickly, the creepiness of his stalking her at the top of the story is supplanted by her obsession with him. It never felt like a romance at that point, and when it’s attempted to get an HEA later on, it feels like an entirely different story.

It’s not helped that the editing isn’t as tight as I would expect from Samhain. There is an early mistake of using “grizzly” in place of “grisly” (more than once) that was so glaring it only spotlighted later errors even brighter (like the cop’s name changes spelling). Unfortunately, these kind of red flags disrupt my reading flow quite a bit, and with all my questions regarding the nature of the world and Joe’s situation, it was already disrupted enough. This ends up being very middle of the road for me, with points for originality but not so many for execution.

Readability	7/10 – Minor technical things pulled me out of the story a little
Hero	6/10 – Some intriguing characteristics going on here, but not enough to make him clear or let me connect to him emotionally
Heroine	6/10 – Smart but seems emotionally unbalanced, making the insta-love feel even more creepy
Entertainment value	6/10 – An average read, only slightly better because of its unusual story
World building	6/10 – There needed to be more about Joe, his past, how it all worked…just more
TOTAL:	31/50

Ariadne's Thread by Marie Treanor

TITLE: Ariadne’s Thread
AUTHOR: Marie Treanor
PUBLISHER: Samhain
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 46k)
GENRE: Paranormal erotic romance
COST: $4.50

Helping to rob a wealthy man on New Year’s Eve seems like the quickest way for down on her luck Addie McSween to get out of the financial hole she’s in. Until she discovers that the man they’re robbing is the renowned concert pianist, John Maxwell. And that his house is haunted by multiple ghosts. And a snowstorm has stranded them, forcing her to come face to face with the first man to ever make her feel alive…

After reading another book by this author last summer, I promptly went out and bought a number of books from her backlist. Just like I kicked myself then about taking so long to read it, I’m kicking myself again about taking so long getting around to reading other titles by her. Because honestly, this is an author who writes heroes and stories I literally sink into.

This is a ghost story/crime caper gone wrong/romance all rolled up into one. Addie is a single mother from Glasgow, who’s hooked up with her brother and his criminal friends to be the driver on their heist. They’re robbing a house out in the middle of nowhere on New Year’s Eve, using the party with its numerous guests who come and go as their cover. Things go wrong almost from the start, however, when Addie, who’s supposed to keep an eye out, gets caught by the owner of the house. He introduces himself as Johnny, and she pretends to be a friend of his sister’s, but the chemistry between them is electric. Things go even more awry when the weather turns, and the sister wanders into the middle of the robbery, and there’s no way to get out of the house until morning at the earliest. Amidst all this, Addie is convinced she’s seeing ghosts, and then discovers that they’re there to steal original music from one of Scotland’s greatest composers – a man who turns out to be Johnny’s great-grandfather.

This is only the tip of the iceberg of what happens in this short novel. The author packs a ton of story in, with remarkable ease. It never feels overdone or incomprehensible, and instead manages a couple surprises along the way. It is, in turn, an incredibly delectable romance, a farcical crime caper, and an eerie ghost story, with each element genuine within the moment. They blend almost seamlessly, in ways I find few authors can pull off, and I’m incapable of picking a favorite since I was drawn into each equally.

Perhaps key to ensuring this balance is kept is the vivid cast of characters. I loved Addie and Johnny almost from the start. They are sharp-witted, hard-edged, and intelligent (though Addie’s impulsive nature backfires on her more than once). Johnny, especially, embodies one of my favorite hero types—the tortured artist who needs to find a way to return to the world. In Johnny’s case, he’s retired from his own career as a professional concert pianist, due to the scandal that erupted when he was charged and tried for his wife’s murder a year earlier. The result was Not Proven, so doubt has lingered in the public’s mind about his innocence. That same doubt is there for the reader for a good part of the story, too, which adds to that air of danger he carries about him.

The secondary cast is vast and colorful, with most of them receiving good treatment when it came to rounding them out. For some unknown reason, I had a soft spot for Malky, the brute force on their heist team, though I suspect it’s because he has a Lennie Small air to him. I’m also dying to know more about Dan, Johnny’s brother-in-law. Something tells me, he has a lot of story to tell himself. The ghosts themselves feature prominently, as easy to recognize as any of the living. I bought into their existence without any problem at all, and applauded Johnny’s great-grandmother more than once.

The story’s not perfect, but my complaints about it are minor. It’s not quite as clean a copy as I expect from Samhain, and the book I purchased had a few odd formatting problems. I wouldn’t be surprised that’s because it’s an older title. It was released in 2008, and Samhain has come a long way since then. I’m also not entirely fond of the author’s frequent choice to switch to minor character POVs every once in a while. It doesn’t really add to the story very much, and I ended up spending/wasting time wondering how that character is going to factor into a larger role in the story since apparently they’re important enough to merit their POV shown. It’s distracting. But again, these are minor complaints, because when it comes down to it, I’m falling head over heels for this author’s work. This is the second hero of hers in a row that has completely pushed my buttons, with heroines I admire to boot. I only wish this one was available in print, so I could get one for my literal shelves as well as the one for my virtual shelf.

Readability	8/10 – Not as clean as I would expect from Samhain, but the author’s voice compensated for it
Hero	9/10 – Hurt, enigmatic, and compelling
Heroine	8/10 – The authenticity about her really drew me in
Entertainment value	9/10 – I literally couldn’t stop once I’d started
World building	8/10 – When the ghosts are just as real and believable as the living, something right has been done
TOTAL:	42/50

Magic Man by Marie Treanor

TITLE: Magic Man
AUTHOR: Marie Treanor
PUBLISHER: Wild Rose Press
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 68k)
GENRE: Futuristic erotic romance
COST: $6.00

In a world where a virus has forced the population into segregation, Catriona craves a little excitement in her boring, low-risk life. With the help of a friend, she escapes into Old Town to sing at a pub, where the people are colorful and the enigmatic man known only as the Magician captivates her. Though Magic is attracted to her, he knows there’s something wrong about her, something that might bode ill for the people he’s trying to protect. Little does he realize her family owns the company responsible for disseminating the vaccine to the high riskers, but Cat is only just starting to realize the extent of her family’s corruption…

My blurb doesn’t do this book justice. Neither does the one on the publisher’s site. It was interesting enough to catch my attention, and the excerpt good enough, but this has been sitting on my TBR pile since last September, and I’m kicking myself for waiting this long to read it.

The story takes place in Edinburgh in the future, when a virus thirty years earlier has completely changed social structure. People are split into three groups – low, middle, and high risk. Low risk people have all the money and power, middle risk tend to be in service positions, and high riskers live in what’s called Old Town, quarantined there without hope or futures for the sake of everybody else’s safety. Cat is divorced and bored out of her mind, so she takes a risk to go into Old Town for fun – mainly, to sing in public. By day, she’s a lawyer for the company that creates and sells the vaccine for the virus, but it’s not a life she loves, not at all. In Old Town, the people are colorful, most of them going by titles than names – Magician, Angel, Hacker, Biker, etc. To her, they seem to be really living, because they live under the specter of death every day. She is particularly fascinated by Magician, a gorgeous, enigmatic charmer. He seems equally taken with her, but he’s more wary than she is, knowing there’s more to what she appears than meets the eye. When Cat’s ex-husband goes missing, she’s told Magician can help her. She goes to him, and so their romance begins, because ultimately, they just can’t keep their hands off each other.

I have not loved a hero this much in ages. Magic is confident and yet endearingly insecure at times (like when he tells his best friend Hacker that girls like Cat could never be interested in a guy like him), gorgeous and brave, a rebel intent on finding out the truth. He’s the bad boy who’s had no chances and is making the best of a bad lot, and he is utterly, completely irresistible. Cat is, thankfully, a worthy match for him. She’s strong and honorable, especially when she finds out things are not exactly as they seem with the life she’s always known. Her loneliness gets banished by the people of Old Town, and as the reader, I was glad for her.

My adoration for this started from the beginning. The author paints the world she’s created in lush, broken down vibrancy. It felt like stepping into the middle of gypsies and harlequins, with a show to be had on every street corner. The desire and attraction between Cat and Magic sparks from the very first. When he asks her to dance, I knew in that one little scene it was going to be a fantastic ride. I wasn’t disappointed. They come together in an explosion, and for the most part, the book carries it through to the end.

If I have any complaints at all about the book – and they’re minor – it’s that I found the sections from the other characters POV not very meaningful in the grand scheme of things. There’s a few from Hacker’s, and Cat’s ex-husband, as well as both of her parents, and while it does fill in a bit of the background, it also felt like it was giving away some of the more suspenseful elements of the plot. In Hacker’s case, well, all I’ll say is that I feared the worst, and leave it at that.

But when I can finish a book and the last line makes my heart leap as much as the rest of the story, it’s a keeper. I’m going to be purchasing this one in print to put on my keeper shelf. And I’m definitely looking out for more work by this author.

Readability	9/10 – Lush, with a kaleidoscopic feel, absolutely compulsive
Hero	10/10 – I fell in love with him, almost from the first, broken yet strong, charming yet enigmatic
Heroine	8/10 – Strong and honorable
Entertainment value	9/10 – One of the better erotic romances I’ve read in a long time
World building	9/10 – The world of Old Town leapt off the page, the outside world not nearly as vivid
TOTAL:	45/50