Blurb
Kaylyn Anderson’s fascination with abandoned places and dark creatures kindled her work as a paranormal investigator. But when dreams begin to distort reality, she questions what is real and pulls away from everyone she trusts. The opportunity to investigate the Teague Hotel–a long-abandoned landmark that has always piqued her curiosity–provides a chance to redeem herself. Unraveling the hotel’s secrets won’t be easy, but Kaylyn soon finds herself the target of a dark entity that has been trapped in the building for decades.
If Kaylyn stands any chance of defeating the spirit, she’ll have to accept that her fears are real and convince fellow investigators that she hasn’t lost her mind.
Review
SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!
I thought it was an ingenious
idea that the author started each chapter or new scene with one of the main
character’s name to advise the reader of the POV used. The chapter headings
were beautiful in the old Celtic style.
This book followed Kaylyn
Anderson and Jonah Troyer as they navigated the perils of the Teague Hotel and
the inner politics of their jobs with the Aicil Corporation.
Kaylyn was a very private,
secretive person. She’s spunky and strong-willed. She carried the weight of the
world on her shoulders, which is commendable, and did so without help. Jonah
and Cole—her sister—kept trying to help her and, even though she eventually
accepted their assistance, she did so grudgingly. She tried to act so strong
and self-assured, which only made her look vulnerable and unreliable, even
immature at times.
Jonah was an awesome
character. He’s protective and responsible, the type of man who would give you
the shirt off his back. For being the boss of the office, I loved it when he
had to call his big-wig dad for advice and help. I liked it as he dictated new
rules and flouted his horn to the employees under his command. Unfortunately,
since he was portrayed as a strict boss who doesn’t answer to his subordinates,
I felt that he explained himself and his reasons to Kaylyn a little too often
but it made for great dialogue.
I wish I could’ve learned more
about Jonah’s Irish background. The scene with his mother’s spirit visiting
Kaylyn was awesome but, since Kaylyn couldn’t really remember the out-of-body
experience until the end of the book when she, Jonah and Cole battled the evil
entity (and at that time they didn’t have a chance to properly discuss it), the
scene felt like a let-down. Still, we got to know more about his mom and
Kaylyn’s own legacy that was intertwined with the hotel.
The H/h never once kissed or
showed much romantic feeling toward each other. They became fast friends
throughout the course of the story, which was about a week, and I could tell that
they cared for each other but I didn’t see the spark of love between them. Maybe a little lust—from Kaylyn—but not
from Jonah. After they lived together for a few days, they both thought they
acted like an old married couple (which was very sweet), and I agree with that.
Old married couples act like best friends, not lovers, which was how Kaylyn and
Jonah acted. Kaylyn did, however, catch herself thinking about Jonah’s chest
and his sexy cross tattoo on his back a few times (lust) and her sister told
her not to sleep with the boss—which is great—but that’s basically the extent
of their relationship.
Even though I enjoyed this
story, there weren’t enough detailed character descriptions and scene
developments in my opinion. Still, that didn’t take away from the catchy, fresh
dialogue or the characters themselves and the way they viewed their world. For
example, the author rarely mentioned, if at all, Jonah’s and Kaylyn’s physical
attributes. All we know is that Kaylyn isn’t as tall or lean as her sister,
Cole, and that she has long hair that she sometimes wears in a low ponytail (we
learn that she’s a brunette on page 48). Jonah has at least one tattoo and that
he can brush his hair to the back of his neck.
The climax, after the evil
entity lured Kaylyn to the hotel, felt rushed. The reader is led to believe
that the brunette woman from Kaylyn’s dreams is the bad guy but then we find
out that Kaylyn’s birth mother is also brunette, who is the good, protective
entity. So, since both the good and bad entities have the same hair color and that
the author typically described them as good, bad or brunette, it was sometimes
hard to know whom the author referred to.
I had a lot of questions by
the time the story was done but I suspect the author will address them in the
following book. The main questions that stick out in my mind are: Why didn’t
Kaylyn panic or cry when she found out that she was adopted (Cole showed more
emotion than Kaylyn did) and that she was actually about 3 years older than she
thought she was (she believed that she was born in 1989, but her parents
adopted her in 1987, a year after the fire at the Teague that killed her birth mother
in 1986)? What role did Emerson play at the time of Kaylyn’s birth mother’s
death? Why was Jonah transferred from Paris?
This novella is the first in
the Darkness Bound series. The series will continue with Kaylyn and Jonah. I’m
anxious to see how their friendship morphs into romance and how the author
plans to wrap up all the loose ends. The characters kept me entertained and I’m
rooting for Kaylyn every step of the way! I have so many questions (as you can
tell from my review) and I didn’t even post them all. I’m antsy for answers.
I look forward to the next
book!!!
3 Stars.
Again, thank you, Skye
Callahan, for the ARC.