mommasaystoread's review
2.0
I love Urban Fantasy and the blurb for this one had me excited to check it out. It has such a promising premise and the idea is a good one - a private detective who specializes in the paranormal, a psychic with visions of a missing girl, and a big bad that is kidnapping women. Paranormal, mystery, and a steamy romance, a combination that should certainly grab my attention. Except, it didn't. The premise is sound, but the problem is that I never became invested in the characters or the story. The writing is a bit stilted and while I appreciate details to give me a mental picture of everything going on, too many nonessential details that don't lend anything to the actual story quickly become a distraction. That includes the number of times that a character's name is in a scene. If they are the only person in the scene, using their name over and over becomes an irritation and starts to feel like they're thinking about themselves in the third person. The biggest issue for this reader is that there's way more telling than showing. From the search for the missing women and the baddie that is taking them to the steamy scenes between Ronan and Dustin, I was never drawn in or invested enough to feel much, one way or another, about the outcome. Even the conclusion, which should've been a heart-racing scene, just didn't have that oooph that it should have. It was more like I was being told about what was happening rather than being drawn into the excitement of the scene. I did manage to finish the book, hoping that things would improve as the story progressed, but try as I might, I was never able to connect with the characters or the story and sadly, this isn't one that I can recommend.
morebookspleaseblog's review
2.0
*Sigh* This was a moment where it pays to read the reviews first. I would be lying and be extremely harsh by saying this was the worst book I've ever read. By no means of the imagination did I love this story. There were grammatical errors throughout the entire book and it could have used an editor. That being said, it wasn't anywhere near the best book I've read either. Goodreads doesn't do half-star ratings, but this is really a 2 1/2 star review. Ronan and Dustin were likable enough characters, but there was just something about the writing which made them feel stilted. The progression of the story was rather slow for it to be a small book and it wrapped up rather quickly. The synopsis is intriguing, but the execution was lacking, which is unfortunate.
the_novel_approach's review
3.0
~ 3.5 Stars ~
This was a great story that had an interesting take on urban fantasy. Instead of government cover ups or illegal experimentation or separation of the paranormal from humanity, thus leaving them without our laws and citizenship, in this world the paranormal is simply ignored—an inconvenience that prevents justice really getting served. It’s this blindness that caused Ronan to start his own PI business to really help those people affected by the supernatural.
Ronan is called into a case where ten women have been kidnapped, and he’s given the pressure of trying to find them alive and get them home. One of the first people he meets is Dustin who has no background in policing or PI and is simply trying to help the people he sees in the visions he’s sent. Ronan’s scepticism in Dustin’s psychic abilities surprised me, as who else would be a believer than the man fed up of people not talking about the supernatural elephant in the room? Yet as he continues to question his abilities, I could also start seeing how he might have encountered a lot of cons and hoaxes during his time that would make him hesitant.
It’s also a natural extension of the wall he surrounds himself with to ensure that people can’t hurt him.
The story is slow to start as Dustin and Ronan get to know each other, something that is further bogged down with the author’s detailed description of what is happening. It felt like each individual step the characters were making was told—from which hand they outstretch to open a door, to searching through the phonebook in their phone and then bringing the number up for dialling. This keeps us that bit distant from the characters and makes it harder to empathise with them. None of what they are feeling or experiencing really impacts us as it should have. I really hope the author continues this series, however, as I can’t wait to see more of Ronan and Dustin growing as a couple and as a paranormal crime fighting duo.
Reviewed by Jenn for The Novel Approach
This was a great story that had an interesting take on urban fantasy. Instead of government cover ups or illegal experimentation or separation of the paranormal from humanity, thus leaving them without our laws and citizenship, in this world the paranormal is simply ignored—an inconvenience that prevents justice really getting served. It’s this blindness that caused Ronan to start his own PI business to really help those people affected by the supernatural.
Ronan is called into a case where ten women have been kidnapped, and he’s given the pressure of trying to find them alive and get them home. One of the first people he meets is Dustin who has no background in policing or PI and is simply trying to help the people he sees in the visions he’s sent. Ronan’s scepticism in Dustin’s psychic abilities surprised me, as who else would be a believer than the man fed up of people not talking about the supernatural elephant in the room? Yet as he continues to question his abilities, I could also start seeing how he might have encountered a lot of cons and hoaxes during his time that would make him hesitant.
It’s also a natural extension of the wall he surrounds himself with to ensure that people can’t hurt him.
The story is slow to start as Dustin and Ronan get to know each other, something that is further bogged down with the author’s detailed description of what is happening. It felt like each individual step the characters were making was told—from which hand they outstretch to open a door, to searching through the phonebook in their phone and then bringing the number up for dialling. This keeps us that bit distant from the characters and makes it harder to empathise with them. None of what they are feeling or experiencing really impacts us as it should have. I really hope the author continues this series, however, as I can’t wait to see more of Ronan and Dustin growing as a couple and as a paranormal crime fighting duo.
Reviewed by Jenn for The Novel Approach
meghanreadsmm's review
3.0
This has potential to be good, pretty cool premise, but has at least one glaring flaw- poor to no editing. It's a shame that many of Less Than Three Press has become so negligent to it authors.
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