Happy Halloween! Here's some music to start your Halloween off right:
I'm a light-weight in this genre. I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to watch or read horror, but I get a kick out of parodies and gentle paranormal novels with a friendly ghost or a kick-ass superpower. So, I'm reviewing the three books that met my criteria, a nod to the season of ghosts and goblins, but not actually scary at all.
by Jude Deveraux. This is the third in the Nantucket Brides series. I reviewed the first two in a round-up post last month, but I saved the third book for RIP XI. Hallie and Jamie are almost as leery of spooky stuff as I am, but that doesn't stop them from eating wonderful sweets served at tea-time, mysteriously coming from no where. Come to think of it, it wouldn't stop me either. Especially when Hallie has what Jamie needs to heal from war wounds and Jamie provides the belonging that Hallie has never had.
by Suzanne Brockmann and Melanie Brockmann. Suzanne Brockmann is well-known for her adventure-romance series about people who work in or around Troubleshooters, Inc - an organization started by a former Navy Seal to handle problems in the world. is the second book in a YA series that Brockmann is writing with her daughter. A group of teens in a dystopian version of Florida discover an underworld of secret powers and addictive drugs made from powerful blood. I'm enjoying this series for the setting and the characters.
Stars of Fortune by Nora Roberts. Every now and then Nora Roberts puts out a trilogy of paranormal novels. Stars of Fortune is the first of a 2016 trilogy called The Guardians. The first two books are out now and the last will be available in December.
Three Sisters Island was my favorite trilogy - I actually re-read that one during October one year just because it seemed to fit. And, I never re-read books, much less three of them.
I liked the Sign of Seven trilogy for the characters and setting, but I found it too dark and horror-ridden for my dainty sensibilities. Some of you more traditional RIP participants might like it better.
Stars of Fortune worked for me. The characters are interesting and the villain is so over-the-top that I found her more amusing than terrifying. Even though RIP XI officially ends today, I'll probably start the next book in the series, Bay of Sighs, soon. The third book doesn't really seem to fit in the Christmas season, but I'm seventh in line at the library and it hasn't even been published yet - it will likely be January before I get my turn at the e-book anyway.
Have you read any of these books? Do you have suggestions for spooky books for scaredy-cats?
About Joy Weese Moll
a librarian writing about books
