Call of the Night Singers, Rachel Langella

For being such a short story, it sure packed a punch. It was very slow going at the start and the voice was quite boring, to be honest, but once all the supernatural stuff started going down it became vastly more appealing and captivating. Told only from Geoffrey's POV, it lacked the balance I was hoping for, but it did have quite a lot of story depth even though it was very light on character depth.

I wasn't wowed by the romance at all, and definitely not the MC's themselves, but the overall story was sufficiently creepy and suitable for the setting described in the book. The villains were very obvious as were the basics regarding so many deaths that came before, but the actual why, the motivations, the paranormal element, and the violent confrontations, those were all mysteries that were woven quite well and kept me reading.

This was a new-to-me author that I very well might give another go. Once the plot picked up so did the actual story telling and perhaps that speaks to a talent that needed a little warming up before hitting their stride. If that stride is anything to go by, this is an author I'd definitely revisit.

*$2.99 on Amazon

When Garland Heatherford is named heir to his uncle’s vast fortune, he isn’t pleased by the honor, and with good reason. The last five heirs all met with most untimely deaths – four of them from drowning. Although loathe to accept his inheritance, Garland nevertheless travels to the “cursed” town of Bath, North Carolina, to meet his aged uncle, hoping to avoid the fate of his predecessors. But Garland has something in his favor the other heirs didn’t: his lover, Geoffrey Wainwright.

The sight of the decaying hulk of Heatherford House dismays both men, yet they have little choice but to enter a world where a miasma of horror lies beneath a veneer of breeding, and madness and death seem to lurk in every corner. Ruling over all is the presence of sinister Roderick Heatherford, who has managed to outlive five young, healthy heirs despite his allegedly poor health. When an unexpected illness strikes Garland and he begins to sleepwalk, lured from bed by singing only he can hear, Geoffrey resolves to protect Garland from every danger – even if it costs him his own life.