The beautiful cover hints at the goodies inside the pages of Tortured Souls by Kimber Leigh Wheaton.

Before we get to my review,  the synopsis, and the giveaway, I have invited Kimber to share her:

Top Ten Fun/Silly Facts About Me

1) I love to sing. Doesn’t sound all that strange except I do it all the time. I had a stranger in Target tell me I have a beautiful singing voice… so flattering and embarrassing at the same time!

2) I love animals, and that includes bugs, reptiles, etc. A neighbor out for a walk caught me trying to save all the dying earthworms on my driveway after it rained. She told me I was crazy.

3) I spend a lot more time than the average person daydreaming. That’s where I get my plot and character ideas. Am I cheating on my husband when I daydream about the male characters?

4) I’m not sure if I could survive in a world without Diet Coke and chocolate.

5) I play video games every single day—even if it’s only for twenty minutes. It’s a serious addiction. They help me unwind.

6) During my teen years, I spent more than one afternoon in a video arcade fleecing innocent teenage boys dumb enough to think they could beat me in a game because I was a girl. I really enjoyed serving up their pride on a plate.

7) I have a rather unnatural addiction to cars. My car is like an extension of myself. Right now he’s a 45^th Anniversary edition Camaro. When I was fresh out of college, I would forego new clothes and eating out to pay the auto insurance on my Dodge Daytona.

8) When I was fifteen, I snuck into the Whisky a Go Go in LA to meet Vince Neil of Motley Crue (I had connections at the stage entrance). Meet him I did, but within about five minutes, an older guy friend of mine showed up. He flung me over his shoulder and carried me out when I refused to leave peacefully. Worse—I had a major crush on him after that. Unrequited.

9) I can’t stand books without HEA endings. Lately I’ve been steering clear of dystopians since it’s rather hard for a HEA ending in a doomed world.

10) My characters become so real to me, I find myself talking about them like they’re real people.

I can relate to you about cars and am a bit jealous that you have the Camaro. I, too, love hot cars and I can understand your sacrifices. LOL  And the singing, I can see you walking down the aisle singing a happy tune. Do you have a favorite song?

That is a wonderful Top Ten and I enjoyed it very much. I feel we can never have too many chuckles in a day. Thanks so much for sharing Kimber.

Kimber Leigh Wheaton

YA Paranormal Romance

June 29. 2014

Sea Dragon Press

Amazon * Goodreads

MY REVIEW

A young adult novel about school kids, doing school kid stuff, except for the serial killer ghost. The tag line – Sometimes Rest in Peace isn’t an option – is what caught my eye, but when I read the blurb and saw it was about a ghost serial killer, I knew I had to read it. I love ghosts and serial killers, so the combination sounds like a unique read. I don’t think I’ve read a book like this before.

“You’re not welcome here”, Logan says to the presence behind me.

He meets my gaze again.

“You know it’s there.”

Shivers run up and down my neck, just as if the presence is standing behind me. I am only 1% into the book. Now that is scary and creepy good and a very good sign that the book will meet my expectations. Do you every get the feeling that someone or something is paying a little too much attention to you?

Five nights in a row Kacie Ramsey has had the same dream, or is it a vision? She is wallowing in the girl’s blood that has pooled on the ground. Kacie is clairvoyant.

She is not a girly girl. She is on the cross country team, as is Logan. It seems they have a psychic bond. She has felt like an outsider, especially since her mother left. Kacie always thought it was because her mother couldn’t deal with her paranormal powers. She felt it was all her fault, but there is more to the story.

Kacie is a very strong psychic, but has denied it for so long that her powers have been stifled. She has no control over them and that makes her dangerous. Her best friend, Celia, is afraid of ghosts and has no idea she has supernatural powers. She keeps her in the dark.

Kodiak, her dog, looks like a polar bear. It is a goldendoodle – half poodle and half golden retriever. Designer dogs have become very popular. Here are a few mixes that I thought funny – Bassetoodle, Bossi-Poo, Cadoodle, Foodle, Schnoodle, Sheepadoodle and my personal favorite, Doodleman Pinscher. It makes me think of a Rizzoli and Isles episode that I saw recently. The punch line – what do you call a poodle? A poodle.

Logan invited her to a meeting of the Orion Circle. The Orion Circle is a mysterious group that you can only attend if you are invited. There are very few who know that it is a paranormal research group. She never belonged anywhere. Would she now that she is a part of the Orion Circle?

She sees ghosts and talks to them. Imagine waking up and a ghost is groping and pawing you. How freaky is that? She helped a young ghost move on and it brought to mind The Ghost Whisperer.

The Orion Circle made me think of a tiny Harry Potter school inside of a regular school. She has been chosen to train with them to enable her to use her powers and prepare for the upcoming battle.

The writing skims over and doesn’t flesh out all the details that I love to see for a 5 star novel. I love to be able to walk with the characters and visualize their actions. I wavered between a 3 and a 4, but the last quarter of the book confirmed a 4 for me. I was unable to put the book down, as I wondered what would become of them as they took on the Foxblood Demon .

I was given this book in return for an honest and unbiased review.

  4 Stars – Would Highly Recommend To Others

SYNOPSIS

Sometimes Rest in Peace isn’t an option.

Kacie Ramsey sees ghosts—and it’s ruining her life. Her mother left, her father blames her, and no matter how hard she tries, she can’t keep the ghosts away. Now a new power has emerged. Nightly visions of grisly murders and a relentless predator draw her to the brink of insanity.

When the phantom appears at a party, Kacie’s longtime crush, Logan, saves her. He invites her to join the Orion Circle, a group of supernatural hunters with chapters in schools all over the country. Through the Circle, Kacie learns to embrace her spiritual powers, and for the first time in her life she feels in control rather than a victim.

But the Foxblood Demon will not give up so easily. A demented serial killer in life who trapped the souls of the thirteen children he murdered, imprisoning them within the walls of his mansion. Now in death, he plots his return while drawing power from the pure souls of the children. He recognizes something in Kacie he’s never seen before—a medium powerful enough to provide a vessel for his tainted soul.

Kacie can’t ignore the tortured souls of the children crying out to her every night. With Logan at her side, she will fight the Foxblood Demon. But can they banish this powerful phantom, or will Kacie lose not only her body, but her eternal soul to the monster.

About the Author