Harbinger of Books

Callie McFay is on a very successful career track she has just published a bestselling book about demon lovers and gothic literature plus she is being courted by colleges for teaching positions. At an interview at Fairwick College in upstate New York, Callie begins to have some rather strange encounters. For one she is being visited by a sensual stranger who leads her in very erotic dreams but he is only mist. There is also a house which is almost hidden in the woods that seems to call out to her, Callie soon learns that the women who lived in this house also had night time encounters similar to her own. At the same time she begins to recall memories of her childhood involving a man in her dreams telling her fairy tales. Callie soon has to confront if the fairy tales are tales or are they true stories?

Callie was an odd protagonist for me, she was a little to self righteous at times which annoyed me to no end plus she was a snob. Then she caused me to stretch reality a little too much…26 years old who just got her PhD had time to publish a best-selling novel, write her dissertation and is so financially savvy she has enough money to shop at high end stores and mortgage a home. But whatever, perhaps the more important issue is she is such an unreliable narrator, which can work in gothic romance but here it sadly in this book it does not. It was rather irritating because she was frequently very clueless, really you live with one of the best library around and it never dawns on you to use it? Callie can only glean information by asking other people questions? That was just weird to me. Not so sure unreliable narrator equates to being clueless.

As a gothic romance this book left me with some challenges, I think the writing is good but there is just something is missing. The book tries to have an atmosphere of mystery and suspense, but it did not really pan out and I am not sure if it is because it was obvious who was doing what or if it was something within the plot. Perhaps the reason was a little more basic I just did not buy into Callie, I never got a sense of suffering nor a feeling of impending doom…there just was not enough drama. I expected more angst over her relationship with Paul or even Liam but it just seemed like she was confused and it was up to everyone else to provide guidance and move the plot along.

Overall the book has plenty of potential, I think the elements of a gothic romance are there and while it is not a five star book it is a decent read. There were some parts of the story that I really enjoyed and I think the writing was beautiful most of the time. I will read the next book hopefully there will be more drama.

**ARC provided by NetGalley and Ballantine Books**