Lindsey R. Loucks

Ossified State (Chronicles of the Wraith Book 2) by S.C. Green and Lindsey R. Loucks is a science fiction and fantasy book that kept me up reading all night! I have the first book although I haven't read it yet but I started this and WOW, I couldn't stop to start book one. This book catches you up but without spoilers. There is so many unique and clever fantasy in here that was refreshing for fantasy readers. There is lots of action, adventure, but the fantasy and social aspects is crazy show more good also. There is some sci-fi added in but enough to throw cred to the whole thing. I loved it, now I have to read the first book. I was given this book to read by Ms Loucks but a review was not an obligation but I am not going to read something this awesome and not share! Read this while I read book one, :P show less

I received this book in exchange for an honest review (LoP or Lovers of Paranormal)

On the day of her mom’s funeral, 15 year old Leigh sees the reanimated corpse of a recently deceased classmate lurking in the graveyard. While the townspeople and the media find this a fascinating miracle, Leigh has firsthand knowledge of the wrongness (not to mention smell) of said miracle. She gets it into her head that if she buries her mother’s favorite things with her, it will somehow prevent her too show more from rising. That turns out to be a really bad idea, sparking off a chain reaction involving sorceresses, the living dead, and lots and lots of spiders.

This book is a mild YA horror with a dash of romance. The plot is very original and unpredictable, and Leigh and her best friend, Jo, are great characters with very true to life personalities and great voice. While a love triangle does pop up over the course of the book, it takes a back seat to the rest of the plot.

My favorite character in this book was Sarah, the resurrected prom queen. The poor dead girl was dragged into the whole mess just because Tweedledee and Tweedledum needed her grave. Ultimately, Sarah ends up being both the victim and the hero of this tale, and a more tragic hero I have never seen. She committed suicide and now she is the living dead, forced to return to the world she was willing to die to get away from and rotting away piece by piece. She’s decaying, smells to holy hell, and can’t speak, but does she stay in her room and lament her fate? Possibly. But she also tries her damnedest to help Leigh, which really speaks to her character.

The story was pretty low on angst despite some of the main concepts like death and sacrifice, but emotive enough for the reader to make an emotional connection. All in all, this was an enjoyable read that I would recommend to other paranormal lovers. show less

I have a love for haunted ship stories and that’s what made me pick up this book. The idea of being trapped on a ship, far from a safe harbor, and have to deal with vicious ghosts. I love watching the humans making alliances, breaking them, doing dumb things – all to survive long enough to get to the next harbor.

Absidy needs to go save her sister (Ellison) or at least find out what has happened to her. Her best friend Moon at college helps her come up with a plan to sneak on to a ship show more and head out into space to find her. The set up was a little silly, but once Absidy got on the ship Vicio and the ghosts started making pests of things, the story really picked up. I loved how the crew try to avoid the ghosts (tho not all are successful) and Absidy has a lot to do with how many survive the encounters.

At first, I liked how Absidy is masquerading as a 14 year old boy in order to avoid the authorities (who are looking for a long-haired, curvy 20 year old woman). Absidy and Moon plan well with a hair cut, clothes, and binding up her boobs. But later in the story, she accidentally leaves her girly panties in the shared bathroom. Ugh! You’re playing the part of a teen boy – why would you even pack girly underwear? Wear some teenboy boxers! C’mon Absidy, I want you to succeed! So, yeah, that was silly.

The romance was OK. It happened quickly. And did Mason ever explain why he was hiding in the dark just waiting to jump out and catch ‘James’ (Absidy’s teenboy name) at something? Turns out, James was showering and Mase got an eyeful of Absidy’s hidden attributes.

There weren’t enough ladies in this story. When there are more than 1 women in the same scene, they are talking fashion or boys…. sigh…. I want a bit more out of my scifi when it comes to the ladies. I often found their shared conversations vapid.

Absidy has a special affliction. She’s got a sensitivity to ghosts, which have treated her very roughly in the past (like broken bones and cuts deep enough to warrant blood transfusions). Her family finds a remedy of sorts which is staying in contact with iron all the time. Iron dissolves in her mouth, so she needs to constantly replenish her iron. This leads to all sorts of difficulties when iron becomes scarce. There was much I liked about this aspect of the story, though I had plenty of detail questions, like: why weren’t her parents ever accused of abuse when she was kid? Why not continue to wear iron in your hair or as jewelry or hidden in clothes? If her mouth dissolves iron, then does Mase really want her to engulf his masculinity?

The story surprised me by getting off the haunted ship and the story continued with daring motorcycle rides and a scary medical clinic. It was a fun tale with a few great scenes. 3.5/5 stars.

The Narration: Kamala Alcantara did well with the voices but had some technical issues with the recording. She had distinct voices for all the characters. Her voice for Absidy was spot on and her male character voices were masculine. I felt she was engaged with the story through out the entire book. However, the volume does go up and down. There are some mouth noises as well. 3.5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Lindsey R. Loucks. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it. show less

Another great author discovered! I like it when this happens. Lindsey R. Loucks has done a wonderful job with this book. I loved how the characters were created, how they were shaped as a couple. Suffice to say, this was a book worth my time.

Page’s dream to become a librarian brought her living with her childhood friend and his brother. Yes, she lives with two guys. Sam’s attraction for Page started when they were kids, so imagine his reaction when seeing her. Still, as the blurb says, show more his past will come back for him. If or how will he manage to choose one path or another, remains to be seen in the pages of this lovely book.

The main characters are well developed. Page is determined to achieve her dream. She is always surrounded by books and always ready to start a conversation about them, which it was very easy to relate with her story (I even want to become a librarian myself!). Sam has his secrets and dark past. He will have to learn how to right his mistakes, or at least face them. Their relationship is built very nicely and the writing is exceptional to say the least!

Suffice to say I fell in love with this book and with Lindsey Loucks’ writing style. I’m sure I’ll read more titles by her. In the meantime, check out “Wicked Me” and I hope you’ll like it at least as much as I did. show less