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alandd's review against another edition
4.0
OMD
Un libro increíble, muy bien explicado y con unos personajes muy buenos, me encantó. Fue una lectura ligera como las que tanto me gustan, de esas que te hacen querer más y más, pero que te satisfacen al final :3 El único contra de esta historia es el excesivo uso de "Christ", "God" y "Jesus" como expreciones exclamativas, le restaron algunos puntos a la narración.
OMG
A total incredible book, so good explained and so good charactes, I loved it. Was a light lectura like those that I so much like, those who make want more but satisfy you at the end :3 The only drawback to this story is the excessive use of "Christ", "God" and "Jesus" as exclamatory expressions, that subtracted some points to the narrative.
Un libro increíble, muy bien explicado y con unos personajes muy buenos, me encantó. Fue una lectura ligera como las que tanto me gustan, de esas que te hacen querer más y más, pero que te satisfacen al final :3 El único contra de esta historia es el excesivo uso de "Christ", "God" y "Jesus" como expreciones exclamativas, le restaron algunos puntos a la narración.
OMG
A total incredible book, so good explained and so good charactes, I loved it. Was a light lectura like those that I so much like, those who make want more but satisfy you at the end :3 The only drawback to this story is the excessive use of "Christ", "God" and "Jesus" as exclamatory expressions, that subtracted some points to the narrative.
teresab78's review against another edition
3.0
Quick read. I liked the paranormal aspect but I don’t think Luke redeemed himself. However there is a book two which progresses their relationship, maybe it gets worked out there.
nicola949's review against another edition
This short book was a nice blend of romance with a ghostly element. It was a nice way to spend an hour tonight when I knew I didn't have time to do a lot of reading.
For it's length the story packs in quite a bit. It's a story about art forgeries, about lost love, second chances and about ghosts.
The tales starts with Luke on the trail of an art forger who turns out to be the man he loved and left many years ago. Of course Luke still has feelings for Stefan which Stefan returns.
I liked the style of the storytelling and how Luke and Stefan respond to one another, their history colouring their reactions. There was a bit of mystery and some drama. I must admit that I do not usually read too many stories about ghosts but I like the way this one was done. I think the ghostly elements blended really nicely with the focus on Luke and Stefan's rekindled love - a good balance which suited me fine.
The only downfall for this story was the length. There was so much packed into it, that it just skimmed on the surface of many things. There was opportunity to provide so much more background into Luke and Stefan's past together but also their lives apart - the tragedy that befell Stefan and the accident that maimed Luke. I would have even enjoyed seeing more about the relationship between Edward and Arcoletti.
All-in-all, a nice way to spend an hour.
Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy of this book in return for my honest review.
I now publish all my m/m reviews on my blog so if you want to see all my m/m reviews in one place come visit at Because Two Men Are Better Than One!
For it's length the story packs in quite a bit. It's a story about art forgeries, about lost love, second chances and about ghosts.
The tales starts with Luke on the trail of an art forger who turns out to be the man he loved and left many years ago. Of course Luke still has feelings for Stefan which Stefan returns.
I liked the style of the storytelling and how Luke and Stefan respond to one another, their history colouring their reactions. There was a bit of mystery and some drama. I must admit that I do not usually read too many stories about ghosts but I like the way this one was done. I think the ghostly elements blended really nicely with the focus on Luke and Stefan's rekindled love - a good balance which suited me fine.
The only downfall for this story was the length. There was so much packed into it, that it just skimmed on the surface of many things. There was opportunity to provide so much more background into Luke and Stefan's past together but also their lives apart - the tragedy that befell Stefan and the accident that maimed Luke. I would have even enjoyed seeing more about the relationship between Edward and Arcoletti.
All-in-all, a nice way to spend an hour.
Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy of this book in return for my honest review.
I now publish all my m/m reviews on my blog so if you want to see all my m/m reviews in one place come visit at Because Two Men Are Better Than One!
gale_bruckner's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Actions have consequences, and the echoes of regret can pull more than just yourself down in the undertow. I really enjoyed learning how the past and present interwove to make this story what it was. There were parts of the lore reveal in this story that felt too easy and too rushed. Without giving away spoilers, the main conflict resolution was both artfully done and very satisfying.
the_novel_approach's review against another edition
4.0
~ 3.5 Stars ~
The Artist’s Touch by E. J. Russell is a second edition of a novella formerly entitled Northern Lights. The paranormal story centers on a washed-up art fraud investigator, Luke Morganstern, who has been contacted by an anonymous client to check out a small gallery that has a painting by a deceased artist that has never been seen before. When Luke realizes that the painting is indeed a forgery and that the painter is holed up in a remote cabin, he goes to investigate. Little did he expect to see his former lover in residence, and looking as though he is terrified of the very art he is being accused of forging. It turns out that Stefan has indeed been doing the paintings, but is completely unaware of doing so—for months he has been waking up after a night of drinking to find he has painted a picture. As the two men grapple with feelings for each other that have never gone away, they attempt to figure out just what or who is using Stefan to create the pictures. The closer they get to the truth, the more it becomes clear that something is behind the mysterious work and that Stefan is in danger of losing more than his memory—he is in danger of losing his very life.
I liked the premise of this book; the paranormal aspect was definitely a bit creepy and well done. The chemistry between Luke and Stefan was undeniable, and the idea that the two have never gotten over each other, despite it being a few years since they were together, was believable. I do wish there had been a bit more explanation about their former relationship. In my opinion, it would have strengthened the story overall. I appreciated the story of the artist whose paintings Stefan was channeling and found myself really wishing the author had taken the same amount of time on the two main characters.
Because of the bare-bones structure to the story, I found myself occasionally going back and rereading passages to make sense of where I was in the story. I felt like there were all these great plot point threads that could have been the basis of a wonderful paranormal mystery, but they were left unexplained, underdeveloped or incomplete. This book should have been a full-length novel, and I’m surprised the author didn’t take the opportunity to expand the story before reissuing. In the end, the plot holes that resulted from a story that was never fully realized made this novella a bit hard to get into. I thought the premise for this novella was a really good one and the bits that worked were solid and entertaining, but in the end, there simply wasn’t enough story to make The Artist’s Touch shine.
Reviewed by Sammy for The Novel Approach
The Artist’s Touch by E. J. Russell is a second edition of a novella formerly entitled Northern Lights. The paranormal story centers on a washed-up art fraud investigator, Luke Morganstern, who has been contacted by an anonymous client to check out a small gallery that has a painting by a deceased artist that has never been seen before. When Luke realizes that the painting is indeed a forgery and that the painter is holed up in a remote cabin, he goes to investigate. Little did he expect to see his former lover in residence, and looking as though he is terrified of the very art he is being accused of forging. It turns out that Stefan has indeed been doing the paintings, but is completely unaware of doing so—for months he has been waking up after a night of drinking to find he has painted a picture. As the two men grapple with feelings for each other that have never gone away, they attempt to figure out just what or who is using Stefan to create the pictures. The closer they get to the truth, the more it becomes clear that something is behind the mysterious work and that Stefan is in danger of losing more than his memory—he is in danger of losing his very life.
I liked the premise of this book; the paranormal aspect was definitely a bit creepy and well done. The chemistry between Luke and Stefan was undeniable, and the idea that the two have never gotten over each other, despite it being a few years since they were together, was believable. I do wish there had been a bit more explanation about their former relationship. In my opinion, it would have strengthened the story overall. I appreciated the story of the artist whose paintings Stefan was channeling and found myself really wishing the author had taken the same amount of time on the two main characters.
Because of the bare-bones structure to the story, I found myself occasionally going back and rereading passages to make sense of where I was in the story. I felt like there were all these great plot point threads that could have been the basis of a wonderful paranormal mystery, but they were left unexplained, underdeveloped or incomplete. This book should have been a full-length novel, and I’m surprised the author didn’t take the opportunity to expand the story before reissuing. In the end, the plot holes that resulted from a story that was never fully realized made this novella a bit hard to get into. I thought the premise for this novella was a really good one and the bits that worked were solid and entertaining, but in the end, there simply wasn’t enough story to make The Artist’s Touch shine.
Reviewed by Sammy for The Novel Approach
terriaminute's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
These two are MESSY. I suspect that's why some reviewers had trouble with the story. Each is messy in conflicting ways, and of course they can't talk it out, that'd be ridiculous. That would require letting go of assumptions and presumptions and guilt used as emotional scaffolding! I don't know what it says about me that I followed every convoluted issue without trouble. Probably just that I've read messy characters before and recognized the underlying truths. But the ghost plot, that adds a whole other level that elevates this novel to a solid five stars for me. Well done. Recommended. I will be giving book 2 a try.
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