Scan barcode
A review by eesh25
Spirited Situation by Louisa Masters
4.0
3.5 Stars
New series by Louisa Masters, and I was excited about this. I've been having a hard time with her Here Be Dragons series, but this one seemed more like her Hidden Species series—meaning there's more to the plot than just romance, which I feel Masters is better suited to.
The story follows Josh, who's able to see and talk to ghosts. It's something that's caused a lot of problems in his life. So when he sees a job opportunity at a haunted hotel, he thinks it could be somewhere he'll be less likely to be seen as crazy. The job turns out to be better than expected in ways I won't reveal.
The secondary protagonist is Ewen, Josh's one-night-stand, who turns out to be his coworker. I liked the relationship between the two. They were cute and drama-free. There was some initial misunderstanding that felt unnecessary but was harmless. And while I wish authors could give the premature declarations of love a rest, I've all but given up on that cause. And I liked both characters enough to not be too bothered.
There were various side characters, and they were all interesting, the ghosts were hella fun, and Josh was a great protagonist—smart, funny, caring and competent. His competence reminded me of Sam from Demons Do It Better, who I adore.
The plot with the ghosts and the paranormal problem was done well. I liked learning about the supernatural elements of this world. There was some interesting stuff in here and hints of plenty to come.
Unfortunately, the climax wasn't the best. The characters were able to get information, but a lot of the solving depended on Josh, and then he suddenly just knew how to do stuff he'd never done before. And that wouldn't have bothered me nearly as much if not for these lines earlier in the book:
See, I read a lot of genres, and I try to regulate my expectation for each book. This is a 240-page romance novel. Yes, it's a paranormal romance, and one in which the paranormal elements are just as important, but I wouldn't expect the same set-up and pay-off from it that I would from a 600-page epic fantasy. That would be ridiculous. But pointing out something like this and then doing the same thing 100 pages later is hypocritical. Whether the hypocrisy was intentional or unintentional is anyone's guess. Though I'd put my money on the latter.
Overall though, I enjoyed this book, and I do recommend checking it out. I'm also looking forward to the rest of the series.
New series by Louisa Masters, and I was excited about this. I've been having a hard time with her Here Be Dragons series, but this one seemed more like her Hidden Species series—meaning there's more to the plot than just romance, which I feel Masters is better suited to.
The story follows Josh, who's able to see and talk to ghosts. It's something that's caused a lot of problems in his life. So when he sees a job opportunity at a haunted hotel, he thinks it could be somewhere he'll be less likely to be seen as crazy. The job turns out to be better than expected in ways I won't reveal.
The secondary protagonist is Ewen, Josh's one-night-stand, who turns out to be his coworker. I liked the relationship between the two. They were cute and drama-free. There was some initial misunderstanding that felt unnecessary but was harmless. And while I wish authors could give the premature declarations of love a rest, I've all but given up on that cause. And I liked both characters enough to not be too bothered.
There were various side characters, and they were all interesting, the ghosts were hella fun, and Josh was a great protagonist—smart, funny, caring and competent. His competence reminded me of Sam from Demons Do It Better, who I adore.
The plot with the ghosts and the paranormal problem was done well. I liked learning about the supernatural elements of this world. There was some interesting stuff in here and hints of plenty to come.
Unfortunately, the climax wasn't the best. The characters were able to get information, but a lot of the solving depended on Josh, and then he suddenly just knew how to do stuff he'd never done before. And that wouldn't have bothered me nearly as much if not for these lines earlier in the book:
I hadn’t realized until this very second how much part of me was hoping that I’d know. That I’d get here, and it would be like one of those “chosen one” movies, where the good guy gets thrust into the bad situation and instinctively knows what to do to save the day.
That didn’t happen.
See, I read a lot of genres, and I try to regulate my expectation for each book. This is a 240-page romance novel. Yes, it's a paranormal romance, and one in which the paranormal elements are just as important, but I wouldn't expect the same set-up and pay-off from it that I would from a 600-page epic fantasy. That would be ridiculous. But pointing out something like this and then doing the same thing 100 pages later is hypocritical. Whether the hypocrisy was intentional or unintentional is anyone's guess. Though I'd put my money on the latter.
Overall though, I enjoyed this book, and I do recommend checking it out. I'm also looking forward to the rest of the series.