A review by lifeandliterature
Vision of Shadows by Vincent Morrone

5.0

So any day now, I'm about to meet the boy of my dreams--literally. Then I get to see if he's going to be the love of my life or the end of it.
Funny thing is, I'm not sure which idea scares the crap out of me more.


One of the greatest joys and pleasures that I have in running my blog is discovering gems of books like Vision of Shadows. This book may have eventually come to my attention, but then it may have not, and I may have missed out on getting to know these characters and discovering Vincent Marrone's fantastic writing. And that would have been a tragedy.

Bristol Blackburn is a loner. That comes from spending all your time talking to ghosts. Her parents are distant at best, but when they are killed in a terrible accident, Bristol moves to the town of Spirit, to live with an uncle and cousins she has never met. It's here that Bristol will meet the boy of her dreams. Literally. Bristol has been dreaming of Payne for as long as she can remember. The only problem is, she's not sure if Payne will fall in love with her, or kill her. And how is she supposed to keep it a secret that she can talk to ghosts where she is being haunted by shadows?

Vision of Shadows is told from the point of view of Bristol. Sometimes a male writing in a females voice can fail to capture their essence, and the character can end up coming across as a bit flat. But that wasn't the case here. The author did an amazing job with Bristol and she was just so spot on as a character. Her emotions, her actions... Perfect!! She was strong and tough, caring and loving, compassionate and witty.

Payne McKnight huh?" I said, trying to sound unimpressed. "Not bad."
Maggie rolled her eyes. "Please. I saw the way you were looking at him."
I blinked at her, trying to keep a straight face. "And how was I looking at him?"
Maggie smiled and wiggled her eyebrows at me. "Like he was the man of your dreams."
I nearly choked.


Payne McKnight. I'm note even sure I can describe how much I loved him. He was so protective of Bristol. The lengths that he would go to to protect her were mind blowing. He was affectionate and loving and stood up for what he believed. The romance developed so perfectly, but didn't at anytime overpower the story.

Vincent Marrone writes with such humour and wit, and there were so many times that I found myself having a little laugh over something that one of the characters said. The banter between them was just brilliant, and I especially loved Grandpa and Bristols relationship. If I'm being honest each and every character was awesome. They all added something special to the story and the dynamics of Bristols family was a joy to read.

The pacing of this was just great. It built exactly as it was meant to in all the right places. Never dull and always something going on to keep you turning the pages.

If ghosts, action, paranormal and romance are your thing, then you just can't go wrong by grabbing yourself a copy of Vision of Shadows. If Vincent Marrone continues to write stories just like this, then I can see him quickly becoming a very firm favourite of mine.

5/5 Fantastic Stars