Spirits of the Heart
A Haunted Voices
Novel
By Claire Gem
Synopsis
An addiction counselor and a
security guard struggle to free a little girl and her father, two lost spirits trapped
inside an abandoned mental asylum.
Addiction counselor Laura Horton returns from college to move in with an old friend and start her career. But her homecoming is jarring. Her friend moves out, leaving Laura alone with the gorgeous but intimidating ex-boyfriend—in a house that snugs up to an ancient graveyard.
Officer Miller Stanford is a man with a shattered past. His alcoholic dad destroyed their family, a weakness Miller is terrified will consume him too. The last thing he needs is a sexy, blonde addiction counselor watching his every move. When he begins to see specters in the dark, he starts questioning his own stability.
But Laura sees her too—a pathetic child-spirit searching for her father. Then Laura starts digging into old asylum records . . . Can Miller and Laura uncover the secrets of Talcott Hall without jeopardizing their love—and lives—in the process?
Addiction counselor Laura Horton returns from college to move in with an old friend and start her career. But her homecoming is jarring. Her friend moves out, leaving Laura alone with the gorgeous but intimidating ex-boyfriend—in a house that snugs up to an ancient graveyard.
Officer Miller Stanford is a man with a shattered past. His alcoholic dad destroyed their family, a weakness Miller is terrified will consume him too. The last thing he needs is a sexy, blonde addiction counselor watching his every move. When he begins to see specters in the dark, he starts questioning his own stability.
But Laura sees her too—a pathetic child-spirit searching for her father. Then Laura starts digging into old asylum records . . . Can Miller and Laura uncover the secrets of Talcott Hall without jeopardizing their love—and lives—in the process?
Purchase Today
Book Trailer
Excerpt
Laura Horton’s bad feeling began
the minute she pulled up in front of Angie’s puke green, two-story house and
parked at the curb.
Not Angie’s house, she reminded
herself. Angie’s boyfriend’s house. Although they’d been pretty tight in high
school, she and Ang had kept in touch mostly via telephone and email these past
few years that Laura had been in grad school. Once, a few years ago, they’d
gotten together for their five-year reunion, when Laura had come home to visit
her ailing dad.
That was the first time she’d
seen the compact craftsman bungalow—after dark—and she hadn’t realized it was
such an ugly color. She hadn’t met the boyfriend, Miller Stanford, whom Angie
either claimed to love with all her heart, or wanted to eviscerate with a
Phillips head screwdriver, depending on the day. Nor had Laura noticed then
that the house snugged up tight on one side to an ancient-looking graveyard.
The only thing separating the two properties was a narrow strip of grass and a
dilapidated, iron fence.
A shiver ran across her shoulder
blades as she sat in her car, studying her new surroundings. Her new home.
Holy crap.
Chillier up here. Where’d I pack
that hoodie?
She turned to dig around in one
of the boxes squashed into the back of her tiny car, quickly realizing it was
pointless. Nearly everything she owned in the world—besides a few pieces of
battered, old furniture—filled the back seat, and passenger side, of her
thrifty Kia. When she’d run out of room for boxes, she’d resorted to folding
softer items, like her sweaters and sweats, into new plastic trash bags. Stuff
crammed every nook and crevice in the car, leaving just enough space beneath
the headliner for her to see out through the rearview mirror.
There was no way in hell she was
locating her hoodie in Mt. Clothesmore.
Rubbing her hands up and down her
arms, she climbed out and sprinted up the steps to the front door. She hadn’t
been able to reach Angie by phone since she’d left Boone, North Carolina the
day before, but that wasn’t too unusual. Her friend was a bit flighty, and
prone to misplace her phone, her charger, or both. Angie had been juggling
courses at the community college with a full-time night job, tending bar at the
pub just down the street, for the past two years. Laura couldn’t blame her for
acting a bit squirrelly at times.
She reminded herself how nice it
was of Ang and Miller to rent her their spare room. When Laura landed the job
in Middletown, her initial exhilaration had been tempered by a glaring
question: where the hell was she going to live? There was no way she could move
into her father’s tiny condo with his new wife, Deirdre. And securing an
apartment on her own was out of the question, at least not until after her first
few paychecks hit the bank.
Laura squared her shoulders,
which were quaking slightly in the cool spring breeze, tipped up her chin, and
rang the doorbell.
Twice. She shifted her sneakered
feet against the creaky porch boards, folding her arms against the chill. After
another long moment with no answer, she rang the bell a third time, holding
down the ancient button a full ten seconds this time. She could hear the
electronic buzz through the peeling front door, but no other sounds at all.
Angie had to be here—she knew
Laura was coming. It was Friday, but Angie’s last term of college ended last
week, and it was nearly two o’clock in the afternoon. There was only one
vehicle parked in the short driveway, a late-model Ford pickup. But Laura
wasn’t sure what it was Angie was driving these days.
Then, she heard the booming,
thumping sound. Footsteps? Deliberate, heavy, booming steps. Did Bigfoot live
here too?
A dull click, then the tinkle of
chain skittering on the inside of the wood. The door burst open. But it wasn’t
Angie standing on the threshold.
Laura didn’t have time to
suppress the involuntary gasp that escaped from her open mouth.
The man was huge, not only tall
but massive, with a broad, muscular chest, one lightly furred with golden
hair. His bulbous biceps were cut,
sculpted like a Greek statue. And he wasn’t wearing much more than Michelango’s
David, with only a steel grey towel snugged around narrow hips to match the
steely glint in his blue-grey eyes.
She blinked and swallowed,
stumbling back a step. “Is Angie here?” she asked in a small voice.
The giant snorted and crossed his
arms over his chest. “Who’s askin’?”
Meet the Author
Strong Women, Starting Over
~Redefining Romance~
Claire is a multi-published,
award winning author of emotional romance—contemporary, paranormal, romantic
suspense, and women’s fiction. She writes about strong, resilient women who
won’t give up their quest for a happy-ever-after—and the men lucky enough to
earn their love. No helpless, hapless heroines here. These spunky ladies
redefine romance, on their terms.
Whether it’s a sexy contemporary
read you’re seeking, or a thrill ride into the supernatural world of hauntings
and ghosts, Claire will take you on a memorable journey.
Her paranormal/romantic suspense,
Hearts Unloched, won the 2016 New York Book Festival. Her contemporary romance,
The Phoenix Syndrome, won the women’s fiction division in FCRWA’s The Beacon
Contest.
A New York native, Claire has
lived in five of the United States and held a variety of jobs, from waitress to
bridal designer to research technician—but loves being an author best. She and
her happily-ever-after hero, her husband of 38 years, now live in central
Massachusetts.
Media Links
No comments:
Post a Comment