Review: Haunted (Hours of the Night #2.5) by Irene Preston & Liv Rancourt

Noel Chandler had a good reason for leaving the L.A.P.D. for New Orleans, but when he walks into a burned out Garden District mansion, he discovers there are some things he can’t outrun. The spooks can find him anywhere.

As the resident historian for the cable show Haunts and Hoaxes, Professor Adam Morales keeps an open mind about the supernatural. Or that’s what he tells himself, until he meets a man who puts that principle to the test. Noel’s smart, sexy, and has killer cop instincts. One glance from his bedroom eyes has Adam ready to believe anything.

But is Noel haunted, crazy, or just another hoax?

I have loved this series ever since I read Vespers but I didn't love this short.

Preston and Rancourt created two rich and multi-dimensional characters in Thad and Sara. The atmosphere they've crafted for them to inhabit is luscious, capable of transporting me to the Big Easy every time.

"Haunted", by comparison, is anemic. I know it's not meant to be compared nor is it fair to do so, but Thad and Sara cast a big shadow and Noel and Adam failed to break from that shadow. For me.

I found their connection implausible and they weren't well developed. Noel starts off being an anger ball but 180s for seemingly no reason in the middle and starts disclosing things to Adam and trusting him when he ordinarily trusts no one.

The paranormal aspects had potential, but again, they fell flat for me.

There are any number of secondary characters in this series that have potential and perhaps a different pairing would've been more successful but these two characters failed to hold my interest. Maybe if it longer and they were more fleshed out it would've worked better.

I wouldn't recommend this but I would most definitely recommend the rest of the series, however my opinions are my own and YMMV.

A review copy was provided.