Spirits
of the Heart - A Haunted Voices Novel
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?
Book Trailer:
https://youtu.be/YUa2RALSE
Buy Link:
http://mybook.to/spiritsOTH
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’?”
About 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.
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