Possess: The Possess Saga

My Review:This book was so good...OMG! I started it on a Saturday morning when I had a million and one things to get done, not thinking that I would get sucked in as quickly as I did, but this story grabbed me and didn't let go. So good!Harley left her abusive, controlling fiance in the middle of the night after drugging him. She hopped on a bus going across the country and randomly chose where she got off. Her first stroke of good luck was wandering into an authentic Irish pub where she befriended the bartender, Aggie. Aggie convinced the bar owner, Nolan, that Harley would be a perfect addition to their wait staff. Next thing to find: a place to live. Harley was amazed when she found the perfect furnished apartment at an unbelievably cheap price, but there was a reason for that which she quickly found out....it was haunted by the previous tenant.From page one this book captured me. As the reader, you are following Harley's life which is waitressing, painting, and dealing with her apartment, but there are so many questions swirling: What exactly happened that night before she left her fiance? What happened to the man with the green eyes? Is he out to hurt her or is he just trying to reach out to her? What exactly happened to Brody? What happened to Nolan? Is her fiance going to find her?J.A. Howell gives you tiny snippets of information...enough so you are never confused about what's going on, but you definitely don't know the full story. It's suspense at its best and I loved watching all the layers reveal through the story. (As a suspense writer, I am ABSOLUTELY in awe of the way that she tells her stories....so good!)And that's just everything going on with Harley. The other side is Nolan, the Irish owner of the pub. Almost the entire story is told from Harley's POV, so all you get of him are her observations, but this is a guy sending off mixed signals. One minute, you know that he really wants and is intrigued by her, but the next he suddenly becomes harsh and cold. Eventually you find out exactly what happened to precipitate all these changes, but again the details are revealed really slowly. It should also be noted that Nolan has a brogue, washboard abs, and curly hair...YUMMY!I truly loved everything about this book. The characters are amazing. The story is riveting. There is the perfect balance of creepiness, suspense and romance. This book has a little bit of everything. I absolutely laughed out loud a few times, but I also cried during one section. It's just an expertly woven story and I can't wait to read more in the series.

This was a good book. I had it in my kindle library for a while. Glad I decided to read it.

Possess is the first book in the Possess Saga by J.A. Howell. This is a paranormal romance with suspense and urban fantasy all rolled into one delicious package. Let me just warn you that if you're going to dive into this book, clear your schedule and make sure you have the next installment already loaded up on your e-reader. Once you start this amazing series, you will not be able to stop, I promise. I read this book in an afternoon, I couldn't put it down. I carried my kindle through the house with me when I had to get out of my chair. I had to know how things would end.The story is told primarily through the eyes of Harley, one of the main characters. She fled her life in Louisiana to find safety and a new start for herself and wound up walking into something way more complicated and dangerous than she ever expected when she landed in Midtown. Harley's new boss, Nolan, is something of an enigma, running hot and cold and making her second guess his motives on an almost constant basis. Her new apartment might be a fantastic deal because it's haunted by the spirit of the last tenant who lived (and died) there. He reached a violent end there--whether it was by his own hand or otherwise--and now Harley has to find the truth. Add in some crazy dreams and a connection to at least two murders and Harley is drowning in questions.The characters made this story for me. You cannot help but laugh and cry with them as you read. Harley was such a strong, interesting heroine, I absolutely loved her-her strength, her humor, her compassion-she's the kind of girl I'd want to be friends with if I met her in real life. Then we have her friend, Aggie. Aggie Walker is a scene-stealer throughout the book. She is hilarious-foul mouthed and feisty-and she would do anything for someone she loves. Everyone should be so lucky as to have a friend like Aggie in their lives. And then there's Nolan. Holy hotness, Batman. He's Irish, he's gorgeous and silent and broody and gorgeous...tattooed...and Irish. (Did I mention Irish and gorgeous?) The scenes with he and Harley practically sizzle they are so hot. The chemistry between them is electric.I won't say more about the plot, I don't want to give anything away. Let me just say that I was caught up from the very first page, the story flew by. The characters are all well developed and real, lovable or not. The pacing was perfect and the story is a perfect blend of suspense, horror, romance and humor and I couldn't get enough. The steamy scenes are red hot (Nolan is my new favorite book boyfriend, just sayin') and the writing is phenomenal. I cannot begin to express how much I completely loved this story. If you love paranormal romance then this is one for you!

It's sort of a mix of Sleeping with the Enemy" meets The Faefever series, Nora Roberts, and the Mercy Thompson books. It has all the elements of all of those possible inspirations. From someone with a hippy mom (Roberts), to the Irish influence (Roberts), to an exotic beauty who can see and communicate with ghosts (Mercy Thompson-the main character is even described similarly to the description of Thompson!), to the escape your abusive husband by bus and then kill him when he finds you (Sleeping with the Enemy), the elements are not original. You figure out what will happen about a fourth of the way through. Extraneous characters, obvious plots, silly melodrama, and a ghost that seems slightly forced and haphazard all add to the overall amateur feeling of the book. Don't know much about the author, but she is probably young and just starting out.That said, it is still an engaging book and an enjoyable beach-type read. Not much suspense past the first few pages, and I would never classify it as a thriller, but it's a fun mystery with supernatural elements. Don't expect anything more than killing a few hours of time.