Haunted Souls Kindle Edition

This romantic suspense is so much more than a ghost story, but it's the ghost that truly brings this family together. Kathryn Knight does a masterful job of showing us the struggles and tensions of both the hero and heroine, including the fears and insecurities they hide from each other and also from themselves. I loved the way she described the intensity of their emotions, taking us right along with the characters on their emotional roller coasters.

The author gives us alternating viewpoints between the two twenty-somethings: Emily, a veterinary assistant and single mom devoted to her toddler; and Brett, an Army bomb specialist recently returned from Iraq and now stationed closer to home on Cape Cod. They had a torrid two week affair four years earlier when Brett was home on leave for the holidays visiting his parents, but parted amicably.

Until Emily went back to college and discovered she was pregnant. By the time she tried to reach out to Brett, he'd already been deployed and it was too late. Now that he's home she feels compelled to let him know he has a son.

For Brett, the emotions Emily stirs are still there simmering at the surface, but so is the strong sense of betrayal and broken trust that she could keep a secret this huge for four years. He's also suffering PTSD from his deployment time and unwilling to share that part of his life with someone he doesn't feel he can fully trust.

Tyler is a sweet, totally normal toddler, and thankfully the author didn't narrate any chapters from his point of view (I totally hate when authors do that in an adult book. Not necessary.) He's also very "sensitive" in other senses of the word, and ends up befriending a ghost on one of those gimmicky "haunted walks" that are so popular these days. When strange things start happening, it's obvious to the reader that one of the ghosts followed them home, but it takes Emily and Brett a while to reconcile themselves with the paranormal.

I truly loved this story, these characters, and the way the author weaves the paranormal with the everyday. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

The last thing Emily expected was her former lover to return to their Cape Cod from his dangerous post as a bomb specialist with the Army. But when Staff Sergeant Brett Leeds makes it back--injured but very much alive--Emily has no choice but to seek him out and tell him he has a son. Four years ago, they started a holiday fling with no strings attached--over the next few years, Brett's training would be too intense to begin any kind of serious relationship. And Emily was perfectly fine with that. A broken soul, everyone she'd ever loved always left her, and she'd decided long ago that she could only rely upon herself. When her son Tyler was born, her life was turned upside down. She had to put everything aside to raise him on her own. It didn't help that the boy was sensitive to everything around him. She made every effort to give him a normal life, attempting to befriend a mother and her son from Tyler's preschool. But despite trying to shield him from Brett's sudden appearance in their life, Tyler finds an imaginary friend, Josiah, to give him solace.

When Emily cornered Brett about having a son, his first reaction was pure anger. She had three years to tell him, but she decides to drop the bomb on him when he returns home? To make it worse, his PTSD haunts him every night, and adding Tyler to the mix scares him. Still, he plans on supporting his child 100%, and if that meant having to deal with Emily, that's what he'd do. Brett signs him and Emily up for therapy, hoping to transition them all to a functioning life. But his feelings for Emily are stronger than they were before he left. He tries desperately to distance himself from her, but when Tyler's "imaginary friend" becomes a little too aggressive, Emily and Tyler end up sleeping at Brett's. From there, all bets are off...

I started reading Kathryn Knight's Haunted Souls at midnight. I figured I'd get started while waiting for my daughter to get home, but I couldn't put it down! I stayed up until I finished it (for me, 2:30 PM). I absolutely fell in love with Emily, Brett, and Tyler right away, and their long-ago fling backstory is captivating. The chemistry between them is spicy, and I couldn't wait until they figured it out for themselves that they should be together.

Add the ghost story of 12 year old Josiah in the mix, and I found my new favorite book. I love history, and the author's use of local Cape Cod history to build Josiah's story was both informative and poignant. The author has a gift for creating three-dimensional, complex characters, and it's hard not to root for their HEA from the get-go. An added bonus: her hero and heroine from Gull Harbor make an appearance in Haunted Souls, too!

The only thing that I found distracting was the side plot with Emily's battered friend Gayle...the author could have eliminated that entire story line and still had a winner. It wasn't enough to deter me from a 5 star review...I love Kathryn Knight's writing style, and I already look forward to her next book!

I wish I'd found Kathryn Knight years ago. She has a gift for vivid description and charismatic characters and I love the way she draws me into their world. Her style refreshingly raises the bar of simple romances with suspense and top's it with her intricate detail. I could totally identify with Emily's past and her son added the perfect touch to make contact with the delightful ghost. Brett's violent military background haunts him. Can either one of them mend their broken souls? An enchanting story woven into a suspense-filled tale well worth reading...maybe even twice!

I first read Haunted Souls about a year ago, when it was brand new, and I loved it and vowed to write a review. But life gave me some things to deal with, and I kept procrastinating until I forgot entirely. Now that I've remembered, I realized that I needed to read it again. I like it immensely when books are "re-readable" and become old friends. Haunted Souls, like Ms. Knight's other books, is such a well told story that it had me turning pages as fervently as I did on the first read. I recommend this book as an easy and pleasant read that is at the same time engrossing and full of suspense.

Loved Haunted Souls! Ms. Knight's ability to weave together character development and sense of place as she unravels the story is wonderful - you find yourself caring and rooting for Emily, Tyler, and Brett in a just few short pages. The multiple story lines tie together smartly creating an intriguing narrative that beautifully pulls the reader through the story. I love how she intertwined her heroine from a past novel into this latest one. I can't wait for her next book!

Sultry,mysterious, thrilling and suspenseful all wrapped in one. Not your typical love story but I couldn't stop reading. Can't wait to read her other books.