[Archive] LITERAL ADDICTION's Review of Grave Phantoms

Jenn Bennett is the author of the Arcadia Bell urban fantasy series from Pocket Books and the Roaring Twenties historical paranormal romance series from Berkley. Born in Germany, she’s lived and traveled extensively throughout Europe, the U.S., and the Far East. She currently lives near Atlanta with one husband and two very bad pugs.

Connect with Jenn online at her Website, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on GoodReads.

Grave Phantoms

ROARING TWENTIES Book #3

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From the author of Grim Shadows and Bitter Spirits comes the new Roaring Twenties novel in the series hailed as “Boardwalk Empire meets Ghost Hunters, but so much better” (Molly Harper, national bestselling author of the Jane Jameson series).

Feisty flapper Astrid Magnusson is home from college and yearning for the one thing that’s always been off limits: Bo Yeung, her notorious bootlegging brother’s second-in-command. Unfortunately her dream of an easy reunion proves difficult after a violent storm sends a mysterious yacht crashing into the Magnussons’ docks. What’s worse, the boat disappeared a year ago, and the survivors are acting strangely…

Bo has worked with the Magnusson family for years, doing whatever is needed, including keeping his boss’s younger sister out of trouble—and his hands to himself. Of course, that isn’t so easy after Astrid has a haunting vision about the yacht’s disappearance, plunging them into an underground world of old money and dark magic. Danger will drive them closer together, but surviving their own forbidden feelings could be the bigger risk.

Our Review, by LITERAL ADDICTION's Vivacious Valkyrie - Marta:
*Copy gifted in exchange for an honest review

This is the third book in the Roaring Twenties series and returns to the antics of the Magnusson family. This time, it's the youngest member of the family Astrid and although she's a rich and pampered young woman she hasn't got the one thing she really wants, Bo Yeung! Bo is almost like an adopted son to Astrids older brother Winter and helps him run his very successful bootlegging business, but at a time when mixed relations were taboo the yearning they share seems doomed before it's even begun.

Astrid's home from college when a storm sees a yacht crashing upon the pier the Magnussons use. What stumbles from the boat are a group who has been missing at sea for a year! Astrid and Bo manage to wrangle their way on board, but when Astrid touches a small sculpture her world quite literally turns on its head as she starts having terrifying visions. Something truly evil happened on that yacht, and now it looks as if Astrid is in danger. There's nothing Bo won't do to protect her but it looks as if the storm is far from over!

This couple are both quite young and it's a sweet romance that just builds up. Astrid is such a beguiling character and so full of life with a vibrant personality that has poor Bo truly out of his depth. I really liked Bo too as he's resourceful and brave but in San Francisco in the 1920's a Chinese man and a white woman would raise more than a few eyebrows. The dreams they share are more than just frowned upon they are illegal which leaves the author with quite a dilemma but you know what they say " where there's a will there's a way"! What seems like a hopeless forbidden romance with Ms Bennett at the helm takes on a whole new lease of life.

An amazing balance of romance with a mysterious paranormal story. It's possibly not the best plot in this series as it takes a while for answers to be forthcoming and if I'm really honest I still felt I wanted a tiny bit more but I was engrossed right up until the last page. The story brought home to me how difficult life was for many just what's a relatively short time ago and prejudice is no laughing matter. What really works though is the fact that it's a character driven story and as usual this author delivers a fun steamy read that had me gripped.

Grave Phantoms