Reviewed by Amber
TITLE: Kisses Sweeter Than Candy
AUTHOR: Shawn Bailey
PUBLISHER: Amber Quill
LENGTH: 72 pages
BLURB:
Twenty-six year old Wade Preston, manager of Yummy’s Candy Shop, thought he’d done a pretty good job managing the place until his father took a look at the books and insisted they hire a business manager just two weeks before Halloween. Wade doesn’t want a partner, and the spoiled rotten heir has no problem using the local haunts to rid the place of its newest employee. Twenty-two year old Dane Tyler accepted the job as business manager to escape his over-protective parents. He doesn’t have a problem working in a haunted candy shop until one of the spirits turns their sights on him. Though he’s not usually afraid of ghosts, this one’s pranks are turning from dangerous to amorous, and Dane begins to wonder if he has made a bad decision.
REVIEW:
I need to preface this review by saying ghost stories are not the genre I gravitate to. In actuality I shy away from them because ghosts are such a difficult concept for me. I buckled down and snatched this one up due to the fact that it is Halloween time and I thought it would get me in the holiday mindset, plus it was set in a candy store. Um, HELLO…candy…Halloween…I was sold.
I’m sad to say that this story reinforced my serious aversion to ghost stories. Before reading this story, the blurb indicated that this was originally published in 2011 but Amber Quill redid it September 2014. With that being said, the writing was not bad and neither was the editing. There were a few errors but nothing I couldn’t get over.
The main problem was theee was no story, nothing tangible. We meet 2 characters, Wade and Dane, they both happen to be male. They both have ghosts that they communicate with on a regular basis. They meet through work. Wade’s ghost is jealous and mean. The ghost, Ivan, turns out to be something called the “Boogie Man” who has been abusing Wade since he was a child. You never get the feel that Wade doesn’t want Ivan’s company or that he is, in fact, bad. Not until the very end when it’s revealed Ivan was in fact physically, mentally, emotionally, and sexually abusing Wade most of his life. It was just an odd and bizarre plot twist to throw into a story at the end. We get no background on it so it left you feeling bereft.
Which leads to the romance involving Wade and Dane, oh wait, there was no romance involving Wade and Dane. The whole story you’re led to believe they are straight men. Then all of the sudden they’re in bed and Wade is professing his love. It happens that fast. With no build up, no chemistry, no attraction which leads to Wade wanting to spend the rest of his life with Dane after a very bland sex scene.
This story was unfortunately, not for me. But I know that there are a lot of people who love any and everything to do with ghosts and ghost stories. If so, you may want to check out this quick read.
RATING: 
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