Reviewed by PizzyGirl

TITLE: Smoke in the Mirror

SERIES: Road to Blissville #5

AUTHOR: Aimee Nicole Walker

PUBLISHER: Chasing Rainbows Press

LENGTH: 214 pages

RELEASE DATE:  July 12, 2018

BLURB:

Memphis Sullivan thought he was coming to Blissville to help his cousin out, but instead, he gained three meddlesome females, a tribe, and a permanent home. More than a year later, he owns a popular comic book and vinyl record store and doesn’t think his life could get any better. That all changes when the star of his favorite television show and bad-boy fantasies rides into town and spices up his vanilla world.

Lyric Willows’ decision to visit an old friend in Blissville will change his life in ways he never dreamed possible. The paranormal investigator is immediately drawn to the mysterious disappearance of the town’s founder in 1850 and rumors that his former home is haunted. More alluring to Lyric than the history of Bliss House is the immediate connection he feels to the adorably geeky owner of Vinyl and Villains, who also happens to be his friend’s cousin.

Lyric becomes Memphis’s houseguest when he decides to stay in town to conduct a paranormal investigation. Tight spaces lead to sexy encounters, and before long, ghosts aren’t the only things that go bump in the night. The more they unravel about Anthony Bliss’s disappearance, the more tangled in one another they become. How is it possible for two virtual strangers to feel like they’ve known each other for their entire lives? Was their love written in the stars, or is it nothing more than an illusion?

Smoke in the Mirror is the fifth book in the Road to Blissville series. Each book can be read as a standalone book or part of the series. This book contains sexually explicit material and is intended for adults 18 and older.

REVIEW:

I believe this series is just getting better and better with each story. Not only with the romantic aspect, but the mystery portion as well.

Smoke in the Mirror was the perfect book for the mood I was in when I read it. I devoured it in one sitting. I was so invested in Memphis and Lyric from the previous stories that I could not put this one down until I knew how things would end.

One of the things I love about this series is the angst/not angst structure. Memphis and Lyric’s story could have been this big huge thing. It could have turned into this angsty mess. There was tension from start to finish that could have turned ugly, but it didn’t. It simply strung me along needing more and more until the story came to its warm and fuzzy conclusion. So in the end, I had one hell of a ride, but it was all wrapped up perfectly to leave me highly satisfied and ready to see these men celebrating 50 years together!

I also love the mystery in this one. The way the ghost story was handled was fantastic. There was so must going on that I ended up just as involved in the outcome of the investigation as I was in the outcome of the romance. It was a nice balance that added a whole other layer to this book. And the two layers worked very well together. This book would not have worked as a standalone romance or mystery, it needed both halves to bring out the best whole and I highly recommend reading this one.

I really enjoyed that while there was mystery and tension and a need to know the ending, the journey itself was also light at times and easy to connect with. I loved watching these men fall for one another and I was totally invested in them as individuals as well as them as a couple. There were some emotional times, but there were lots of fun and flirty times as well.

Finally, I love this town and all its people. They are often cooky and funny but so filled with love that I can’t wait to come back and visit them some more.

RATING: 

BUY LINK: 

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