Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  The Quiet House

SERIES: Black and Blue

AUTHOR:  Lily Morton

PUBLISHER: Self-published

LENGTH: 271 pages

RELEASE DATE: March 26, 2021

BLURB:

Levi Black has mostly recovered from the events of a year ago. The only lingering effects are that he’s much more well known in York than he’d like to be, and he’s a lot more cautious about walking around his house naked. However, those events brought him the capricious and fascinating Blue, so he’s not complaining. On the contrary, he’s happy, in love, and looking forward to Blue finally moving in with him. And if sometimes he wonders what Blue sees in a boring cartoonist, he keeps that to himself.

Blue Billings is finally ready to throw off the memories of his past and move in with the person who means the most in the world to him. His psychic abilities have grown in the last year to his mentor Tom’s consternation, but Blue is determined to look on the bright side. He’s also focused on ignoring all the warning signs that he’s received lately.

However, even deeply buried secrets have a way of rising to the surface. And when a surprise from Blue’s past turns up and draws them away to a lonely house on the Yorkshire moors, Levi and Blue must fight for their survival once again.

From bestselling author, Lily Morton, comes the second book in the Black & Blue series. The books are intended to be read in order.

REVIEW:

Wow!  I may have loved this book more than the first one 🙂

Blue and Levi are settled into their life together.  After a year, Blue is finally officially moving in with Levi – just before Christmas.   He has been working with Tom over the past year to understand and harness his psychic abilities.  But he’s also built his relationship with Levi and he loves him, even if he doesn’t trust that he isn’t a bit too much for Levi at times.  But they definitely are happy in their house with the resident ghost Rosalind who keeps them on their toes too.

As Blue is moving the last of his boxes from his apartment above Tom’s bookshop, there is a visitor waiting for him at Levi’s.  It’s not someone he’s ever met or expected to see, but nonetheless, he has appeared with a business proposition for Blue that could make him a lot of money.   However, the business is to spend some time in a creepy haunted mansion that is being converted into a “paranormal activity” hotel.  Blue has also been noticing a spirit that doesn’t communicate with him but seems to be around a lot and discovers that might not be a good sign.  Despite Levi’s reservations and Tom’s agreement with those reservations, they all agree to make the trip.

When they arrive at the mansion, there are a number of blasts from the past that Blue has to deal with and it’s not really a job but more of a game.  He also meets some famous folks in the world of mediums and is not impressed.  Tom is skeptical of everyone and continues to exhibit his normal curmudgeonly ways 🙂  Levi is definitely on the outside looking in as he doesn’t have the psychic abilities that the other seem to have, but he’s definitely going to look after Blue.  What none of them count on is the underlying reason that their host has for wanting to bring all of these folks to the estate and just how far he’s willing to go to get what he wants.  He also seems to not care too much for the consequences of his actions.

As the stay goes on, Levi and Blue continue to receive warnings that they should leave.  In particular Blue is worried that somehow, whatever dangerous spirits or whatnot are here have their sights set on Levi.  He’s determined that Levi should not be brought into any of this.  But best laid plans 🙂  It seems that whatever force is at work at the house is determined to have Levi.  As Blue and Tom try to figure out what is going on, Levi and the rest of people who have been brought into to commune with the spirits continue to be pawns in a game with stakes that no one is truly aware of nor can be controlled.   In the end, it will be up to Levi and Blue to work as a team to hopefully thwart the evil plans of a spirit that should have been left well enough alone.

Whew!  What a roller coaster.  Lily Morton does a fantastic job with this sort of gothic horror noir tale.  Blue and Levi and Tom are pulled into a plan that is ill-advised at best and downright insane at worst.  I loved that at every turn, a new creepy and disturbing relic or spirit pops up.  Whether is sinister and warning messages for them that appear on walls or mirrors or mysteriously moving objects that show up in other rooms or supposed dreams that leave real damage to people, it’s all quite high on the hair-raising scale.  Both Blue and Levi try to rationalize things at the beginning – knowing that some of the others who are there are frauds and have no real ability to communicate with the spirits.  I particularly loved the banter and snark between Blue, Tom, Levi and Spud.  Of the other guests, Jem is one person that seemed like a potential good guy.  Maybe he’s show up in another story in future 🙂  The spooky factor of this book is off the charts and though I generally avoid horror, it was fine for me even as a non-horror fan.  Things were scary, but didn’t spill over to the realm of gore for me.  The climax was wonderfully done and I loved that both Levi and Blue made the most of their abilities to help save the day.  I just love both of these characters and I really appreciated how this book strengthened their relationship and belief in each other.  There are also plenty of smexy times and some fun moments as well that balanced the stress and terror of the many run-ins with the spirits of the manor.  Brava and well done!  I cannot wait for the next adventure for this couple 🙂

RATING: 

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