Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: West On Grainger
SERIES: Sandy Bottom Bay #2
AUTHOR: KC Burn
PUBLISHER: Other Worlds Inc
LENGTH: 411 Pages
RELEASE DATE: May 10, 2023
BLURB:
Is Sandy Bottom Bay truly full of ghosts?
Wendell Weston is in a slump. Paranormal stories are his life. His income. His sole focus for as long as he can remember, not that he actually believes any of it is real. His obsession has complicated his love life, but for the most part, he hasn’t minded. But now his muse has gone quiet. In search of inspiration, he flies across the country to the purportedly haunted bed and breakfast, just before Haunt Fest. Soured on romance by the cynicism and superficiality of the Hollywood actors he works with, he’s not expecting a chance encounter with an attractive man to go anywhere.
But Kyle Grainger isn’t just a pretty face. He also hosts local ghost walks. The closest thing to an expert Wendell has encountered, and with any luck, Kyle will lead him to a spectral encounter. Before long, Wendell realizes he wants to follow Kyle anywhere, ghost or not. As a true skeptic, Wendell doesn’t believe he’ll see a ghost for real, but he’s going to have fun trying. Especially with Kyle. One of the many local legends will surely trigger his muse, but in the meantime, getting to know a sweet, mesmerizing man would make the trip worthwhile.
REVIEW:
Wendell traveled to Sandy Bottom Bay, Florida, to find some spectral activity, jumpstart his writing block and salvage his career. What he found was Kyle, a haunted bed and breakfast, and murder.
West On Grainger is the second book in the Sandy Bottom Bay series. The author says you don’t have to read the first book, but it doesn’t hurt. I have not read book one, and I can’t say I felt bereft of something important.
The story is told in the third person from the viewpoints of Kyle and Wendell. Technically, it could have been better, e.g., the word cottage appears three times in one sentence. Also, there’s occasional head hopping. Worldbuilding is detailed to the point of distraction, and in mid-dialogue, there were periods of reflection that derailed the flow of conversation. E.g., in one section, a secret was about to be revealed when the story went off on a tangent about carbs in a wafer. A little reorganization could have circumvented this. But as things stood, especially in the early chapters, I was tempted to skim-read the mostly standard internal dialogue to get to the more pertinent juicy bits. There’s also the Haunt Fest – an event spoken of throughout the book, but the event itself is not scripted. However, at around the 37% mark, the story started taking off and became engaging.
Wendell is a Hollywood scriptwriter who needs inspiration. Kyle is an ex-dancer, who practices yoga to relax, conducts ghost tours, helps his friend with his paranormal business, and teaches dance to tots. They are lovely people missing something in life that the other provides. The extended cast, too, provides some delightful stories.
Low angst and low heat are key in this tale – and not all stories need them. When the drama happens, it is superb – involving. Ghosts, possession, and murder – and I’d have liked to see more. However, some areas of the story arc were played a little too safe for my reading tastes, and the excess of redundant text diluted what could have been a real nail-biter. Buuuut, much like the movies – not everyone has the same preferences. So, if you like incredibly in-depth worldbuilding and knowing every thought process, you will rate this book higher. But I’m an impatient so-and-so and prefer my stories to get on with it, staying a little closer to the arc instead of detours.
RATING: 
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