Review: Suddenly Psychic by Elisabeth Hunter
Every woman goes through changes in their forties.
Just not… these changes.Robin Brannon was a normal wife, mom, and antique shop owner until a brush with death turned her day-to-day life upside down. Now she and her two best friends are seeing things that belong in a fantasy novel. Ghosts. Visions. Omens of doom. Nothing that belongs in the peaceful mountain town they call home.
Added to that, Robin’s marriage is on the rocks, her grandmother’s health is failing, her mother is driving away the customers at her shop, her teenage daughter refuses to get her drivers’ license, and her left knee aches every darn morning.
Robin doesn’t have the time, energy, or knees to unearth the secrets buried at the bottom of Glimmer Lake, but fate doesn’t seem to care. Some secrets are just dying to be exposed.
Suddenly Psychic is a stand-alone paranormal women’s fiction, and the first book in the Glimmer Lake series by USA Today Bestseller, Elizabeth Hunter, author of the Elemental Mysteries.
Review:
Dear Elisabeth Hunter,
Let me state upfront I do not usually read much of m/f romance, but a good friend recommended these series and I enjoyed the first book more than I expected to. I think it was well written and the characters were very appealing.
Robin and her two friends Val and Monica are all in their mid forties and all have some kind of problems in their personal lives and in their professional lives as well. At some point Robin and her friends get into a car accident and pretty much almost die – almost drown in the lake. They do not drown, they all managed to get out. Robin thinks that it is because the young man helped them open the door of their car. As I said they all get out alive and without any major medical consequences.
Only there are consequences of other kind. It seems that all three women obtained some kind of supernatural powers. Robin can now see ghosts. If Val touches things that belonged to other people, she can see what people who owned those things were doing at the time and Monika gets premonitions.
TV show “Charmed” anybody? :)
Somehow the mixture of real and paranormal very much worked for me in this story. Again, I blame the decent writing and characters coming alive on the pages. Robin and her friends are just relatable to me and not because the issues I deal with in my regular life are the same, they just seem to talk and act close to how human beings would act – no matter if they are dealing with the supernatural or natural problems :). Most importantly they all felt like good people to me, not perfect, but good and again in this story such characterization worked for me.
While all three friends have the role to play, Robin plays a main part in this book and from what I understand Val and Monica will be the main characters in the next ones.
The supernatural mystery of the sorts involves ghosts and Robin’s new found ability to see them and talk to them. It also involves Robin dealing with some issues in her family and finding ways to have even happier future both in her personal and professional life. B/B-
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Sirius. I haven’t read this book, but I recently read Runaway Fate: A Paranormal Women’s Fiction Novel (Moonstone Cove Book 1) by Elizabeth Hunter which I enjoyed. The three friends from the above book make an appearance in the book I read. I may give this one a try, too.
Paranormal women’s fiction with characters in their 40s or 50s is apparently now a big thing. I enjoyed Shannon Mayer’s Midlife Bounty Hunter series and a series by Darynda Jones – I think one of the books was titled Beguiled – but another one I tried I was way too slow to get going so I gave up. So I guess I like this kind of thing if the characters and writing are strong enough. I’ll add this to the list of ones to check out.
This is fascinating!
On my TBR, I have Silver Moon by Catherine Lundoff – an ff PNR about women who become werewolves at menopause.
@Kareni: I was actually nervous to pick up her other books in case they are all very formulaic you know ? Good to know that at least some others are good too.@Kris Bock: I did not know that this is a big thing and thanks for the recommendation.@cleo: sounds cool. If you end up enjoying it, will you consider coming back and letting us know?
Thanks for recommending this Sirius! I’m in a bit of an M/M rut, and this was a fun change of pace. I’ll definitely read the rest of the series.
@SusanS: YAY glad it worked, and oh my god I hear you about m/m rut. I keep saying it – I am not tired of m/m as a genre, despite reading it for almost fifteen years, but man it is getting harder and harder , almost impossible to find books in it I enjoy. Good plot, characters, love story, but characters doing something interesting besides engaging in the relationship. Any SFF mm romance, mystery with gay romance, historical recommendations are very very welcome. Decent writing too please :-). Rant over.
@Sirius: I feel like most of my good recs come from you! Otherwise, most of the m/m romances I have enjoyed recently are contemporary and many have been YA. I recently read the entire Glasgow Lads series by Avery Cockburn. Contemporary M/M set in Scotland and focused on the members of an LGBTQ+ football club. Some of the books have richer plots that focus on the vote for Scottish independence, Catholic vs. Protestant tensions, etc. in addition to the romance.
If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun are two YA/NA romances that I have enjoyed set in a boy band and a reality dating show, respectively. Sorry I can’t think of any SFF, mystery or historical recent reads. Hope we both get out of our ruts!
@Sirius, you might take a look at The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard. It is a fantasy; it does not include a m/m romance rather a friendship. I enjoyed it (but be aware, it’s long!).
I’m confused. Who is Robin’s love interest? If this is m/f romance, who is the guy? Did I miss something?
@Janine: I would not call it a romance, I would say it is a paranormal women fiction with romantic elements. Robin has a husband with whom they are having some issues.
@SusanS: Those subgenres I am usually attracted to, yes, but I can read anything if the writing grabs me. Thank you. I don’t think “If this gets out” or “Charm offensive” are out yet right?
@Kareni: Thank you, it looks very good.
@Sirius: I see. Apologies, I got confused because your first sentence said that you don’t read much m/f romance.