Aftershock: An Anthology (Harlequin Nocturne)

If you're a fan of "Medium" and "Ghost Whisperer", you'll love this trio of novellas: the stories are very credible and realistically written, more "ordinary girl thrust into an extraordinary circumstances" than most paranormal romances tend to be. And the heroine of each is a strong but lovable gal who's taken a curveball, but come through it all the stronger -- and with a preternatural talent they didn't expect before. --In Sharon Sala's "Penance", Nicole Masters is still not quite on her feet following a gunshot wound to the head when she walked in on an armed robbery, till one night, while watching a news report of a kidnapping, she starts visualizing things that the police haven't even uncovered, and which her detective-boyfriend encourages her to reveal, to help herself heal as much as to help a little girl in danger... --In Janis Reams Hudson's "After the Lightning", while recovering from a freak lightning strike during a tornado, Hailey Cameron thinks she's lost it when she finds she's picked up a voice in her head which appears to belong to another victim of the same storm. But a former detective who's familiar with paranormal abilities is more than willing to help her find help for her spectral friend and help her find her heart... --And in Debra Cowan's "Seeing Red", firefighter Cass Hollister narrowly escapes dying while on duty, but afterward, starts to see visions of fires before they even happen. Things get even hotter when the one man who can help her figure out what's going on is an old flame whose passion she once tried to snuff out...

"Penance" by Sharon Sala. Nicole Masters recovers from a shot to the head. Besides feeling lucky to be alive, she sees visions of a child kidnapped. Willing to do penance for surviving near death, she and Detective Dominic Tucci try to save the kid's life. "After the Lightning" by Janis Reams Hudson. After surviving a direct hit from a lightning bolt, Hailey Cameron begins to hear a female voice in her head. Former police detective Aaron Trent easily accepts Hailey's new skill as normal having seen some weird stuff as a cop. They team up to break up a child-smuggling ring led by the voice, a comatose mother fearing for her kidnapped child. "Seeing Red" by Debra Cowan. Having clinically died in the fire, firefighter Cass Holister is thankful to be alive. However, her return to the living includes the unique gift of seeing a fire before the blaze occurs. She joins with fire investigator Ben Wyrick to end the arsons although he is the man she loved and left, and she knows the arsonist too personally. These three paranormal romantic suspense novellas are tense, exciting and filled with lead characters who make the respective near death experiences and the related AFTERSHOCK "gifts" seem real; an enjoyable anthology. Harriet Klausner

Aftershock offers a trio of short novellas with the theme of near deaths being somewhat blessings in disguise. I never read these authors before so it was great to dive in to check out their writing as well as their eye catching storylines. The first offering is Penance by Sharon Sala. After Nicole Masters survived a gunshot wound to the head during a random pharmacy store robbery, she is struggling to pick up the pieces of her life. Words don't come easily to her, as she sometimes mistakes one word for another that sounds like it but means something else, minor depression, staggering movements and a hint of self consciousness since she lost her hair due to surgery. On top of that she begins to head sounds like a rush of wind, and soon a startling vision accompanies it. Right on the announcement of movie star Lyla Dane's daughter's kidnapping, Nicole "sees" the violent kidnapping right on her tv screen. Soon she is struggling with this new power and finds out she is the only one who can help stop the kidnappers and save the life of the little girl. This was a great suspenseful read with characters that felt real. Ms. Sala offers a look into each character's lives so you know what they were going through and what dilemma's they faced around the kidnapping and the realization of Nicole's ability. I really liked Nicole's cop boyfriend Dom as he as sincere and as much in love with her as ever despite her change in appearance. He was always there for her showing how much he loved and cared for her and I really liked the dialogue they had between each other. Nicole was a great heroine who was really trying to put her life back together and the read gets her struggle with finding a comfort within herself and her home again. I liked that she didn't look like the typical romance heroine and I could really feel her strength as she tried to do all she can to understand her gift as well as use it enough to help the little girl. There was a scene before the HEA that I really liked as it showed how sensitive and affected Dom was after seeing his love in danger once again. It made the HEA all the more sweeter. An entertaining blend of urban fantasy and suspense with a hearty dash of paranormal romance. 5/5 After the Lightning by Janis Reams Hudson is the second novella which centers around jogger Hailey Cameron. After being struck by lightning after a tornado, Hailey is rushed to the hospital where she becomes the roommate of coma patient LaShonda Martin who's son is missing. LaShonda's spirit soon combines with Hailey's after an incident with an oxygen tank and soon the mystery begins--with the help of Special Investigator for the D.A. Aaron Trent-- to find LaShonda's son before it's too late. I liked how this story started right off the bat with the strike and soon jets into the hospital where Hailey and LaShonda meet. During the course of the investigation, Hailey gets closer to Aaron including meeting his Aunt who (literally) sees dead people. Ghosts