Haunted

Ariel Cooper's millionaire boyfriend David Barret has just asked her to marry him, but she is not sure how to answer his question; because she can see ghosts, she fears he will reject her. And after she has a vision of what appears to be the ghost of her mother, a Gypsy witch who had given her and her two sisters each a pewter charm to protect them before Child Protective Services took them away; her mother's death may well have been the result of the family curse descending upon the magically gifted among the Cooper women, and now Ariel must find and warn her sisters before they become the next victims of a killer with a grudge against their family. But what if that mysterious, faceless killer just happens to be her own fiance...? There is an air of menace hovering in this story, and this makes the Cooper sisters' plight all the more credible and real. I had a hard time putting this book down, since I wanted to see if Ariel would ever find her sisters and stop the killer in time. While she learns to accept her talents as a gift and not a curse, and while she finds some resolution, her sisters' journey is one that is unfolding through the three books which make up the Witch Hunt trilogy...

In 1655Europe, a woman tells the villagers that a lightening strike will burn the buildings killing many. Her prophecy proves true and she is forced to flee because the men led by Eli McGregor want to kill her and her three daughters for using her magic to murder the innocents. The woman is burned at the stake but her daughter Elena is not found by the angry men. In Armaya, Michigan in 1985, Myra, the descendant of Elena has the curse as do her three children, Elena, Ariel and Irina. One their last night together Myra tells them about their heritage before Child's Services takes them away. In Barret, Michigan, Ariel can see the dead but she doesn't tell David, a Bill Gates type businessman about her past, the curse or her two sisters. She wears the charm around her wrist and when her mother appears before her she knows her mom is dead. David loves Ariel so much he is frustrated when she won't confide in him. When her aunt is murdered in the manner of a witch, she knows the vendetta is still going on. When another one is killed Ariel realizes she is in danger from a witch hunter. By this time David knows everything and still professes to love her but someone very close to her tells her David will be her killer and she begins to doubt him. This paranormal thriller is exciting and filled with so much action that readers won't have a chance to catch their breath. The heroine is looking for her sisters to warn them of their peril and a part of her doubts David's love for her because she has been disappointed so many times before. Readers will root for this duo to make it through the trials they must go through and come out the other side strong in their love for one another. Harriet Klausner