Scent of Roses

A must read! It just so happened that my husband was working out of town when I read this book and I had some uncomfortable moments alone at night reading this one. I don't spook easily but Martin managed to give me a hard time falling asleep. The romance was steamy and sweet,and the ghost story part was spun in a believable way. I'm a Kat Martin fan in general but this one is my favorite.

Liz Conner has run into a lot in her job as a family counselor, but she's not sure what to think when Maria Santiago comes to her with the belief that she is being haunted by a little girl. She claims the ghost has warned her that her unborn child is in danger. Maria desperately needs Liz's help because her husband believes that she is imagining the whole thing. Wanting to assist Maria puts Liz in between between two brothers that have had a lifelong feud. Carson and Zack Harcourt have hated each other since their father, Fletcher Harcourt, had brought his illegitimate son, Zack, home and tried to make him part of the family. With Zack's help, Liz attempts to discover what has Maria so terrified. Zack and Liz quickly grow closer and passion burns between them. Can they stop the forces that have been unleashed and save not only Maria and her unborn child, but themselves as well? Kat Martin has done it again. Scent of Roses is a fast paced ride that is stirringly sensual one moment and chillingly menacing the next. Zack and Liz are characters that heat up the pages while the haunting storyline grabbed me and the twist at the ending left me totally caught by surprise. The totally dysfunctional relationship between Carson and Zack add to what is already a solidly written story. Readers who enjoy paranormal romance will want to add Scent of Roses to their summer reading list. Melissa Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

This book was fantastic! I bought it for a vacation I was going on and couldn't put it down! It's been a long time since I've found a book I was so interested in. I can't wait to read the next of the series. This book has intrigue, mystery and romance. Liz finds herself falling in love with a Lone Wolf, Zachary Harcourt. His tall dark handsome image was what she found interesting in the beginning, even when she was in highschool. Unfourtunately, she had a run in with him in while in highschool and he also had a reputation at that. She doesn't know if she can trust him, and then again doesn't know if she can trust herself with him. Together, they embarch on a journey to help their young friend Maria. Maria is 19 years old and pregnant, due very soon. She is experiencing paranormal events in her house which are making her feel afraid and unsafe in her own home. Read this book, you won't regret it.

Following a difficult divorce family counselor Elizabeth Conner returns home to San Pico California. She begins her new practice working with youth. Client Raul enters a nearby drug rehabilitation program at the Harcourt Farm, but asks Elizabeth and instructor Zack Harcourt to see if his sister, Maria Santiago is okay as she suffers nightmares and fears for her unborn, but her spouse Miguel assumes is runaway hormones. Zack especially promises to help Maria. Elizabeth immediately sees the antipathy shared by Zack and his brother Carson, who runs the family farm, towards one another. Whereas Carson is all charm, Zack is dark and aloof perhaps because of his time in prison for the DUI vehicular accident that crippled their dad. Still he is empathic towards her concerns that something is wrong with the house that Maria resides in as if the place is haunted by a sad spirit. As Zack and Maria work together to solve the mystery of the ghostly girl visitor, they fall in love, but the ghostly investigation leads back to Zack's DUI and the disappearance of a nomadic loner Jake Benson four years ago. Based loosely on the reported story of a young female ghost haunting the home of a Hispanic couple in San Joaquin Valley, SCENT OF ROSES is a terrific paranormal romantic suspense thriller. The lead pairing make the tale extremely entertaining as the investigation by Zack and Elizabeth take them into the realm of the supernatural on the one hand and into the lethal natural past on the other hand. The lead couple each is flawed from their recent history; she from her divorce and he from the DUI that crippled his dad. Filled with twists that will surprise and delight fans, Kat Martin provides a great amateur sleuth tale. Harriet Klausner

Elizabeth Conners returned home to San Pico, California after a disastrous marriage. She enjoys her role as a family counselor and is particularly touched by one young man's efforts to rehabilitate himself. She is consequently unable to resist when Raul Perez asks her to check on his pregnant sister, Maria Santiago, as he fears something is wrong. Maria is frightened by ghostly visits from a young girl telling her she must leave or her baby will die. These visits are accompanied by the decaying stench of roses, inexplicable coldness, and the lonely sound of a train on an unused track. Maria's husband, Miguel, is frustrated and angry over his wife's insistence that a ghost is visiting her and doesn't want anyone's help in the matter. Naturally, Elizabeth assumes there is a logical explanation behind Maria's ghost. She enlists the help of town bad boy, Zachary Harcourt, to investigate the matter and one by one, they begin eliminating all of the rational possibilities. Meanwhile, Elizabeth is losing her heart to Zachary but isn't willing to believe that his bad boy ways have changed, even when she realizes that he is actually the founder of Teen Vision, the program Raul has enrolled in. Zach has chosen to let his more politically minded brother, Carson, take all of the credit but why is Carson so concerned with Elizabeth and Zach's investigation into the Santiago house? Kat Martin has crafted an eerie thriller that cleverly mixes the paranormal with intrigue. SCENT OF ROSES is a multilayered novel with several subplots, all neatly tied together in one very enjoyable conclusion. Kat Martin gradually increases the tension while providing several gut-wrenching scenes, including at least one that will have the reader reaching for a Kleenex. This reviewer is particularly pleased with the character of Elizabeth Conners. Generally, romances with social workers involve plots where the social worker falls in love with a client or some other ridiculous idea- exactly the sort of thing that would cause the social worker to lose all credibility and any licensure. In SCENT OF ROSES, this is not the case. Elizabeth acts as one would expect a counselor/social worker to act and therefore makes the story all the more believable. One aspect that makes this novel eerier than other ghost stories is the plausibility of the ghost story. Kat Martin brings the drama to life and the reader feels each cold shiver when the ghost appears. Perhaps this is because the story has some factual basis as she was inspired by a similar ghost story. However, only a writer as talented as Kat Martin could have truly pulled this off as the reader is left with the sense that all of it is real. Readers more interested in the romantic angle will not be disappointed, either. The relationship between Elizabeth and Zach is heart-warming. Both have been hurt before and neither is willing or able to trust others easily. The growth of their love is touching and not solely based on sex but ins