International Book Awards 2017 Award Winning Finalist Fiction: Romance“My name is Gemma Harding…and I help to transition the dead.” Gemma Harding is a clairvoyant. Since she was a child she’s seen the dead and helped cross the souls of those who have departed into the light. Her life is complicated but consistent, as normal as someone like her could ever have. She embraces her calling, … her calling, determined to help those who cannot help themselves.
When Gemma becomes involved in the case of a young girl’s disappearance, she is plunged into the path of a series of gruesome murders and thrust at the forefront of a desperate search for a serial killer. Gemma must use all of her wits to defeat him and help solve the case before she becomes a victim herself. As more girls turn up missing, the fight to stop the killer becomes more deadly at every turn.
Will Gemma be able to help her lost soul and defeat an evil so unimaginable that her life is on the line?
First in a series of paranormal romance novels with a ghostly twist. Each standalone novel continues Gemma’s adventures as a psychic balancing the veil of the spiritual plane and the forces of both good and darkness.
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A well-written story I know I want to read the next book when it is out. This book had suspense, drama, danger, and I found I had to have Kleenex handy. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and I also bought it.
Gemma Harding is clairvoyant and has been since she was a child. She’s seen the dead and helped cross the souls of those who have departed into the light.
Katie Murphy came to her before the new even broke of her disappearance. Confused, scared and lost, Katie had no idea who she was or what happened to her. Gemma offered to help her but Katie wasn’t ready yet, so Gemma told her she could come back any time and she would be glad to help the girl. Gemma knew she had been a part of foul play. When the news finally broke, Gemma went to the police department and spoke to Lt. Victor Silverman who was in charge of the investigation. In order for him to believe she could be of help, she gave him three pieces of information that the public did not know.
1.) The final cause of death would be due to drowning. 2.) She was assaulted. 3.) Red fingernail polish was an important factor.
This was a chilling tale throughout the book. What I thought was right turned out to be wrong and vice versa. Nikki Landis took this emotional story and turned it on it’s head taking me through avenues I hadn’t thought I needed or wanted to go and yet was glad I had. The adage of having a silver lining in every dark cloud holds true here, you just have to believe in it. Although it didn’t necessarily have the ending I thought it would, it did leave things open to continue through a series. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
For me this one seemed to start off really slow but it didn’t take long for things to really start picking up. And once that happened I didn’t want to put it down. And I was a little sad when it ended because I wasn’t ready. But that ending was amazing.
The Gift (Transitions #1) by Nikki Landis is a wonderful story that I have read. This is book number one in this wonderful start to a brand new series that I have gotten hooked on and can not wait to read the next book. I highly recommend this story to everyone who loves reading about thrillers, romantic suspense and paranormal romances.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
OH!, Talk about twist, turns and surprises.Their are some that will shock you. Good book. I received a complimentary review copy of the book and I am voluntarily leaving a honest review.
This Gift is my first clairvoyant book and I’ve always been curious about the subject so I was excited to read Gemma’s story. I was not disappointed. I love the way the author had Gemma helping the police with investigations and how she helped lost souls cross over. Gemma’s gift of clairvoyance took me on a dark, twisty ride with murder, lost souls, suspense and had me anxious to find out what would happen next. I look forward to reading more of Gemma’s adventures.
I love the parnormal of this book and the mystery that will have you hooked from the very beginning to the very end. This book will take you on many twists and turns
I this is a new author to me and I’m glad that I have found her. This book kept me enthralled from chapter 2…..yeah the first chapter is a bit like wrestling in treacle but once you’ve read that and Gemma’s character and earthly mission is entrenched in your brain then you can just sit back with your feet up and enjoy this fabulous book.
I loved the characters – especially Gemma and little Katie who stole my heart from the second we meet her.
I loved the twists and turns that kept coming just in the right places and I loved the pace of the book….it didn’t lag nor did I feel left behind, it just had a nice reading pace.
I didn’t see the plot twists and I was a bit sceptical over Gemma’s relationship with couple of the characters – but everything works out in the wash.
I recommend this book and even though the subject matter might be a bit disturbing it didn’t feel heavy or sombre (does that make any sense to you?)
I voluntarily received a copy of this ARC for review
Well written. Great twists and turns. Amazing description and understanding of the soul and death trauma. A bit defensive about feminism as if it’s a bad thing, even though the character is a strong, independent female. I’m afraid the author doesn’t understand true feminism or she wanted her character to come across as not understanding. Real feminism is about equality and everyone being allowed to be who they are and reach the goals and dreams they have, both male and female. It’s about casting aside societal roles, both male and female. The characters seem to be feminists even if they don’t know it and for some reason make a point of denying it. Also the main heroine seems to think that if she has a man she can’t be independent. I find this to be a strange theme of the book. A partner will make her stronger and can respect her independence not restrict it. I loved the plot and the story. And look forward to reading the next book in the series.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is a really good story complicated by Gemma’s boyfriends. Her name should have been Sweet Gem because she was called that so many times. If not for the “romance” part of the book, I would have given it more stars. The story could have flowed better and spent more time on the victims and their families. And on Gemma’s “Gift”. There were some other questions left about Victor and his family. I don’t want to say too much to spoil some of the twists so I will just finish by saying “good story, just meh on the romance”. In spite of all that, I am wondering when the next book is coming out.
I received a free copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving my honest review.
Different.. Is so much more….
by and1515
Gemma Harding, to some would maybe be considered nothing but a freak or probably worse was an exceptional woman with an extraordinary gift.
She had a sister but they were totally different as night and day only two years apart.
Her family was complicated their parents used them to hurt each other trying to get what they wanted never mind how that affected them.
Personally Gemma, mother didn’t understand her ability nor did it seem she’d even wanted to try and their father simply disregarded her altogether.
But she’d grown over time Gemma had developed better skills that helped her when they came to her.
Victor and very much needed spice to the story and including his wonderful rowdy family so different from her own the two of them made such a sweet an endearing couple.
Gemma always knew putting herself out there might not always be received very well however she had to try.
Meeting the family was just one more thing she needed to do.
Victor was madly head-over-heals in love with Gemma she made everything so simple and now he wanted more.
Unfortunately it started off with one missing teen girl and now there was another one missing.
And what once was lose had been found and startling similarities blatantly stood out like s sorry thumb.
Frantically Gemma rushed around grabbing things she thought she’d need.
However she hadn’t expected to grabbed from behind with a hand covering her mouth.
She couldn’t believe she’d even consider this but here she was letting him lead her away from where she should be safe for the unknown.
This was just another twist in the telling of the story Gemma never would she’d guess the man in front of her was from another law enforcement agency.
The question and answer hour left her reeling and filled with many more.
All she felt sadness and confused how or even more importantly why young girls like these she knew the answer was the unsub had to sick, very unstable to do any of this.
Danger was never that far from her and it was knocking on her door Gemma had no choice if not her it would be someone else.
Nothing prepared her for the nightmare she was helplessly pushed into and all she could think was to RUN.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
3.5 stars
Being clairvoyant runs in Gemma’s family and over the years, she learned to accept her psychic gift and that it was her destiny to help souls transition. When the tortured, lost soul of Katie Murphy appeared before Gemma, she vowed to herself that she would do everything to find closure for the young girl. Will Gemma, together with the police, catch the bold and brilliant killer before it is too late? Or, will she become one of the victims?
I had a long debate whether I will give this a 3 or 4 star rating as I had mixed feelings about this book (which later on I decided to settle with a 3.5 rating). I liked how smooth the writing flow was and how Chapter 1 already set the tone and mood of the story.
I admired Gemma’s (main character) general disposition in life. Despite being single for a long time (and nearing her 30’s), she did not feel lonely and was actually enjoying her freedom. She was independent, smart, witty, and had the undeniable commitment to help the lost souls who reach out to her. One thing I did not like about her, which actually made me roll my eyes and questioned her choices several times, was how gullible and too trusting she was with men whom she only met for the first time.
There were some scenes and dialogues between the characters that felt like “too good to be true”. Also, several parts of the story dragged which kind of “killed” the suspense of some scenes. The ending also felt a bit rushed. It felt like the author suddenly remembered that she was not writing a romance novel but rather a paranormal suspense romance so she started dumping in all these scenarios towards the end of the book; but the author truly deserves an applause for the shocking revelation! Such an unexpected plot twist!
Overall, this was a quick and entertaining read! I enjoyed the psychic elements and my fascination for serial killers was satisfied.
If you are looking for a good paranormal-suspense-romance book that does not involve vampires nor shape-shifting characters, then this one’s for you!
Content warning: crime scene description, sexual assault
I’ve enjoyed this author’s NightWalker’s series but this one, I could not get into. The romance between Gemma and Victor seemed off and wasn’t believable. There were times I felt their relationship was too sweet that bordered on fake. The story itself was intriguing but the execution was lacking for me.
I love paranormal stories especially ghosts but I had trouble starting this one. The first chapter is a bit preachy and then I had trouble believing the cop fell in love at first sight and then seemed to put his job on the line for a woman he hardly knew. While the story itself was intriguing and kept my interest, I guess maybe I’m not as romantic as I thought I was when I started this. I did read the book through and enjoyed it mostly with the above acceptions.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Unique page-turner that literally haunted me.