Forever Obsession: Haunted Love

ISBN: 1507619928
Pages: 492
Publication Date: February 23, 2015
Source: Xpresso Book Tours

Appearance:

Summary:

My name is Thea Bell and I was murdered.
I always assumed that death was the end. So when my life was cruelly taken away from me, I never thought I would get a second chance to say what I needed to.
But then I was given a choice, a choice that allowed me to see the people I had left behind, and I knew I had to take it.
I wanted to say a proper goodbye. I needed justice for what happened to me.
But even in death, things rarely go to plan.
I never expected to meet him. I didn't anticipate falling in love. I hadn't considered the repercussions of coming back. I never realized I would put another person in danger.
I didn't know my actions were going to haunt us forever.

My name is Detective Aiden Mercer, and I think I have gone insane.
I am seeing the murder victim of my current case alive and in the flesh, and that is simply not possible.
I can see her, hear her, touch her. She’s real to me, however I know this cannot be real. Right?
But try telling my heart that, because as I grow closer to catching Thea’s killer, I also fall deeper into trouble.
Because love is rarely anything but trouble and I know this love will haunt me forever.

Hello everyone! School absolutely hates me because right after APs we have PARCC so excuse my pretty extended absence in terms of reviews this month. I was originally going to post my Entangled Crush reviews before this one but I didn't have time...either way I'll get to them this weekend because praise the heavens we have a long weekend! Anyway, enough of this random talk, let's focus on this review~

Theresa Bell makes one mistake the night of her murder. She walks into her house and let her guard down. When she wakes up, she surrounded by light and introduced to a man whom she dubs Santa Clause for his white beard. Santa tells her she has two options, she can move on to the Afterlife or return back to the mortal world. The catch is that she can't choose who sees her and the first person to see her is the only one who can and she is bound to him or her. Thea chooses to go back because she needs to know if her killer gets justice and if her younger brother Flynn will be okay. When she goes back she finds herself bound to Detective Aidan Mercer who is working on her case. What starts off as a deal to bring Thea's murderer to justice turns into a relationship that can only end in heartbreak.

This is just a heartfelt story with the perfect amount of suspense and romance interwoven together. The rising suspense and the tension balances the softer romance aspect of the story. I knew that this book was going to have paranormal aspects to it but I didn't think that it would be so well done. Just how vivid the characters seemed made the relationship occur very naturally. There were just so many parts where I cracked up because Thea and Aidan were once again at each other's throats about something, but each time they worked through a problem their relationship strengthened and the hole in my stomach got bigger.

The character development in this story is amazing. Thea is snarky and so full of compassion for everyone she meets. She's the perfect example of an innocent victim who has so much potential in life to do great things and the injustice of her death makes you all the more determined to find the killer and make him suffer (is that too extreme?) Aidan is your perfect good hearted guy who just happens to be married to his work. He's dedicated but finds himself easily overwhelmed with the sheer amount of work and has a couple cracking points. With Thea, he can act his age and take things easy. What man doesn't appreciate a well cooked meal? Thea's brother Flynn goes through a lot in this book from dealing with his sister's death to finding a new family - so to speak. If possible, I want to give him a big hug for everything he's been through. Then there's Aidan's grandmother who is possibly my favorite character just because she's so cool and fun. Her faith in the unbelievable and her love for Aidan is so amazing and overwhelming. I might have shed a tear at the end...

The suspense, like I said before, is a perfect contrast to Thea and Aidan's relationship. It offers a feel of tension that wraps the story and heightens every second Thea has with Aidan. The revelation is a mix of "oh I saw that" to "that is seriously messed up" which in my book is a pretty good combination. It was a bit expected but not with the special twist thrown in. The ending had essentially two parts. Part One had me sobbing my heart out and I think we can guess why while Part Two had me half sighing from cuteness and half rolling my eyes because I wanted a more exaggerated ending. Not exaggerated with fanfare per say and in some cases it was heroic, but I couldn't help but feel like I wanted something more.

Overall, definitely recommend this. I can't get it out of head and I swear every time I think about this book I get a smile on my face.