The Soul Summoner by Elicia Hyder

​PARANORMAL ROMANCE

Publication date: 11/04/2015
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: Kinda

I’ve been struggling with paranormal romance lately, folks. I’m seeing so many fated mates, and scrappy heroines, and brooding vampires that I’m starting to hate them all. So when I saw an ad for this book on my Facebook timeline, to say I was skeptical would be like saying the Pacific is a little wet, or that cauliflower is a little gross (Side note: cauliflower is HORRIFIC, and anyone who thinks differently... well, you’re entitled to your wrong opinion. Let’s never speak of this again).

But the blurb looked interesting, the cover didn’t repulse me, and the sample chapters I read weren’t overrun with grammatical errors and awkward sentence structure. So I thought, what the hell? (My standards aren’t exactly high these days. Desperate times and all) And overall, I’m really glad I gave the book a (grudging) try. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting. (Since, based on the other PNR I’ve read lately, I was expecting a dumpster fire of epic proportions, that’s a really good thing.) ​

Sloan’s powers of being able to summon people and sense whether or not a person is living or dead based on nothing but a photo were interesting to me. (To say nothing of the fact that she’s somehow inherently likeable) The whole idea of an exceptional person existing in an otherwise mundane world has always appealed to me as a reader. And sadly, what with all the fated mates, scrappy heroines, and brooding vampires out there in PNR land, you just don’t see that kind of thing as often as I’d like.

I also liked Sloan’s quirky sense of humor and willingness to jump in help others by using her powers when needed. Things would’ve been way more comfortable for her if she kept her abilities to herself, but Sloan didn’t go the selfish route, which made me respect her as a character.

The plot about the missing girls was also interesting. It had kind of a The Medium meets CSI meets Charley Davidson feel to it, and I was totally digging it. But… (There’s always a but, isn’t there?)
​

My reading experience wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows and kittens. Sadly, there’s a bit of a love triangle. Now, sure, there are some love triangles in romance that I feel were exceptionally done, but overall, I really struggle with them. The fact that the heroine can’t decide who she loves generally just irks the crap out of me and makes me lose respect for her as a character. And while I didn’t care for the love triangle presented here, (Nathan has a girlfriend that he treats like crap, so his obvious interest in Sloan while he was still dating “the other woman” made me want to knee him in the nuts) I was a big fan of Warren and found him to be endlessly fascinating. (And while I didn’t care for Sloan with Nathan AT ALL, I did enjoy the rather reluctant bromance that eventually happened between Nathan and Warren. That was all kinds of cute.) So, long-story-short, I’m cutting the author some slack on this particular love triangle, in the hope that Sloan eventually chooses correctly once and for all. (And we all know that means choosing Warren. Ahem.)

I will only spoil one thing for you: if you’re looking for a read with lots of sexy times, look elsewhere. Sexy times here are all of the closed door variety. It personally didn’t bother me a bit because there was plenty of interesting stuff going on in the story that I didn’t really think the sexy times were necessary. But if you’re an erotic romance fan, this one most likely won’t be your jam.   

So, in case I didn’t make it clear, this is a solid and entertaining read that’s highly 1-clickable. (And anyone who knows me at all knows that a 4 rating on PNR is REALLY good, as I tend to judge them harsher than any other category of romance. So don’t let that lack of a 5-star rating dissuade you from reading this one.)                 
    
Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
This one’s clean and sober. No rehab needed. 

Other reading suggestions
There’s plenty of books in this series, so I recommend checking them out. And for other “quirky, funny heroine works with hot hero to solve paranormal mysteries” type reads, try Isabel Jordan’s Harper Hall Investigations series and the Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones.