REVIEWS OF 'PARTNERS IN TIME':
Here's a review for 'Partners in Time' on Goodreads: 4 stars by Chris Hall on 10/6/21
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3788415601?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
This is a gripping read! The book has a slightly slow start and I was wondering when the horror-suspense was going to kick in. Then the moment came and an icy chill suddenly ran down my spine; from that moment I was hooked!
I didn't like the main characters much and that's where the power of good writing and a good story really makes a difference. Wondering what was going to happen next kept me turning the pages right up until the end.
All in all, a literally terrific tale!
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5 stars by Darlene Foster on May 17th 2019
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2817329914?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
A captivating story written by prolific author, Stevie Turner. This paranormal romance has many twists and turns, making you wonder what will happen next. The author is very good at writing about families and family dynamics. Throw in a ghost or two, add a Victorian mansion and you have a terrific tale that will keep you turning the pages.
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5 stars by Stephen Bentley on 24th June 2019
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2868415915?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
One could argue the tagline for this excellent book could be ‘Emily is still desperate for a husband and children, and John is the answer to her dreams.’ The trouble is Emily and John are separated in time by over one hundred years.
Emily is introduced at the start of the book and at first, I thought I was about to read an excellent work of historical fiction as the setting, language, and social conventions are firmly placed in Victorian England. The other main characters are John Finbow and his wife, Kay, who are introduced in a modern-day 1990s setting. The rest of the story is told through the points of view of Emily, John, and Kay and most of the chapters alternate between those characters.
John Finbow is an apparently successful and wealthy screenwriter. He and his wife Kay move into Southcombe Rectory, a large Victorian house that has been empty since the 1960s. It had previously been owned by the Cuthbertson family who had lived there for generations. The ‘Emily’ referred to is the youngest of eight offspring of the late Reverend Arthur Cuthbertson and his wife Delia.
We soon learn about the strain in John and Kay’s marriage as 39-year-old John, would like to start a family, but Kay, 34, doesn’t relish the idea.
It is only after the Finbows move into the rectory we are treated to a brilliantly written paranormal novel. There are apparitions and other ‘out-of -this -world’ experiences which drew me in right from the start. Not only did they draw me in, but I was kept enthralled by the plot and the quality of the writing as I turned page after page. It was during my frenzy of page-turning, I thought this author should be renamed Stevie Page-Turner.
As the plot develops, we are also treated to a nice sub-plot: will John get arrested? [no spoilers from me]
This brilliant book is more than a paranormal novel as it operates at several levels including romance, urban fiction, and a good dollop of crime fiction. It's worthy of turning into a movie.
As the book description says: One hundred and thirty years separate them. Will Emily and John’s love survive time’s relentless march?
You really do need to read it and find out for yourself. Highly recommended!
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4 star review by 'Peter' on Goodreads 29/1/20
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3166114571
“At first I was a bit sceptical about this book. When looking at the cover I thought it would be more of a romance than some fine tale of horror. But I was wrong. John and Kay Finbow move into Southcombe Rectory. There he meets the ghost of Emily Cuthbertson (her bedroom is John’s study) and they even have a child together, a boy named Robbie (stunning idea!). But what about Kay? When she also got pregnant with John’s children, first Mia, then Ethan you can sense the upcoming problems here. Who will be John’s partner at the end, Emily (the ghost of the past) or his present wife? Can John overcome the ghost of Emily at the end? And what about the medium Coral? This was an entertaining, well written story with supernatural elements and a plot that kept you reading. Also the characters in the novel were quite convincing. If you’re looking for a novel focused on relationships with a ghostly touch this might be your stuff. Recommended!”
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5 stars by KatA13 on Amazon 27/10/20
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RV869V44K0C97
This is a suspenseful story that keeps you wondering what is going to keep happening, right on through until the end of the story. It also has its moments of dark humor, too. I found it to be highly entertaining while maintaining the creepiness factor that can be found in a good horror story.
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13/12/20
5 Stars from D.G Kaye
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3691196313?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
Emily lived and died in the mid 1800s, except she never left her home. Meanwhile back in 1996 John got a nice advance for his screenplay and bought a big old house - an old rectory, for him and his wife Kay to live in - only, they weren't alone. John meets Emily when she appears on his sofa in his office, and the two connect. John is wanting to have a child and Kay isn't interested, while Emily who has missed out on marriage and having children is only too happy to give John a child.
Here's where things go eerie. Emily's ghost remained in the rectory and John's office was once Emily's bedroom. They fall madly in love, and the fun begins when John's wife Kay discovers the relationship her husband has with the ghostly Emily and discovers John impregnated Emily.
It's a paranormal story, so yes, the ghost gets pregant, and from there on become the shenanigans of a mischievous and possessive ghost where Emily's place in John and Kay's life becomes whacky and controled by Emily's decisions and wraths.
Sure, we can ask why on earth Kay didn't take off immediately after her husband confides in her what the heck is going on, but again, it's a paranormal story. And despite the strangeness of the whole situation, I remained flipping the pages as I had to find out how this ghost could be stopped from controling and ruining lives.
There is plenty of suspense in this tale about a family haunted by a domineering ghost as Turner cleverly blends this story of family, and paranormal, into a thriller-like tale of love, possessiveness and intrigue that will keep us guessing at every plot twist. Can Emily be tamed? Will Kay hang around? Will Emily ever leave?
If you're looking for a quick read that will keep you turning the pages and have you enjoying all the elements involved in this story, you will no doubt enjoy this book.
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15th December 2020
REVIEW (4 STARS) FOR PARTNERS IN TIME FROM PHIL HUSTON:
https://www.amazon.com/review/R19ZAFFIOEUNOI/
First, I don't read books like this. It requires no more suspension of disbelief than any other genre, but ghosts and vampires and sex and all that? I leave it to experts. Let's get the negatives out of the way first. Did I agree with it? No. Did I find the characters convincing? A couple. But then that's on me and the leap of faith thing with the ghosts. How are ghosts supposed to act? Talk? Who knows, right? So I read this as a standard love triangle with a few kidnappings, a murder, and a maybe illegitimate child (still working on that one) with a ghostly gardener thrown in for humor. Think Rosemary's Baby meets Goodnight Darling/Somewhere in Time with a dose of flesh and blood thuggery. Throw in a stereotypical flummoxed British village cop with an open mind, a couple of Mediums and some good old Brit home life with more train-through-the-tunnel/Robert B. Parker suggested sex than a week's worth of Viagra ads. I mean everyone is off for a shag at a moment's notice on any available surface, missing only the off-balance washer routine.
Are there cliches? Only a few. Are there some time jumps and character appearances I had to go back and ask, "Where the hell did the housekeeper come from?" "Who the hell are all these sisters and their names and their kids’ names?" Yeah.
But on the whole this is one of the best Indie self-published books I've read. And I've read a bunch. So the 4 stars are for that. There is also the stylistic use of first person omni but the author is slick enough to alert us to that with chapter titles letting us know the POV character so it's not a what the...? event. Well done there.
The story starts a little slow, with more decorating ideas than the getting to know the ghost I'd have liked more of, but after that it moves along at a good clip (almost too good a clip occasionally). But even when over the speed limit there are no real plot holes. Those who would need a dusting up are accounted for. The invasion of the body snatchers bits are handled with the aplomb of an Elmore Leonard shootout, (Bang, next) and often with the same surprise. If you read this kind of stuff, you should read this one. Don't be fooled by the title or the cover, this is no hand holding and bouquets of flowers relationship.
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25/12/20
REVIEW (4 STARS) BY JOHN MABERRY
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3715320160
A book I was reluctant to read, thinking it must be a romance like so many of the others with time-traveling lovers. Well, at least one of them moving through the years. Assured that it had a lot more than that-in fact, not so much romance but horror and suspense, I downloaded the book. Glad that I did!
It's an odd triangle between a man and his wife who is not interested in having the children he wanted her to, and the ghost from a hundred years before who was more than willing to bear his children.
Doubt that I ever read a story like this one--with a ghost not just appearing all wispy and such, but enough in the flesh to have sex with a person. Jealousy, not surprisingly, ensues. Worse, once involved, the ghost gets involved with the screenwriting husband, she won't let go. Much more and I risk writing spoilers. Suffice it to say that this book will drag you well into the story of how dangerous it is to get involved with a powerful spirit that can take over lives.
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