A fraud?

Or the find of her lifetime?

Vanessa Steele retreats to her grandmother’s beach house to heal after she loses her job and her fiancé.

When she finds that Grandma’s enlisted hunky Dion Livingston and his brothers to investigate suspicious paranormal activity, the intrepid reporter is skeptical of their motives.

But her own investigation discovers that Dion’s the real deal.

And any supernatural energy? Pales compared to the electricity that erupts when the two of them are together…

Titles in the Heart & Soul series include — Summoning Up Love —♥— The Spirit of Second Chances —♥— Counterfeit Courtship —♥—

This is an adult 18+ story that may contain language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

Owned

From The TBR

Title:  Summoning Up Love
Series:  Heart & Soul #1
Author:  Synithia Williams
Genre: Contemporary Romance (Paranormal)
Published:  April 26, 2022
Publisher:  Harlequin Special Edition
My Rating:  4.5

Summoning Up Love begins the Heart & Soul series with a delightful romance with just enough of a paranormal touch to satisfy my love of “otherworldly” stories.  This series was recommended to me by an author I follow on Twitter, and I’m so glad I one-clicked this series.  Doesn’t matter if a book isn’t hot off the press; it’s brand new when it’s the first time I’ve (or any reader) dived into it.

Let’s just say that Vanessa wasn’t having the greatest week when she returned to her grandmother’s home, only to discover that for some reason, her grandmother believes her home is haunted after the recent death of her husband… and she’s going to let some local ghost-busting brothers film a series pilot here!  Oh, No.  No way is she allowing some money-grabbing scam artists con her grandmother.  Between her fiancé and his ridiculous reason for dumping her, being let go from the new department, and now this?  No, it’s not been a good week for Vanessa.

Dion is the oldest of the three brothers who all have a fascination with paranormal activity.  They’ve turned a hobby into a possible TV series, thanks to one brother’s determination, and right now, the best hope they have of tying down that series is to film their investigation of Vanessa’s grandmother’s house.  When their parents were killed in an accident, it was Dion who stepped away from college and his dreams to keep what remained of their family together by raising his younger brothers, Wesley and Tyrone.  It wasn’t easy by any means, but he’s the voice of reason, the quietly stubborn one who has worked the same job for years, is hoping for a promotion, and is helping his brother Tyrone with the dream of making a hobby turn into something a lot more.

The last thing Dion expected was to publically be accused of scamming Vanessa’s grandmother, a woman he respected!  But that is exactly what this skeptical beauty is doing.  Arguing isn’t going to do any good, but showing this stubborn woman what they do just might… if he can convince her.

I loved Dion from the start.  His insecurities show in small ways, but it’s obvious that he’s been cut down by someone important to him.  His hopes for a promotion in the job he’s worked at for seventeen years isn’t unreasonable; what was heartwarming is how he handled that eventually.  He’s a man who has given up a lot, kept his family together, and deserves a good woman at his side.  Vanessa is that woman, but they’ve got some rough patches to get through before that happy ending can happen.  I liked Vanessa, but she is certainly stubborn and not easy to convince once she’s made up her mind.  They balance each other in such a perfect way that, at times, it was frustrating to watch the roadblocks she put in their romance.  Oh, I understood her reasons, but give the guy a break eventually!

I had such a good time in this world.  I’ve finished the series (those reviews will be coming), and now I need to go check out this author’s backlist because I want more good stories from a talented storyteller.  If you love a well-written, fast-paced romance with touches of ghosts and things that go bump in the night, along with characters that you’ll adore and a dream to be invested in for these brothers… then you’ll want to check out the Heart & Soul series right now!

I own a Kindle edition of this title.

Available in print or for your favorite e-reader