***** Finding Hope, Love, and Trust Review by Rox Burkey
Author Jan Sikes launches her first book in The White Rune Series with a riveting tale of paranormal, metaphysical, and romantic interactions. She skillfully weaves a story with multiple subplots that help illustrate her characters’ growth.
Jag Peters wants to keep his karma straight and is willing to go the extra mile to meet that goal. When he nearly runs over a biker riding a cherry red Harley, he takes action to find the rider.
Rena Jett is a troubled soul who grew up fast in foster care with her brother. Sam’s recent death has forced her to keep all her emotions and trust closed off from the world. She only trusts her Harley.
When Jag locates the rider in a seedy biker bar and sees a ghost, he decides to fix the mar on his karma. Rena discounts Jag’s apology and refuses to believe he is sincere.
The character development is well done, with an emphasis on Rena and Jag. They have baggage that, like a wound, needs to be opened and shared to overcome. The journey they take is hardly smooth, with tender scenes, difficult conversations, and terrifying danger.
However, my favorite character is Charlotte, Jag’s mom. Charlotte, or Charley as she prefers to be called, is attuned to the earth and spirits metaphysically. Charley’s only son, Jag, is her pride and joy without crowding him or his decisions. I particularly liked open communications between mother and son, laced with a connectedness that is masterfully described.
” Although he lived in an apartment behind his mother’s house, he frequently took her up on offers for a home-cooked meal. Tonight, he looked forward to sharing details of his crazy afternoon with her.
Fifteen minutes later, he perched on a stool at the kitchen counter while Charlotte Peters put the finishing touches to vegetarian lasagna. She hummed a classic rock song from the sixties.
Jag never ceased to be amazed at how his mother held her beauty even in her mid-forties, with slender frame and long blonde hair she kept tied back in a ponytail or in a braid. And, although he didn’t mention it, he often wondered why she hadn’t remarried after his dad died.
She slid the lasagna into the oven and handed him a chilled water. “You look like you’ve had a day. Wanna talk about it?”
Jag waved away the bottle. “Can I have a glass of wine instead?”
She nodded and turned to retrieve a bottle of Cabernet and two glasses.
“How do you do it, Mom?”
She raised her eyebrows. “Do what?”
“Always know when things are out of sync with me.”
A smile spread across her face. “You forget I can read your aura, dear. You normally have a lot of yellow nd pink around you but today there is red and orange. It’s really quite simple.”
The details of small-town Texas and the surrounding areas are accurate. Author Sikes paints the scenes and interactions invoking all five senses. The descriptions and interactions with Sam, romance between characters, and musical details kept me glued to the pages. The surprising twists and turns, along with the nail-biting ending, are worth every moment. I highly recommend this mature audience book and look forward to more of this series. Well-done!
About the Author
Jan Sikes is an award-winning Texas author who has been called a wordsmith by her peers. She openly admits that she never set out in life to be an author. But she had a story to tell. It was not just any story, but a true story that rivals any fictional creation. You simply can’t make this stuff up. It all happened.
She chose to create fictitious characters to tell the story through, and they bring the intricately woven tale to life in an entertaining way. She released a series of music CDs to accompany the four biographical fiction books and then published a book of poetry and art to complete the story circle.
And now that the story is told, this author can’t find a way to put down the pen. She writes fiction and has published many short stories with a series of novels waiting in the wings. She is a member of Authors Marketing Guild, The Writer’s League of Texas, the RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB (RRBC), the RAVE WRITER’S INT’L SOCIETY OF AUTHOR (RWISA), sits on the RWISA Executive Council, and hosts a monthly RAVE WAVES blog talk radio show, ASPIRE TO INSPIRE.
FIND AND FOLLOW JAN SIKES
3 replies to "Ghostly Interference"
Great review, Rox, I adored the characters, too.
Thank you Wendy for stopping over. Hope you are well, Happy New Year.
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