Ami's Hoard

I have enjoyed most of Stephen Osborne's books that I have read -- in fact, he's one of my favorite underrated authors. Unfortunately, this latest from him, didn't satisfy me as much. Raven's Rest practically have two plots going on ... Michael's attempt for new life in Banning and new romance with local boy, Trey, after he left his verbally abusive boyfriend, as well as mystery about a ghost that has been haunting Raven's Rest.

While the ghost story and what happened with Coleman and his lover, Bryan, back in the 1980s was predictable... but it was more emotionally engaging to me. Their story was heartbreaking and I couldn't help feeling mellow because despite it being fiction, the chance of it happening in real world is still open.

Unfortunately, the present love story between Michael and Trey wasn't as compelling. They moved into relationship, as well as the falling in love, quite fast for my taste preference. Considering that Michael just walked out from a bad relationship, this felt like jumping the gun a little bit. I didn't feel any hesitation, any second guessing whether he should be in a new relationship that fast.

In addition, there were moments in which I thought Michael was being a little stupid for his own good when it came to his safety. Few times he refused company to walk through town when it was clear that somebody was stalking him, or that there was threats to his life. I was annoyed with him!

Having said that, Osborne's writing is still good and enjoyable. I also loved that the book was pretty low-steam, all sex scenes were fade to black. I always felt overwhelmed with sex scenes in book anyway, in this case I could focus on their romance rather than the lust of the flesh.