Title: Phantom Summer
Author: Amy Sparling
Publisher: 336Love
Date of Publication: September 5, 2013
Genre: contemporary YA with ghosts
{blurb}
Seventeen-year-old Taylor Gray moves to Sterling Island to get over her
dead boyfriend. Mom’s cool with letting her crash on the couch, but Taylor needs
to get a job before the lights are cut off again.
When the tall, dark and crazy Raine Tsunami offers her a position at his
thriving ghost tour business, she figures it’s an easy way to make some cash.
Taylor isn’t afraid of ghosts--that crap is as fake as her mom’s boob job. She
loves their adventures on the historic island, especially the secret places he
shows her when the crowds go home. So what if all the ghost stories are just
legends?
When Taylor comes face to face with a ghost and Raine crosses the line
between friend and boyfriend--Taylor’s new life collides with her haunted past.
If murdered people end up as ghosts, then that someone she was trying to forget
is probably watching her.
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18463275-phantom-summer
{excerpt}
Half the streetlights are broken.
Between tiny bursts of dingy light bulbs, everything is black, black,
black. This isn't what Sterling Island is supposed to be about. The
commercials call it a place for tourism and historical richness. What
a joke. The only thing I've seen for blocks is buildings and parking
lots and nothingness.
A rock tumbles across the sidewalk
in front of me.
"You aren't from around here."
I freeze. The voice came from my
right. At least I think it did. It happened so suddenly, and I was
lost in a daydream that I hadn't really known what happened until
after I heard it. I squint to see under the bright street lamp
overhead. "So?" I shoot back, trying to sound sarcastic and
so not intimidated. Footsteps come from the darkness. He's walking
down stairs, one at a time by the sound of it, like he's placing both
feet on each step before he takes the next one. I still can't see
him.
I spit my gum on the ground, all
gross and man-like. If I look unattractive then I won't be kidnapped.
But if he even tries, he'll be sorry when he gets a Ford key in the
eyeball. A shadow appears under the glow of the street light. It's
small and thin. It doesn't look like it belongs to a mass murderer. I
breathe a little easier.
"No girl around here would
visit The Face by herself."
"The Face?" I ask. I
chance a look around me and see nothing but buildings and a parking
lot with one car parked in it. Why hadn't I noticed that car before?
The shadow takes a few steps closer
and stops four feet away from me. He's about my age, maybe a little
older. There's something weird about him, and it's not just because
his clothes are so black it makes his head appear to be floating in
the darkness. He's really…sharp. His face is unreadable. His
features are so sharp and precise they almost scare me. His hair
looks like it was just cut, all sharp ended and straight.
"Turn around," he says,
pointing behind me.
I know there’s nothing but a big
gray building behind us. It's several stories tall and has no
windows. I have no idea why he tells me to turn around, but I do. And
I see it immediately. Dark gray on the gray wall, it's like a
portrait of a man from long ago. He has bushy hair and long sideburns
and a stern look on his face.
"Holy shit," I say. The
guy with his crisp shiny leather jacket and silky black hair is
suddenly right next to me. I watch him as he looks at the face on the
wall. He smirks.
"It's always here," he
says. "Though sometimes it moves."
"What, like a movie?" I
ask, realizing how stupid I sound.
"No, its position on the wall.
You see the upper left corner?" I look where he's pointing. The
wall there is shiny, not textured like the rest of the wall. "Yeah."
"That's where he first showed
up. They sand blasted it off, and then he appeared over there."
He points to the bottom of the wall to another shiny spot of
concrete.
"No way," I say. The face
on the wall is so realistic. It looks like someone spray painted it
with a can of primer and a stencil. "Who's doing it?"
He looks sideways at me, searching
my eyes as if he can't possibly believe that I don't know the legend
of how this painting got on the wall. From this angle he kind of
looks like one of those models in fashion magazines. He's slightly
too thin for a guy, entirely too clean and although I can’t believe
I’m going to say it, chiseled. Chiseled like some kind of freaky
serial killer. I bet he's an asshole. He's probably making all of
this up just to screw with me.
"No one does it, it just is."
"So it's like paranormal?"
I snort.
"You really aren't from around
here."
I pull out my ponytail and redo it.
"Well that's a good thing I guess, since people around here
believe in shit that doesn't exist."
"It would be terrible to go
through life not believing in things that are right in front of your
eyes."
{about the author}
Amy Sparling is a native Texan with a fear of cold weather and a coffee
addiction that probably needs an intervention. She loves books, sarcasm, nail
polish and paid holidays. She lives near the beach with her daughter, one
spoiled rotten puppy and a cat who is most likely plotting to take over the
world. Amy Sparling is a pen name for YA author Cheyanne Young.
Website: http://www.amysparling.com/
Facebook: http://facebook.com/AuthorAmySparling
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Amy_Sparling
{giveaway}
a Rafflecopter giveaway
{my thoughts}
I wasn't really sure what to expect with this book. I knew when I requested to be a part of the tour that it was YA and paranormal. I didn't know how I was going to feel about the storyline though. It seemed good but as we all know paranormal reads can either be really good or really bad. And this one was really good! I loved the characters. I felt the pain and despair that the young girl felt as she grieved the loss of her friend. I had a hard time putting it down to do anything else. I wanted to know what happened. I felt as if I were experiencing it all myself. It broke my heart and then healed it. Beautifully written!
Read more reviews on this tour - click on this link to see the full schedule of stops! http://oopsireadabookagain.blogspot.com/2013/09/blog-tour-invite-phantom-summer-by-amy.html
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