Destiny's Gate by Lee Bice-Matheson and J.R. Matheson

Destiny's Gate by Lee Bice-Matheson and J.R. Matheson
Series: Paige Maddison, #2
Publisher: Friesen Press
Format: Paperback
Pages: 283
Source: Review.

Live from a place of love. It conquers all that is evil. Shaken by the haunting from Conall, Paige Maddison hopes to put it behind her. When Paige's premonitions, nightmares, and ghostly visions return, however, she realizes there is no way of getting back to the normal she once knew. Try as she might to adjust to her new life at the O'Brien Manor, dark forces begin to brew on the grounds of the haunted O'Brien estate. Paige becomes the unwilling target of the Earthbounds, anguished souls who seek revenge and retribution. But where there is darkness, there is also light. Through an enigmatic string of events that has her questioning who she truly is, Paige soon learns that she is not only being watched over by guardians of both the spirit and mortal realms, but also being called upon by a greater power beyond her wildest comprehension. As her world is turned upside down, Paige faces a life-changing dilemma: Should she embrace her special gift and fulfill the destiny that is unfolding before her? Or will she succumb to the evil that surrounds her and deny her true identity? Destiny's Gate, book two in the Paige Maddison Series, follows the young heroine on her personal journey of discovering inner strength, undying loyalty, and the profound power of unwavering love.

 

Even after reading the first book in this series and not liking it I had high hopes that this book would deliver the excitement and creep factor that I was hoping for. Unfortunately I was left feeling unenthusiastic and tired after struggling through this book. I had hoped that since the book was longer it wouldn't feel as rushed as the first book but it ended up feeling like everything was being pushed just for the sake of something happening.

 

I still did not like Paige. She is still just as unappealing as she was in the first book and I found that I enjoyed her character less as the book went on. I just ended up not really caring what happened to her and in a book where the plot doesn't grab me I hope the characters do.

 

Even after finding out what she was and what she could do Paige seemed way too calm about the whole situation. It just didn't seem realistic. The story seemed to drag on and I kept having to put the book down because I was getting extremely frustrated with the pacing and Paige.

 

I will not be continuing with this series. It was way too hard to get through this last book and I don't like feeling like I have to force myself to finish a book or series even if I am not enjoying it. Don't let my feelings discourage you however, you may love the book, it just was not for me.

 

 

 **Copy provided in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.**

Wake Me Up Inside by Lee Bice-Matheson

Wake Me Up Inside by Lee Bice-Matheson
Series: Paige Maddison, #1
Publisher: Friesen Press
Format: Paperback
Pages: 104
Source: Review.

Wake Me Up Inside is a ghost story centered around a strong teen-age heroine, Paige Maddison, who is forced to move with her parents from Toronto to hicksville Ontario, to help look after her ailing grandparents. It is a story of discovering one’s heritage and uncovering secrets. What will Paige learn about her family’s past and what will she discover about herself as she moves through this journey?

Paige discovers that her maternal family home is a mansion called O’Brien Manor along with a guest house, condemned cottage and a graveyard. Before Paige leaves Toronto, she has nightmares and visions but does not realize they are of this place until she meets the ghosts haunting the Manor…

 

I was really excited to start this series when I was asked to review the first two books in the series, I was expecting a thrilling ghost story that would keep me guessing and would be really creepy and would keep me up at night hurrying to find out what happened. Unfortunately, the ghost story was not that interesting, the character's didn't really have me enthralled and the story somehow managed to drag by slowly yet at the same time everything felt rushed.

 

The plot sounded really cool, a girl having to go live in a fancy house where there seems to be a lot of secrets and ghostly things keep happening. It didn't really live up to everything it could have been, if only the book was longer maybe the story could have been developed more and it wouldn't have been resolved so quickly.

 

I did not like Paige at all. She was foolish and selfish. She only thought about herself and I did not really care what happened to her. The only characters I really liked were her grandparents even if they were kind of weird.

 

This book did not work for me, but if you like ghost stories but aren't into really creepy ones this one might be the way to go for you. The book is really short but keep in mind that the ending ends up being quite rushed.

 



**Copy provided in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.**