Rating: 3.5 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novella
Garth and his three buddies have returned to the amusement park for their summer jobs expecting a nice, easy break from university. Being the bad boy goth of the group and probably the kinkiest of the four, Garth likes skirting the edge of authority in a relationship and he likes a little pain mixed with his pleasure. When the computer guy comes to fix a glitch in the ghost train ride Garth operates, little does Garth know he has not only met the Dom of his dreams, but also is about to begin a dangerous journey that will have him stumbling over a corpse and running for his life.
Too short!! That is my main complaint with L.M. Somerton’s Ghost Train, the first book in her new Fairground Attractions series but, unfortunately, not my only one. I felt we barely had time to get to know Garth or Clem before the book was over. There was some great kinky sex in this story, but I have to say that Clem’s timing, particularly coming on the heels of Garth being injured, had me scratching my head, at times. It was almost as though the author decided ahead that this was going to be a short snippet of a story and therefore cut away some much needed exposition, which would have made this story more cohesive and stronger. It was just so rushed and honestly, with just a bit more time spent on letting Garth and Clem establish their fledgling relationship, the overall impact would have been greater.
It would also have given us more bang for the buck so to speak, in terms of a well-rounded plot. Instead, everything, including the beginnings of an action adventure thriller, were thrown at us posthaste, which meant almost all aspects of this novella were lacking in development. Although the book left the mystery unsolved, I felt that was actually quite clever given that it could help build the foundation for the rest of the series and keep us in touch with these two characters as others were explored. But, while this novella doesn’t end on a cliffhanger per say, it does leave a lot of unanswered questions behind, including a few that probably will never be answered, like how Garth could be so trusting of Clem, who moves at light speed in making the young man his submissive.
This is a story that had great potential, but not enough page time to really get off the ground. I am hoping the next in this series takes a bit more time to establish the couple it will focus on and give us a glimpse of Garth and Clem and how they are getting on as well.
