Touch of Smoke

Karissa Laurel

Feb 2019 · Red Adept Publishing, LLC

About this ebook

 Three years ago, Rikki Albemarle watched her best friend die at the hands of a supernatural evil. Certain she was slated to be the next victim, Rikki fled her small Smoky Mountain hometown, vowing to never come back. Plagued by nightmares and knowing she’s the only one who believes Mina’s death was no accident, Rikki returns with hopes of finding answers and holding the killer accountable.

Rikki is convinced the key to unlocking the secret of Mina’s death lies with Owen Amir, the alluring young army vet who once claimed her heart. But the deeper Rikki digs into Owen’s past, the more she’s torn between the urgings of her heart and her memories of him on the night Mina died.

After falling further into the rabbit hole, Rikki lands at the feet of an ancient and powerful evil determined to finish what it started years before. To survive, she’ll have to make a decision: believe Owen is the monster she always feared he might be or trust him enough to stay and fight for a second chance at love.

Ratings and reviews

Intriguing. Intense, Spellbinding. Emotionally-Engrossing & Utterly Compelling. Karissa Laurel has once again penned a mysterious, seize you by the throat, until the very last heart-wrenching page novel. This is so much more than a romance book, this is a Love Story that has been carefully created with a cast of intricately drawn characters. The author masterfully draws all the supernatural threads together, so you can feel the very building blocks slotting into place, building the layers and foundations of its engaging storyline..You will feel the breathless vibrations that build between Rikki & Owen that run far deeper than just a romance. As they build you can feel all of your senses coming alive, to make sure you feel the depth of emotions running from the start until the very end. An end that Rikki runs from and an end that destroys everything she thought was real. But she can’t let it go, she needs to go back and face her demons, the ones that are haunting her every thought. She believes her small town community needs protecting and Rikki is determined to be their avenging angel, to fight the darkness she believes is a danger to them all.. In out conscious minds what we see and think, we reason and process but Rikki can’t because beneath the surface is something much more larger & powerful that can’t be reasoned away, because Owen is where the power lies. I don’t like leaving spoilers, as I believe you should go in fresh with no preconceived ideas when you read a new novel. However I will say it has a gripping plot and an aboriginal take on a familiar theme. I inhaled this book in one sitting, sleep forgotten, alarm clock binned, and hankies ready. I feel like I could recite this whole book back to you, that is how much of an impact it made on me. I have admired Karissa Laurel’s work before, in her gripping 5* series The Norse Chronicles. I’m also currently just about to read her finale to her Stormbourne Chronicles which was recently released. This Lady can write, she can transport you to any world and keep you there without resistance, she can turn your emotions upside down & inside out, but every single time she makes my toes curl & Imprints her story’s into my mind. I wholeheartedly can recommend this book to any romance, fantasy, supernatural lover. As I’m only allowed to give 5 out of 5 stars I choose to give it these full marks. In reality “Touch of Smoke” deserves so much more. “Superb”

This book from start to finish was absolutely brilliant, I loved every minute of it. I loved everything about this book, the story, the characters, the writing. The book had everything I personally like in a book, action, lots of humor and snark, the right amount of romance, great supporting characters and plot twists. About half or more of the book we get dual timelines. Present time and three years ago. I liked the dual timelines, it keeps you on the edge of you seat and guessing of what really happened that day. I really liked both main characters, both had their strengths but also weaknesses. I liked that they balanced each other out a great deal. Most know, I’m not a fan of insta-love or lust unless done right and that was the case here. Anything else would have been weird in this case. Also like that Rikki stayed her own person and not just throws everything out the window for a guy. The same goes for Owen though, he sticks to his plans no matter what happens or happened. We get a pretty good twist at the end I LOVED it. I also really loved the ending it was perfect and I must admit I was a bit worried but well done Karissa Laurel. I mentioned that I loved the supporting cast and I can’t leave this review without saying that I absolutely adored Luke. So much so, that I hope we get to see him again somehow, sometime in the future. Overall great, great book and I give it 5★ and hoping for a Luke book. #givemeLuke

About the author

 Karissa Laurel always dabbled in writing, but she also wanted to be a chef when she grew up. So she did. After years of working nights, weekends, and holidays, she burnt out and said, “Now what do I do?” She tried a bunch of other things, the most steady of those being a paralegal for state government, but nothing makes her as happy as writing. She has published several short stories and reads “slush” for a couple of short-story markets. Karissa lives in North Carolina with her kid, her husband, the occasional in-law, and a very hairy husky. She loves to read and has a sweet tooth for speculative fiction. Sometimes her husband convinces her to put down the books and take the motorcycles out for a spin. When it snows, you’ll find her on the slopes. Karissa also paints and draws and harbors a grand delusion that she might finish a graphic novel someday.