Shine by Jeri Simth-Ready

So, I just reviewed Shift and was actually halfway done with this one by the time I posted my review. I know I said that book 2 was my favorite, but I’m pretty sure this one is in fact the best one in the series. I just loved it.  Book one was sort of like the introduction to the creepy ghost world and an introduction to the drama. Book 2 then was all about the drama and figuring out the ghosts. And now book 3 was just pure action, romance, and Irish folklore! Does any of that sound bad?

So, Logan has finally moved on. For real. And Zachary has to fly home because of a lot of stuff that went down in book 2. But Aura and Zachary have super cute, romantic plans to meet up in Ireland before Christmas. They want some time alone. But, also, they want to go where their parents were before the shift. They want to get some final answers.

The book begins right after Aura and Zachary part ways. She keeps checking her phone to make sure that his flight gets in fine, and right when it get to the obsessive point where I was questioning the need of Aura’s paranoia, I learn that the plane crashed, or I guess, more like exploded. And for a brief moment, I really thought Aura had lost both Logan and Zachary.

Then it’s found out that Zachary and family were not on the plane. Zachary was detained by Logan making a small detour to his final goodbye with Aura. Logan knew that after kissing Aura that Zachary could see ghosts, and took his moment to chat with him about Aura. Little did Logan know he was saving Zachary’s life.

Too bad for Zachary, a witness saw him talking to a ghost, something he shouldn’t be able to do. And well the bad guys then of course pin the plane crash on him because he and his parents were the only passengers not to get on. And while it soon becomes clear to everyone that Zach was not responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people, the bad guys still find it necessary to lock him up and experiment on him to see how it was possible for him to speak with ghosts. They actually take him to the place they wanted to take him and Aura in book 2.

See what I mean about the action? Aura and her friends (the rest of Logan’s family) try everything they can think of to get Zachary out of the science labs he is in. She even goes as far as attempting to break in to their headquarters. Eventually Aura gets some knowledge, through spying, that helps save her boyfriend. And there’s this really hard scene to read when Zachary is finally released, and looks starving and beaten up, and well just plain tortured. And Aura is not allowed to touch him; he has to go directly on to his plane into the UK with not physical contact with anyone in the US.

The majority of the rest of the book takes place in Ireland when Aura finally gets to see and touch Zachary again. And again, the romance is hot! Really, this book has some serious adult romance novel characteristics and I am not complaining at all. And there is a lot learned in Ireland about shades, cults, relics, the shift, and politics. It’s not all romance in Ireland. It’s also keeping on the run from dangerous spies, attempting to end the shift, an American ghost related draft, kidnappings, knife wounds, a cult that wants Aura to get pregnant (so gross!), bar fights, gun wounds, hospitals, college acceptances, and some pretty world-changing events.

Have I mentioned how awesome this book was? There was never a dull moment. I read it in a matter of hours. I loved getting to see the UK through Aura’s eyes. I loved the Irish folklore and the wishing tree. I loved Aura and Zach’s relationship. And I loved how this book could accomplish so many things. And I’m not just talking about plot or even character. This book can be joking about bikinis one second, then covering some serious stuff about grief and loss the next second. What went down with Zachary was intense.

And again, I did love the plot too! So much happened here. And I loved the new characters like Zachary’s friends who get into an epic brawl to protect him. I give this one a 10/10. And I highly recommend this series as a whole, particularly to romance fans.