Leslie Kelly (1) (1965–)

I picked up Cold Sight on a whim because I liked the cover and the name 'Lexie' just leapt out at me. I'm a bit weak when it comes to seeing my name (or my nickname in this case) on a book blurb. To be fair, this is a paranormal romance...or at least it lays claim to being such.

This is much more Mystery/Thriller then it is Paranormal Romance, and it is guaranteed to make you scared about what could happen to your daughter (or sister). The romance between Aiden and Lexie happened quickly--they were both damaged by the people they were trying so hard to help and wary of trusting someone.

The pace of the book is fast and wracked with tension. At regular intervals Parrish slips between Aiden, Lexie, Vonnie, the killer and later the twins. The scenes when either Vonnie or the killer are the focus are chilling. Vonnie's desperate attempts to stay sane through the killer's torture (heavy on the mental and psychological abuse, though he does physically abuse her) she doesn't cling to hope so much as refuses to let the killer destroy her spirit.

I honestly didn't guess who the killer was. Parrish drops clues throughout, buts its very hard to piece them together as things escalate. The entire book takes place over only about a week, though it feels much longer as there's no sense of time in Vonnie's narratives and the killer often will fall into memories (horrifying accountings of abuse as a child).

Lexie and Aiden's relationship built fast and burned. Attraction was immediate (isn't it always?), but between Aiden complete distrust and hatred of Lexie's profession (journalist) and Lexie's wariness about pursuing a topic (the Ghoul Killer) that's already landed her in hot water in her small town, they take trust slow.

I liked the Lexie didn't just take him on his word--even though her boss was willing to take a chance on the 'psychic', Lexie wanted proof. This I think endeared her to Aiden moreso than anything else because the rest of her profession tended to leap without looking.

The fact of the matter is the book was more about finding the killer then it was about watching Aiden romance Lexie. Wasn't a whole lot of that going on, especially after the dream they 'shared'. Their personalities clashed--Lexie was more forthright with her opinion while Aiden, though blunt, would skate around the issue unless pressed--but they complimented each other well. They seemed to know, on some deeper level, how to handle each other.

As the first book in a new paranormal mystery series about detectives with extraordinary powers, this was exciting. I'm looking forward to Cold Touch, due out in July, which is about Olivia, who has an important part near the end.… (mere)

Lexie Nolan isn't sure she believes in the paranormal but she's willing to give it a shot if it helps her find missing teenager, Vonnie Jackson - she just has to convince Aidan McConnell to come out of retirement to help.

Aidan McConnell might have paranormal abilities but the result of his last case has him convinced using his abilities is not worth it - until Lexie Nolan bangs through his door demanding his help to save Vonnie - because they might not be able to save her but if they do nothing; she's definitely dead.

I'm a bit hit and miss with crossovers between crime and paranormal or fantasy genres, but this was a definite hit. The storyline had me hooked and I loved the inclusion of the different viewpoints throughout. The romance was the one thing that let it down. It was your typical instalove with the added level of a paranormal fated mates trope sort of thing going on - but without actually explaining it. They apparently can share dreams - why? It didn't really add anything to the plot and it was never really explored so it annoyed me. That said, while I may not have been overly keen on Lexie and Aidan together - I did like them as individuals. Both of them were fierce, caring individuals who really just wanted to help.

I loved the beginning with Aidan and his grandmother, Gretchen - I actually wanted to see much more of her to be honest. I'd totally be down to read about her experiences growing up. As for the other characters I adored Vonnie and Taylor. Vonnie was a fkn legend. Her scene at the end where she strangles him with the chain was fkn epic. It was only beat by her stabbing him from the shadows and watching him bleed out. Respect. I wish there had of been more of them. OMFG I did not remotely see the attack on Jenny and Taylor resulting in Jenny's death. I kind of wanted them both to live and have their happy ever after - although it did make sense plotwise to go down the path the author did. Even if I didn't love it. I could've gone for a Jenny is kidnapped and Taylor has to piece it together to save her type of thing.

I was pretty dismissive of Chief Jack Dunston to begin with but talk about character development.

He could stay here and eat a piece of cake. Maybe feel the mayor out tomorrow, hint that he’d seen activity in the building and wonder aloud what was going on. Or he could be a cop and follow them. He thought of the cake. He thought of the cash. He thought of the bruises. He thought of the bones. Finally he said, “Tell you what, why don’t you wrap up a piece for me to take along. I just remembered, I have somewhere to be.” And, he thought, someone to be. Granville’s chief of police.

Kelly, Leslie A.. COLD SIGHT: Extrasensory Agents Book 1 (p. 207). LK Books. Kindle Edition. I was impressed by the fact that even when he was politically scmoozing he was paying attention to what was going on. And his line about having someone to be; Granville chief of police was great.

I sort of guessed what was happening in the town with the secret society (and the fact there was a secret society), but I couldn't quite work out how the killer was connected to them. I was thinking it was more along the lines of them having been victims of the society itself. Actually to be fair I also thought it was the janitor dude, Kenny - but no, he was super helpful. The investigation into the missing girls was great. I loved how the team worked together to find answers and the mix between good old investigating and the paranormal elements. It was very enjoyable and had me chuckling away. I loved this bit.

“Hello, Julia,” he said as soon as he lifted the phone to his mouth.
“How did you know it was me? Admit it, you’re doing your psychic thing again, right?” “Ever heard of a little invention called caller ID?”
“Oh, that. How mundane.”
“Welcome to the twenty-first century.”

Kelly, Leslie A.. COLD SIGHT: Extrasensory Agents Book 1 (p. 20). LK Books. Kindle Edition.

And this one.

“As for Dunston, I think he was going for a preemptive strike. He suspects the mother is going to call you and wanted to make sure I had you under control.”
Lexie lifted one brow at that word.
Laughing, Walter held his hands up, palms out. “Hey, I would never dream of claiming such a thing. With four daughters, I know better than to think I control anything in my life except the amount of time I get to spend in the bathroom.”
Lexie snorted. “With four daughters, I’m surprised you actually have your own bathroom.”

Kelly, Leslie A.. COLD SIGHT: Extrasensory Agents Book 1 (pp. 31-32). LK Books. Kindle Edition.

A solid paranormal mystery with interesting characters and only letdown by a weak romance. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series. 3.5, rounded to 4 stars.… (mere)

I enjoyed Lottie, there’s sense of humor sprinkled into her POV, plus Lottie’s very proactive in the plot, she’s not one for waiting around for things to happen to her which is always preferable, and for the most part she comes across as admirably strong-willed although that trait made it challenging to buy that she’s allowed her family interfere with her sex life.

I didn’t feel like Simon was as fully realized as Lottie, his personality didn’t come through as well as hers did, and I guess for me, that wasn’t helped by my main issue with this book which was the amount of sexual thoughts these two characters indulged in for the first half of the novel. It just seemed like Simon was so busy thinking about what he wanted to do with Lottie that there was little room for truly getting to know much else about the guy beyond his sexual appetites.

I know this book is from Harlequin’s discontinued Blaze line so I certainly expected a sexually charged story, I had no problem with the actual sex scenes, but I did feel like it went overboard with those aforementioned sexual thoughts, to the point where I couldn’t help wondering how they managed to be functioning adults when they have such one-track horny minds.

It’s completely a personal preference thing, there are plenty of readers who will love how overt their interest in sex is, I just tend to feel like if there’s natural chemistry (which there is here) it doesn’t have to be so heavy-handed, subtle touches and looks and yeah, the occasional explicit thought will get the message across just as well as spelling out every single desire that pops into their heads, especially since all that spelling out of their thoughts left fewer pages to weave in more of the great gothic-like atmosphere the author crafted and a large chunk of the novel passed by before an actual story truly felt like it had kicked in which is unfortunate because the mystery, the intrigue, and the suspense were really entertaining.… (mere)

Other than the Extrasensory Agents that were a small part of the story, this was the average type of serial killer story. The killer takes teenage girls, tortures, and kills them. The main character of the story was Lexie who was a reporter and didn't have any extrasensory powers. The male lead did have some psychic powers and was struggling with a case he thought he had bungled and as a result had gone into seclusion. Lexie brings him out of his shell and he helps her solve the case. The story was well written and easy to follow, but there weren't any surprises or depth of emotions.… (mere)