[Book Review] A Haunted Love by Dakota Star & Heart Rock Coffee Costa Rica Light Roast

Title: A Haunted Love
Series: Standalone
Author: Dakota Star
Publication date: August 11th 2020
Page Count: 209 pages
Age Rating: Adult (explicit sexual scenes, language, blood, violence)
How I got my hot little hands on it: Received a review copy
Publisher’s page: A Haunted Love

Ash detests Halloween. Three years ago, her husband’s death during the same week left her scarred. Now, all she desires is a simple, ordered life in the small town of Humble, Connecticut and time with the cutest boy ever – her nephew. That becomes impossible when her sister brings a handsome soldier, Cole, to her door. From the moment they meet, Ash has a hard time ignoring his good looks and those intense gray eyes that have seen enough war and heartbreak to fill a lifetime. What starts as a mutual attraction and a romp in bed leads Ash to face her demons. War has left Cole with more than just physical scars as well. But does serendipity, a ghost, or something sinister have other plans for them? When someone starts stalking Ash, Halloween turns to horror. Does Cole have what it takes to incinerate Ash’s doubts and keep her safe?

My Review

To be honest, when I picked up A Haunted Love I thought it was a ghost story. From the cover, title, tagline (“Finding someone special has never been so terrifying…”), and description, I was really convinced it was going to be a Halloween story about an evil spirit stalking a widow and her new love. Instead, it’s a steamy romance fraught with guilt and a flesh-and-blood stalker not making it any easier on the couple.

It’s also not really a Halloween story. It’s relevant in that Ash’s husband was lost to cancer around Halloween time three years ago. Every year Ash throws a Halloween party to distract herself and to stop any well-meaning people from randomly stopping by to give their sympathies. It’s at this party that Ash meets Cole, her sister’s new neighbor and a recently retired Navy vet who gets her pulse racing.

The emergence of a stalker who’s not happy to see the widow with a new man also gets her pulse racing (but not in a good way). The author does a good job keeping readers on their toes about the identity of Ash’s deranged stalker and I found myself second-guessing the whole way through. It really keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Overall, while I went into this book expecting a Halloween ghost story romance, I wasn’t disappointed with the sexy romantic thriller that I got.

Throughout A Haunted Love Ash finds heart-shaped rocks everywhere she goes. She thinks they are signs from her late husband Baxter who used to give her heart-shaped rocks he found whenever he traveled saying it showed how much she was always in his thoughts. The two had plans to travel together one day and ride horses in the Costa Rican rainforest. Heart Rock Coffee Costa Rica Light Roast, floral and nutty, with hints of chocolate and caramel, is the perfect bittersweet coffee to commemorate the love that Ash and Baxter shared and the plans for a life together cut short.