If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all. - Oscar Wilde
We shouldn't teach great books; we should teach a love of reading. - B. F. Skinner
No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting. - Mary Wortley Montagu

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Review: Comes a Specter by Keta Diablo / @ketadiablo



Box Set & Title: Under a Mulberry Moon: Comes a Specter
Author: Keta Diablo
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | Pinterest
Publisher: N/A
Release Date: July 19, 2018
Genre: Historical, Anthology, Western, Romance
ARC Received From & Reviewed For: Keta Diablo


Adventure! Mystery! Romance! Nine award-winning and bestselling authors present western historical stories ranging from sweet to sensual to ignite your imagination and feed your passion for reading. Let us sweep you away from your daily cares and entertain you with our sigh-worthy novellas set between 1865 and 1900.

What a line-up we have for you! UNDER A MULBERRY MOON is a bargain at .99!
Better hurry—this anthology is available for a limited time only.
The following books are included:
Millwright's Daughter by Zina Abbott
Worth the Wait by Patricia PacJac Carroll
Ada and the Texas Cavalryman (Brides of Texas Code) by Carra Copelin
A Family For Merry by Caroline Clemmons
A Family For Polly by Jacquie Rogers
Comes A Specter by Keta Diablo
The Widow Buys A Groom by P.A. Estelle
Matthew's Freedom by Cissie Patterson
The Lady Lassoes an Outlaw by Charlene Raddon

Comes a Specter
Anya's ten- year-old son, Willie-boy, found his father hanging in the barn six months ago. He hasn't spoken a word since. Now the boy is gravely ill and there's only one man who can save him, Sutter Sky, a learned shaman known as Yellow Smoke, a shaman who was deeply in love with Anya at one time.

But fate had other plans—Anya was forced to marry a cruel man by the name of Lewis Fleming. Worse, Anya is convinced the ghost terrorizing them is her late husband.

Will Yellow Smoke put aside his bitterness to save Willie-boy, and how will he dispel the evil, sinister ghost from their lives?

Comes a Specter is an intriguing tale of a mother who will do whatever is necessary to save her son, even visit the man she was forced to walk away from a decade ago. The hostility and ongoing irritation and frustration Sutter, or Yellow Smoke, feels for Anya is understandable until her story is revealed. In a time when premarital sex was deeply frowned upon and subsequent pregnancies even more so, Anya's marriage to another man made sense. The result was ten years lost with the man she truly loved and the family they could have been.

There are two story lines in this short tale, yet neither overshadows the other. The story lines feed each other, push each other to the end, and create a story that is thoroughly engaging. As Anya and Sutter's story unfolded, so did the specter's. Its tale was one of great sadness and anger that was resolved in the only way possible: a burial worthy of what the ghost once was and peace.

Ms. Diablo managed to not only write about the specter but managed to give Anya and Sutter's romance equal page time. The anger and contempt Sutter harbored throughout the years melted as admissions were made, apologies were given, and their once forgotten friendship was renewed. It was heartwarming amidst the terror Ms. Diablo wrote. *smiles*

I can't recall the last time I read such a fascinating ghost story, especially one that is steeped in ancient traditions of Native Americans, particularly the Blackfoot tribe. It's rare I come across a paranormal story that is rich with tradition and that those traditions are called upon to expel the evil wrecking havoc in an otherwise normal world.

This story is heavy and rich and enthralling. It begs the question, "What next?" with every turn of the page. It wasn't just peace I was rooting for; it was hope that Sutter and Anya would gain the happiness they'd been so cruelly robbed of all those years ago. This is a story that I will come back to in the future, most likely more than once.


Keta Diablo lives in the Midwest part of the United States on six acres of woodland. When she isn't writing or gardening she loves to commune with nature. She adores animals and has made it her mission in life to help feed hungry children in the USA. Greatly disturbed by the statistic that one in every five children goes to bed hungry, she donates her time and support to local food and animal shelters.

Keta is a multi-published author in both erotic romance and gay fiction. Her erotica novel Decadent Deceptions was a finalist in the MOLLY contest sponsored by Romance Writers of America and has been nominated for a Red Carpet Award in 2014. Her paranormal novel Where the Rain Is Made has been nominated for a Bookie Award by Authors After Dark. Her historical novel Sky Tinted Water has been nominated for a RONE Award by Ind'Tale Magazine. Keta's books have received numerous Top Pick, Book of the Month, and Recommended Read awards from the top professional review sites.

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