TITLE: Treasure Trail (Treasure Trail Book 1)
AUTHOR: Morgan Brice
246 pages, Darkwind Press, ISBN 9781939704948 (softcover, ebook)
DESCRIPTION: (from Amazon): Erik Mitchell traveled the world uncovering art fraud and relic theft, which pitted him against spoiled billionaires, unscrupulous collectors, mobsters, and cartels. He worked with law enforcement across the U.S. and Europe, but then a sting goes wrong, Erik ends up injured and returns to find his partner cheating. He decides to stop globetrotting and buy an antique shop in scenic Cape May, NJ, rebuild his life, and nurse his broken heart. Undercover Newark cop Ben Nolan went down in a hail of bullets when a bust went sideways, after a tip-off from a traitor inside the department. When he recovers, he spends a couple of years as a private investigator, only to tire of seeing the worst of human nature. So when his aunt offers him the chance to take over her rental real estate business in Cape May, it seems too good to be true. Now if he could just believe he could ever be lucky again in love. Sparks fly when Erik and Ben meet. But when a cursed hotel’s long-ago scandals resurface, the two men are pulled into a web of lies, danger, and deception that will test their bond—and might make them Cape May’s newest ghosts! Treasure Trail contains sexually explicit material intended for adults 18 and over.
MY RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
MY THOUGHTS: Treasure Trail is another one of those m/m paranormal romance / urban fantasy hybrids I’m discovering I really, really enjoy.
I consider something urban fantasy if the city setting (real or fictional) is vital to the story, and especially if the city is as much of a character as the humans and fantasy creatures. Cape May, NJ and its much-discussed paranormal history is a vital part of what makes this book work. I’m vaguely familiar with Cape May (I live at the complete opposite end of the state, about as far north and west as you can get and still be in the state of New Jersey), and Brice’s descriptions rang true to what I remember of the area. In this book, the town is home to a number of paranormally-abled individuals: there’s a local coven of witches, a museum manager who has some paranormal experience, a lighthouse keeper who can talk to ghosts … and they’re all aware of each other and are willing to help each other deal with various issues. Which includes helping our lead characters, Erik and Ben, when they start to experience problems both natural (murder attempts) and supernatural (angry ghosts). Ben can see ghosts but not communicate with them, and Erik has the ability to “see” an object’s supernatural connections/history just by touching it – which can be a bit overwhelming.
This first case for Erik and Ben is absolutely a meet-cute. The stakes are potentially deadly for the guys but not world-threatening outside of them and their small circle. They have an instant attraction when they meet accidentally at a local bar, but things really heat up when events at a rental home Ben is renovating and objects Erik has recently had donated to his antiques shop overlap. Their personalities mesh well, as do their histories as former cop and former Interpol/CIA consultant. They’re very capable on their own, and even better when they work together. Of course, since this book is just the start of their relationship, there are misunderstandings that complicate both the romance and the resolution of the case on which they find themselves working. But Brice spools out those misunderstandings at just the right pace and in just the right amount; she stays short of “oh great, another reason for them to not get together yet?” territory. She also alternates chapters between Erik’s POV and Ben’s, in what I’m beginning to suspect is a fairly standard trope of m/m paranormal romance. It works for me: it helps the tension remain high by cutting away from one character or the other at key moments while also giving us equal time in each character’s head to get the full picture of what’s going on.
The mystery at the center of the story – mob ties to an abandoned and haunted hotel and to present day police – is solid and very fair-play. The hints are there for the reader to make connections along with the characters. There are also lots of hints at not only Ben and Erik’s pasts and things that may come back to haunt them in future books, but also at how this series connects with several other m/m paranormal series written by Brice and urban fantasy series written as Gail Z. Martin. (I’ve read one of Martin’s Deadly Curiosities novels, but none of her other Brice work. I’ll have to fix that sooner rather than later.)
So: interesting lead and supporting characters, a town with a rich history to be explored, cases that play fair with the reader, and for those of who aren’t deterred by it, some hot sex scenes (which are easily skippable if you like romance but not sex in your fiction). I’m ready for the next book in the series.