Distant Heart Sounds A Nurse Morgan Series: Book 1
Paranormal Romance
Inkspell Publishing
August 25, 2020
182
Just because you haven’t seen a ghost, it doesn’t mean they aren’t around. You can’t see germs either, but you know they exist everywhere. Besides, everybody has a ghost story or unexplained experience—yet no one wants to admit that they believe in spirits.
What if your life was turned upside down and you suddenly had the ability to see, hear and communicate with those on the other side? How would you handle the situation?
Distant Heart Sounds takes a look at what Morgan Cutler encounters after an unexpected near-death-experience leaves her with psychic abilities. As a 40-ish, skeptical, heard-it-all-before, metro Detroit emergency center nurse, Morgan believes she has seen just about everything in her 20+ years on the job, but then one day, she feels someone she cannot see.
The new Morgan opens herself to a relationship with a hunky doctor at the emergency center, who has some psychic ability as well. Romance, humor, mystery, and being connected to others bring peace and joy into her life.
But what happens when Morgan witnesses the evil inside one man’s heart? Some secrets are better left unseen.
Reviewed by Madison Davis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
‘Distant Heart Sounds’ tells the tale of Morgan Cutler, a Detroit emergency room nurse. After a brain injury, Morgan discovers she can see ghosts and communicate with them. Even though she’s quite shocked at first, she adjusts quite quickly to the new gift and finds out that there are ghosts not only within her workplace at the hospital but also at home. She realizes she shares her house with not only her dog but also a couple, Jonathan and Elizabeth, who owned the house years before she moved in.
Morgan Cutler is a humorous, a bit self-ironic character, with very supportive friends and co-workers. Her best friend, Savannah ‘Savvy’ Holt, Dr. Holt, expects to help Morgan with her health, but soon hears about her friend’s new gifts. Dr. Holt is also very spiritual and discovers the ghost sightings together with Morgan. Also, very understanding are Morgan’s friend Ellen, Dr. Caleb Lightfoot, a new doctor at the hospital, and a couple of other co-workers, as well as Dr. Holt’s mother.
Next to communicating with the ghosts, falling in love with Caleb and dealing with her own personal ‘house-ghosts,’ Morgan as a sideline, solves a few crimes too.
The book is well-written and kept on a light note, easy-to-read, and recommendable to be read by young adults. The language is clean, and there is no intimacy. I found a couple of paradoxes, mainly when it came to ghosts and human food.
As soon as I started reading ‘Distant Heart Sounds,’ the story reminded me far too strongly of the TV show ‘Saving Hope.’ In that show, Dr. Charlie Harris could see ghosts and his love interest, and the ones knowing about it were very understanding. It seemed to me the author just switched from man to woman and turned the ‘doctor’ into a nurse.
I admit I’m not the biggest fan of neither Elizabeth nor Jonathan, the ghost couple that lives in Morgan’s home. Elizabeth is a little less annoying, even though she is, understandably, old-fashioned. But both interfere far too often into Morgan’s life and, in my opinion, do not add much to the story.
While reading the book, I was constantly waiting for something huge and significant to happen, but the story gurgles shallowly through the pages, without much depth. The developing love story between Morgan and Caleb is cute and adds to the rating. However, I had hoped for more development, and I think it a bit disappointing that not more happened.