After realising my last read was a DNF, this is what I grabbed from my iBooks app. I love the Chicagoland vampire series; its books are always fun and the snark factor is high. It's my love for the characters that got this short novella the third star. Otherwise, the editing was non-existent; at one point the MC tries to share the important (to the plot) information that their house had no ghosts, but thanks to the editor that wasn't there, actually says that they did. There was also zero mystery about who the grave robber was; the plot was transparent from go to woe*.

I still enjoyed it though; again, strictly for the characters. The book coming out in April is the last one; so I'll take all the Ethan, Merit, Catcher and Mallory I can get. ( )

After their wedding shower, including family angst, Ethan and Merit are called out by the local necromancer when she finds a ghost's remains disturbed and summoned. This was definitely a Chicagoland Vampire lite story. It was nice seeing Annabelle again, I'm hoping this means she'll be part of future stories as well.
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Well that was fun! Once again humans do something stupid and the supernaturals have to save the day. Plus, there's a bit of sexy thrown in for good measure. It was a perfect short palate cleanser for me. ( )

**Contains spoilers from previous books in the Chicagoland Vampires Series**

Chloe Neill plunges us back into Chicago history with PHANTOM KISS. I don't read a lot of novellas, but I couldn't pass this one up. I'm so sad this series is ending, but so glad to get another little side adventure with Ethan and Merit before the final book.

What a neat little adventure. Merit and Ethan attend their bridal shower and then get called out to the cemetery where they find out a ghost has been set loose. Not much gets solved while they are out, but they quickly find out the ghost followed them home and it's NOT friendly.

We already know most of the characters in PHANTOM KISS and although we do learn a few new things about some of them, I would like to mention some other characters. I really enjoy Annabelle's character and although we did meet her in a past book, I wish we would have gotten to know her earlier in the series. She fits well into the world and I would have loved to have more adventures with her. Another newcomer is introduced in PHANTOM KISS, but it's actually a group of ghost hunters that call themselves the Chicago Paranormal Action Network. They were interesting and a bit crazy.

I'm glad I read PHANTOM KISS before jumping into the final book BLADE BOUND. It's time for the wedding and I can't wait see how it plays out! So sad to see the Chicagoland Vampires series go, but excited to see how it ends.

I gave it 5/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ( )

This is an intriguing little short story. It doesn’t particularly add to the greater meta plot – which, as I’ve said before – I quite like because I don’t like short stories and novellas to be actual canon books – in that I prefer them not to be essential reading

At the same time, I do like them to add something to the overall plot: like more exploration of a minor character, or a fun look into the “downtime” lives of characters who we constantly see consumed by action or some aspect of the world building that doesn’t really fit into the major plot.

And I suppose this book kind of does that in that we explore ghosts and paranormal researchers and what it means to live in a world as a paranormal researcher where the paranormal is demonstrably real as well as the extent and damage that ghosts can do

So, yes, that is technically a new angle. I just am kind of left asking “who asked for this?” was there enough about ghosts ion the main series to leave anyone thinking “I really need to know more about this?” I don’t know, maybe it’s just because it has been too long since I read the last main book but I honestly can’t say “ghosts, I need to know about this” is really the impression I got from it

I think maybe if we’d switched out the protagonist and focused more on Annabelle the actual necromancer, delved more into her powers and the world of ghosts rather than seeing it through Merit’s lens we would have had more interesting and fuller book. Instead it was kind of weird that she was such a side character in a book that focused on hauntings. Even, in some ways, that she decided to call the vampires for help at all. I mean, she’s the necromancer – this is your specialty, lady! Necromance already!

We have a random Obligatory Bigotry Moment that reminds me of Anita Blake so much. A random guest at Merit and Ethans wedding shower decides to randomly spout a lot of nonsensical bigotry against vampires (and I don’t just mean that bigotry is nonsensical because bigotry is – but this bigotry makes no sense. I mean, vampires want to eat us all? I get that attack. But vampires are lazing around on benefits? That’s just blatantly cribbing from real world bigotry) setting herself up perfectly for Merit to slap her down and then everyone to basically say “oh how rude”. Seriously she shows up at a wedding shower and then spouts open bigotry against the bribe? Yes this kind of thing happens – but all too often in fiction this is how bigotry is presented: someone doing something so overtly terrible that everyone, EVERYONE, would gasp at how rude it is. And they do it in such a way that it’s easily knocked down step by step while everyone nods and agrees. It’s rarely that easy, that overt or that simple. This isn’t depiction of prejudice as it is – it’s depiction of righteously vanquishing easy prejudice and feeling good about it.

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