Overly long and wordy to the point of distraction. I'm a fan of mystery and paranormal but this one left me unsatisfied. The wtf ending did not help at all. ( )

2.5 Stars: I prefer my romances with a bit of mystery, so I thought this MM romance/paranormal mystery would fit the bill. While the romance in [b:Stalked by Shadows|53666499|Stalked by Shadows (Simply Crafty #1)|Lissa Kasey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1590854785l/53666499._SY75_.jpg|73887415] is nice enough, the mystery is sorely lacking. I prefer when plots are tied up in a neat little bow; this book gave no explanation, whether rational or paranormal, for the events: ”What do you think happened?” . . . “I think it doesn’t matter now that you’re back.” “So we move forward like nothing happened?” . . . “Will dwelling on it help either of us?”. I suppose later books in the series might clear things up, but for now, the book is ultimately unsatisfying, as if even the author has no idea what the explanation is, but figured she’ll just publish book one and maybe think of something good later. ( )

dnf
I've had so many problems with this book so this is a no from me ( )

What I loved:
- The first few chapters. Dragged me into the story and made me want to know more about the characters and where the plot is going.
- The physical setting. New Orleans is one of the only cities in the USA I honestly have a desire to visit.

What I liked:
- The kind of off-beat dialogue. I was happy to go with it even if it left me confused more than once.
- The shop! I wonder if there are really shops like Simply Crafty there.

What irritated me:
- After I was more chapters in, the dialogue. It started feeling more and more disjointed - like the characters couldn't decide what they think so they'll say contradicting things in one sentence, making an illogical mess of the story. Tbh, I'm not even sure anymore if that was weird (to me) writing or simply bad characterization, like the writer herself couldn't decide what her characters actually think.

- It's awesome that Micah's into crafts, but ffs there must be more to his personality than that. We have pages upon pages of descriptions of his crafting challenges, and descriptions of how much Alex loves watching him work and how it clears up Micah's mind to sew/knit/crochet.

- Not being a morning person or being a coffee addict are not personality traits, mentioning it every time they wake up will not make it so.

What colossally pissed me off:
- The ending. It ends in a major cliffhanger, and none of the mysteries were solved. I feel cheated because the last 5% of the book felt like they went on forever and I was persistent despite my wish to just skip to the end and we didn't get any conclusions, just a "to be continued".

Overall I mostly enjoyed the potential the story had. But, because of the major letdown at the end combined with how simultaneously irritated & bored I became with the writing, I don't think I will be continuing with the series - it seems like too much effort for a questionable payoff. And I don't think this writer is for me, but I might give her another chance later on (with a book not in this series). ( )

This was a great paranormal read made all the more real because there was no explanation given for the shadows.
Both the MCs are broken but engaging and they have great chemistry. It was well written and flowed well.
So why didn't it get 5 stars? Honestly it was 5 stars until the last two pages, when the cliffhanger took place. So any good feelings were wiped out with concern that won't be answered until the next book. Why do that? There was literally no need. Bah!