Title: Muse
Author: Adra Steia
Published in March 2007 by Aphrodite's Apples Press
Genre: Horror/Dark Paranormal
ISBN: N/A
An unplanned pregnancy tears apart a high school romance that was more then just young love. The lovers held an inherent psychic link; sensing each other’s emotions, thoughts, and more importantly, their committed love for one another. Once the child was born, the young man thought only of loosing his college art scholarship. Taking on a child meant forfeiting it, crushing all his dreams. When the young woman watched her lover turn away, her romantic world shattered. She knew adoption was the only solution, though afterwards the young woman’s parents disowned her. With their physical connection severed, he went to college, whereas she picked up the pieces of her life. As for that metaphysical link, both threw up mental barriers against the other. Though ten years later, a chance meeting sets free long forgotten pains, though rousing that intrinsic love they once shared as well.
Leah McKenzie hates working for Jack Former, an old high school classmate. Her meager live-in maid wage never matched the work she actually performs; a large mansion and two self-center people makes for a lot of work. Leaving is not an option, as Jack makes sure anyone quitting never works in the area again. Intensifying her agony, Jack hires Miguel to paint the baby’s room. Hearing his voice after ten years of silence opens old emotional wounds. He knows she works there, as he left a message with a co-worker informing her that he will return tomorrow.
A prominent professional artist, Miguel Dominguez is glad Jack turned down his nursery room ideas. After ten years, he cannot forget the man bullying him during high school. Skilled in seeing auras, Miguel observes arrogance throughout Jack’s karmic air; also tinted with ugly browns and greens – not good colors. Aside from that, since discovering Leah’s presence there, his thoughts steadily focused on rekindling their relationship. Although confiding his intent with his younger brother, Jose not well received. His brother blames Leah’s rejection for Miguel’s depression that led to a suicide attempt and hospitalization. Ready to leave Former’s home, Miguel asks to speak with Leah. Once she enters the room, his taking her hand ignites vivid splashes of color within his second sight. He is surprised that after a decade, their link remains intact; explaining why for ten years he felt incomplete. This confirms that he and Leah must get back together.
A thrilling and absorbing story, Muse centers on two high school sweethearts reunited after a decade only to suffer psychic phenomenon within a suspected haunted house. Although throughout the story, the reader ponders whether the unexplained events are the imaginations of a mentally deranged couple. After the adoption of their child concludes, both teenagers undergo periods of depression however, Miguel does not fair as well as Leah. His condition leads him to attempt suicide several times. With the help of his brother Jose, Miguel now manages his illness. On the other hand, Leah turns her experienced into inner strength, although not so trusting now. What truly makes this story fascinating is the psychic connection between Leah and Miguel. Ms. Steia leaves nothing to the imagination when these two lovers communicate intuitively. The compelling picturesque account of each psychic occurrence pulls the reader fully into the lovers’ mystical world. Leah senses moods and emotions, seeing them as brightly colored threads. She can also feel and at times communicate with ghosts. Miguel is a strong empath, always aware of other people’s moods and emotions, though “seeing” them in color. He can also see people’s karmic auras, swirling colors surrounding the body.
Having a hand in Leah’s firing from Former’s employment, Miguel offers her a place with him and Jose. Due to their landlord terminating their lease agreement, all three move into the old farmhouse, once owned by Miguel’s father. This act ignites the strange and unearthly events that are the foundation of this story. The house emits a foreboding that even Jose picks up; never believing in anything supernatural. Still, he prays that the scary red eyes coming from the barn is nothing more than a cat. Leah senses something terrible happened in the house as the ethereal voices bombard her when approaching the basement. Miguel feels nothing that is threatening, instead describes the house as “coming alive”. The solitary female voice whispering in his psychic mind, he finds soothing. Once down in the basement a flood of psychic energy hits Miguel, its that of a twenty-year-old woman, owner of the calming voice. Then something dark and sinister quickly follows that sensation, but that does not stop Miguel from turning the basement into an art studio. This choice sets off the muse Miguel craved, definitely ensuring his next art exhibit a success.
As the ghostly female consumes Miguel’s time, Jose and Leah stay busy facing ghostly antics through the rest of the house. One incident the entity trashes the kitchen, cabinet and refrigerator contents dumped on the floor, sprinkled with broken dishes, as silverware lies around bent in half and dish detergent paints the walls. It is when a shower curtain mysteriously wraps around her throat does Leah call a friend who specializes in haunted houses. A long time passes before the woman arrives, but the incidences never cease. Cleaning out the attic, Leah and Jose begin to piece together a history that earth bound this ghost. Sitting in an old rocking chair, Leah picks up a pregnant woman pushed down the stairs. Moving the rocker and baby cradle to another room an incessant thumping, screaming and howling wind barrage Leah and Jose. The activity stops when Miguel crashes into the attic.
Ms. Steia pens compelling, realistic characters. Jose took care of his brother during those suicide attempts and subsequent hospitalization. When his brother returned home, he made sure Miguel took the medication that kept him balanced. All was going well…until Leah comes back into their lives. For ten years, Jose blamed Leah for Miguel’s mental decline. Her leaving destroyed him. Currently, Jose sees his brother’s manic behavior returning, compounded by ceasing his medication; Miguel claims that Leah grounds him both psychically and emotionally. Even his brother’s confession that he left Leah, not the other way around, Jose struggles to change those long-standing beliefs. Could his resistance stem from his unshakable attraction for Leah, since high school? After all, it has kept him from acting on those feelings for over ten years. Jose hopes Leah’s friend puts to rest the hostile specter, as Leah claims she no longer feels the entity’s presence; a talent she has possessed for a long time. When the friend arrives, Rhylane too cannot discern the entity, and she is a highly trained psychic. Yet, Miguel still senses the ghost’s, his Muse, and protects her like a devoted lover.
Published by Aphrodite’s Apples, Muse delights horror fans whom like a bit of romance too, and belongs center stage on the “keeper shelf” – that’s where I put my copy. Ms. Steia has more books queued for publishing, as Swamp Baby is due for release August 2007. Continuing her repertoire are two Swamp Baby sequels, Devotion: Spirit Mother and a third installment, Redemption: Spirit Mother. Then check her web site for a preview of Welcome to Holbrecht and A Year of You.
A Dedicated Reader,
Pamela Jenewein
Adra Steia Buy Muse from Aphrodite's Apples Books
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