When I saw the book cover and read the blurb to this book I knew I just had to read it and I am so glad I had the opportunity to do it through this tour.

Kacie can see ghosts although she hid those sightings from her family and friends at a party she meets up with Logan after an evil encounter and after that things change for Kacie and Logan.

They were both fantastic main characters and their friends were just the best and so supportive.

This book had me hooked from page one, not only is there the scary element with evil spirits and a particular Foxblood demon but there was a mystery and suspense element too which kept me on the edge of my seat for most of the book and of course we had a romance too which was really lovely.

I do not think Kacie knew quite how dangerous getting involved in the Orion Circle would be considering she had suppressed her gift for so long but although it was dangerous it was also her destiny and with so many people who all have gifts too she was in good company at least.

I really enjoyed reading this, I could not put it down and read it in one sitting.

Kimber Leigh Wheaton writes a fantastic book and I cannot wait to read book #2. ( )

Fifteen-year-old Kassandra 'Kacie' Ramsey has always been able to see ghosts - ever since she was a little girl. Some people might call her ability a gift; but Kacie would definitely say it is a curse. In fact, she has done her absolute best throughout her life to completely ignore her power, since all her so-called 'gift' has brought her is heartache and pain. As a matter of fact, Kacie would go so far as to say that her gift is ruining her life.

Kacie's mother left the family after walking in on Kacie talking with a spirit, and her father and brother still blame her for it. They may not have said anything about the incident specifically, but Kacie has sensed the subtle changes in their attitudes toward her all the same. Since her mother walked away from them, Kacie has done all she can to keep the spirits away. Yet as much as she has tried to ignore them, the ghosts have continued to be remarkably persistent in their attempts to communicate.

And it seems like things are getting steadily worse for Kacie, if that's even possible. A startling new power is beginning to emerge - a terrifying and gruesome new talent that Kacie sincerely wishes would go away. Nightly visions of a crazed psychopath's viciousness - scenes of ritualistic and murderous brutality - have recently begun to plague Kacie's dreams. And now, some malevolent presence is relentlessly pursuing her and driving her to the brink of insanity.

When the phantom manifests itself at a party, Kacie's longtime secret crush - Logan - saves her. When he invites her to join 'The Orion Circle', Kacie is genuinely flattered - yet undeniably mortified - by the exclusive society's sudden interest in her. 'The Orion Circle' is a group of supernatural hunters and investigators with chapters in schools all over the country. So, with the help of the Circle, Kacie soon learns to embrace her supernatural abilities; and for the first time in her life Kacie feels more in control of her powers rather than simply being a victim of them.

Yet the being known as the Foxblood Demon will not give up so easily. In life, he was a demented serial killer who targeted children. During that lifetime, he kidnapped and murdered thirteen children - imprisoning their innocent souls within the walls of his mansion. Now in death, he searches for a way to return to the mortal realm and continue his demonic mission.

Drawing his power from the pure souls of the children that he trapped inside his house so long ago, he travels into the realm of dreams to find the perfect vessel. He recognizes something in Kacie that he has never seen before - a medium powerful enough to provide a vessel for his tainted soul. Kacie can't ignore the tortured souls of the children crying out to her every night. With Logan by her side, Kacie must fight the Foxblood Demon. Yet can they banish such a powerful phantom, or will Kacie lose not only her body, but also her eternal soul to the monster.

I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. In my opinion, this was a captivating story with an intriguing and fast-paced plot. I found these characters to be well-developed and extremely likable. This was such a great start to the series; I can't wait to read the next book. I give Tortured Souls by Kimber Leigh Wheaton a definite A+! ( )

Tortured Souls by Kimber Leigh Wheaton
Book #1: The Orion Circle
Source: NetGalley
My Rating: 4½/5 stars
My Review:

I have said it before and I have said it again, high school sucks!! Though Kacie Ramsey has a few close friends and she does pretty well in her classes, she is very much isolated from most of her peers and certainly, her family. Kacie has the ability to see ghosts and though she has mostly learned to handle her abilities, her father refuses to believe in her or her abilities and her mother left completely when she discovered what Kacie can do. Kacie works very hard to keep her abilities under wraps but as the old saying goes, it takes one to know one.

Logan is the hottest guy in school and when he recognizes what Kacie is capable of, he immediately makes himself known to her and invites her to the long-rumored about Orion Circle. Logan is self-assured, confident and, like Kacie has a strong connection to the dead. As a long-standing member of the Orion Circle, Logan has helped countless individuals and other Circle members sort out paranormal issues the he and the Circle are uniquely qualified to handle. Bringing Kacie on board not only enhances the Circle’s abilities but it allows Logan to truly connect with someone who has abilities similar to his own.

Within just a few short weeks, Kacie is fully immersed in the Orion Circle and participating in their activities. On the bright side, Kacie has finally found a strange and wonderful group of people who not only understand her abilities but accept and celebrate what she’s capable of. On the brighter side, the adult members of the Orion Circle are able to not only help Kacie develop and control her abilities but also to help her father (and brother) understand just how special she really is. On the brightest side, Logan is the hottest guy in school and he is totally into Kacie. On the not so shiny, bright side, Kacie has been having some super, seriously scary visions and the more she divulges to the Orion Circle, the more alarmed everyone becomes.

The Foxblood Demon has more than earned the moniker, demon. As far as Kacie can tell, he has trapped the souls of a large number of children and has, for decades been feeding off those souls. With her abilities, Kacie has been able to determine that the Foxblood Demon wants to become far more tangible and no amount death and destruction is too great if it achieves his goals. To make matters far, far worse, there is a very distinct deadline on the mayhem and if the Orion Circle can’t stop him before that deadline hits, all Hell will break loose and an unspeakable evil will be unleashed.

The Bottom Line: What a fun and very exciting start to a series!! There’s no slow motion with this read and within the first few chapters we are introduced to Kacie, her totally dysfunctional family, the Orion Circle and, the cases they are involved in. The Circle is full of delightfully weird and uber-talented people that will certainly make appearances in future installments of the series. I very much enjoyed the fast pace of this read, the totally kicking evil’s ass plot and, the interaction between Kacie and Logan. The only “complaint” (if you can even call it that) I have about this read is how very adult-like most of the high schoolers are. Sure, these kids deal with things the average high school kid has no clue about but they are still kids. There’s certainly no real sexual component to this read to cause concern but I did find myself having to remind myself that these are just kids. With that being said and all other aspects of the read taken into consideration, I am totally on board for the next installment of the Orion Circle. ( )

Kacie is different, she can see, feel and talk to ghosts. This would be great except for the fact that no one in her family seems to understand her and her gift has made her mother leave her family. Now Kacie is 15 and trying to navigate high school, but the ghosts keep interfering. When Kacie's crush Logan realizes that Kacie can see ghosts as well, he invites her to the invitation only, super-secret club, Orion Circle, a paranormal investigative group. Kacie flourishes within the group among people who understand her, as does her relationship with Logan. Unfortunately, the spirit of a serial killer also sees Kacie's growth in psychic power and chooses her to latch onto and posses. Kacie must harness her power to free the souls of the murdered children and banish the serial killer's ghost.

I would have devoured this book when I was in my early teen's! It has everything I love, paranormal, ghosts, a secret society and a new romance. As an adult I still enjoyed it, but there was an instant love connection (although Kacie and Logan also have a psychic connection, so I guess it's allowable!) and a lot of stuff I would have never been allowed to do when I was 15. Anyway, I loved the ghost hunting scenes and the fact that Kacie was able to help a lot of souls pass on using her gift. Kacie grew a lot throughout the book and came around to accepting her abnormality along with finding a group that she fit in with, all great themes for a young adult novel. The end was very suspenseful and fast-paced, a dangerous hunt to banish the serial killer, led by a group of girls!

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )

A young adult novel about school kids, doing school kid stuff, except for the serial killer ghost. The tag line - Sometimes Rest in Peace isn’t an option – is what caught my eye, but when I read the blurb and saw it was about a ghost serial killer, I knew I had to read it. I love ghosts and serial killers, so the combination sounds like a unique read. I don’t think I’ve read a book like this before.

“You’re not welcome here”, Logan says to the presence behind me.

He meets my gaze again.

“You know it’s there.”

Shivers run up and down my neck, just as if the presence is standing behind me. I am only 1% into the book. Now that is scary and creepy good and a very good sign that the book will meet my expectations. Do you every get the feeling that someone or something is paying a little too much attention to you?

Five nights in a row Kacie Ramsey has had the same dream, or is it a vision? She is wallowing in the girl’s blood that has pooled on the ground. Kacie is clairvoyant.

She is not a girly girl. She is on the cross country team, as is Logan. It seems they have a psychic bond. She has felt like an outsider, especially since her mother left. Kacie always thought it was because her mother couldn’t deal with her paranormal powers. She felt it was all her fault, but there is more to the story.

Kacie is a very strong psychic, but has denied it for so long that her powers have been stifled. She has no control over them and that makes her dangerous. Her best friend, Celia, is afraid of ghosts and has no idea she has supernatural powers. She keeps her in the dark.

Kodiak, her dog, looks like a polar bear. It is a goldendoodle – half poodle and half golden retriever. Designer dogs have become very popular. Here are a few mixes that I thought funny – Bassetoodle, Bossi-Poo, Cadoodle, Foodle, Schnoodle, Sheepadoodle and my personal favorite, Doodleman Pinscher. It makes me think of a Rizzoli and Isles episode that I saw recently. The punch line – what do you call a poodle? A poodle.

Logan invited her to a meeting of the Orion Circle. The Orion Circle is a mysterious group that you can only attend if you are invited. There are very few who know that it is a paranormal research group. She never belonged anywhere. Would she now that she is a part of the Orion Circle?

She sees ghosts and talks to them. Imagine waking up and a ghost is groping and pawing you. How freaky is that? She helped a young ghost move on and it brought to mind The Ghost Whisperer.

The Orion Circle made me think of a tiny Harry Potter school inside of a regular school. She has been chosen to train with them to enable her to use her powers and prepare for the upcoming battle.

The writing skims over and doesn’t flesh out all the details that I love to see for a 5 star novel. I love to be able to walk with the characters and visualize their actions. I wavered between a 3 and a 4, but the last quarter of the book confirmed a 4 for me. I was unable to put the book down, as I wondered what would become of them as they took on the Foxblood Demon .

I was given this book in return for an honest and unbiased review. ( )