I stumbled onto Rosemary Clement-Moore’s TEXAS GOTHIC at the bookstore table at the first DFW Writers Conference that I attended two years ago. The back cover copy sucked me in along with the title, Texas ranch girl that I am, and I even lucked out enough to get it signed!
(Yes it’s possible I’m bragging – no I don’t care LOL). I also got to attend the panel the author gave, which was just a blast and a half. I’ll be checking to see if she’s presenting at the next few conferences I attended – she was just too much fun!
TEXAS GOTHIC introduced me to the Goodnight family, specifically sisters Amy and Phin, who have a gift, or occasionally in Amy’s opinion curse, for magic and practicing witchcraft. I’m already a fan of ranches and witchery, so that was already going to be a good combination for me. Then we had the handsome Ben McCulloch from the next ranch over, also a bonus as cowboys often are. And finally, oh finally, we had the ghost at the heart of this story, and man, was it a doozy! Throw in idiots doing drugs, a passel of incredibly obnoxious goats, limestone caves, and a sister who’s mixing science with magic, and all in all, I flat out enjoyed the hell out of this book. Just a fantastic blend of elements with great characters. Yeah, I loved it – kind a lot.
In fact, I loved it enough to immediately order the companion novel, SPIRIT AND DUST. This one didn’t center on Amy or Phin, but on their younger cousin (who makes an appearance in the first novel), Daisy, who has an ability to speak to the dead and uses that gift to help the police with cold cases. She ends up asked to help the FBI with an active murder/kidnapping, and from then on things go sideways hard. We end up with a crime boss who’s more than willing to turn magic to his own ends, a cross country road trip, and Egyptian magic threading through all the action. The romance here was strong, too, though I expected the twists in that a little. Still good either way, and definitely a more action/thriller feel to it than the southern gothic ghost story of the first book, but still one I enjoyed the hell out of.
I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for the next Goodnight tale, as well as taking a peek at some of the author’s other titles. With the way she writes her characters and the shenanigans they get in to, I can all but guarantee I’m going to enjoy her books, even if it’s a different series!
Anyone else checked out this series or read any other of Rosemary Clement-Moore’s books that you think I should read next? Let me know @C_L_McCollum!