The protagonist
Colton Cole Monroe is different after experiencing more than he bargained for when it came to his mother’s death and being abandoned by his father he has only ever had his Aunt Margie. Since that fateful day he has been running away from his gifts
In Chaumont, New York the Monroe Family is the stuff of legends. But Cole is also treated like a leper as soon as the townsfolk get want they want they treat him like a freak show. He owns the occult shop Transcendence. It doesn’t help that he can talk to ghost and that is Aunt Margie still hangs around and that he can call the dead back for one more last chat.
He can walk between worlds, the spirit world and the normal world. He has immense power. He has just been avoiding it for a very long time. But now he has a cause where it is either embrace is gifts or death.
He needs to let go of his past and harness his power and look beyond the pain so that he can achieve what he set out to do. A journal that belonged to the first witch in his family Esmeralda Monroe. Normally the gifts would pass down from daughter to daughter, but Cole has them now.
I adore Cole with all his quirks, his anger at the world, his kindness and with his gift truly wanting to help people. But he also felt his loneliness and that he was going down a path of destruction.
The Plot, Pace & Writing
Detective Angelo Donati is investigating a missing person case, but he needs help. The chief sends him to Transcendence to watch Cole but thinks that Cole is up to something else. Until he sees something he can’t explain. As Detective Dinkleberry finds it hard to believe in the paranormal he has a fine line to walk to not alienate Cole.
Angelo’s & Cole’s relationship was strained and tenuous at best but in time they found something in common. I appreciated their banter. And no it is not MM. The case of the missing Lana Turner is changing. It isn’t random. It’s a race against time. There is more than meets the eye. Will they find Lana or not? They have suspects but none of them fit. Now I said it was near perfect because of the open ending as in a cliffhanger and no clue when the next one is out.
I’ve found the romance genre slightly off putting lately and thought it was time to switch things up. I’m so fed up of the same cookie cutter books of duets, trilogies, man whore Heroes and virgin heroines it makes my head hurt.
Ms. Renteria is NTMA and I have been knocked off me socks as this book was brilliant. Admittedly the cover freaked me out to begin with but once I read the book it all made sense. Beyond the Pain is well written and the execution of the book is near perfect. It is intriguing and there was everything that I love for a book to be a success. But I love paranormal/supernatural anyway.
P.S. I loved <— see past tense there now Ms. Renteria Killing Strangers by Marilyn Manson but after that you’ve ruined it for me.