The Shop of Shades and Secrets

by Colleen Gleason

"Saucy, sexy, and suspenseful. A must-read!" --Liliana Hart

"Fun and exciting romance...with a ghostly touch. Nancy Drew for grown-ups!" --Mara Jacobs, New York Times bestselling author

This book isn't as creepy as it looks! It's funny, sexy, suspenseful and a little spooky. Think Nancy Drew all grown up, meeting a sexy, oh-so-proper attorney who needs to loosen up a little--and inheriting a haunted antiques shop!

When Fiona Murphy inherits a small antiques shop from an old man she met only once, she's filled with surprise, confusion and delight--and a little bit of terror at having a new responsibility in a life she prefers to be free and easy.

As she takes over ownership of the quaint shop, odd things begin to happen. Lights come on and off by themselves, even when they are unplugged...and there is a chilly breeze accompanied by the scent of roses even when the windows are closed.

H. Gideon Nath, III, is the stiff and oh-so-proper attorney who helps settle Fiona's inheritance, and despite her flightiness and fascination with all things New Age, he finds himself attracted to her against his better judgment.

After she finds an unpleasant surprise in one of the shop's closets, scares off an intruder in the store, and uses her skill at palmistry to read Gideon's future--of which she seems to be a part--Fiona begins to realize that her free and easy life is about to change...whether she wants it to or not.

If you love Barbara Michaels, Mary Stewart, Eve Silver, or Antoinette Stockenberg, you'll enjoy this taken on a modern gothic romance.

Genres: Romance, Paranormal, Mystery, Paranormal Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Chick Lit

260 pages, Paperback

First published May 3, 2011

About the author

Award-winning, NEW YORK TIMES and USA Today bestselling author Colleen Gleason (who also writes as Colleen Cambridge) has written more than fifty novels in a variety of genres…but always feature smart, strong women determined to right wrongs and get shit done.

Colleen lives in the Midwest United States where she is fortunate enough to be working on her next book.

She loves to hear from readers via her website, Facebook, or GoodReads.

Reviews

[Ann]

This book had been on my Kindle forever. A pretty good romance with some ghostly appearances.

[Tarra]

Finally, a contemporary book I enjoyed! And a romance that didn't have corsets, pantaloons, or quivering wombs (more on that later).

This was a really good book, heavy on the romance, much lighter on the paranormal. I enjoyed the character development and watching the relationship unfold between Fiona and Gideon. Their relationship never felt rushed, it seemed very organic and natural. Fiona was described as free spirited, New Age-y, but she was also very smart, strong willed, and organized. Gideon was the the uptight lawyer with daddy issues who gets his belt loosened a bit upon meeting Fiona. ;)When he was described as hot as RDJ as Tony Stark, oh, baby, be still my heart! He was fiercely loyal, to a fault, a little tidbit at the end that really ticked me off and made me want to throw my kindle, but it was resolved happily and I won't spoil it! The love scenes were pretty hot without being graphic (no "spurting his seed into her womb" that I kept reading in my last historical romance! Or "leaky womb." Seriously, anytime the word womb is mentioned during a sex scene, you've lost me, but I digress!) Yes, hot sex scenes. If you've read other books by Collen Gleason or her pen names, you know what I'm talking about.

The paranormal aspect of this book was pretty creepy in places. When my hubby is out of town on business, I'm the type that sees shadows on the windows, hears scratches on the roof. That's the kind of "scare" here throughout most of the book. More goosebumps than pure terror. Which suited me just fine. The mystery aspect was interesting, though also pretty light. But I really enjoyed that Fiona and Gideon didn't act like The Scoobies on the trail of the big bad monster and let that consume their life and their story. They were more than the mystery and I could see how these two people could be together long after the strange circumstances that brought them together.


Another great book by Colleen Gleason. There is a sequel (of sorts) that follows Fiona's brother, who is only briefly mentioned in this book. I'll definitely add to my reading list!

[Colleen Gleason]

I wrote it, so of course I think it's good. :-)

[M.J. Fredrick]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE when an uptight hero falls for a free-spirit heroine. It is so much fun to watch him learn how to bend. What was great about Fiona, though, was she wasn't free-spirit and flighty. She was smart and gutsy, and while she faced some surprises, she did it with a brave face and accepted the change. Gideon (I love a hero named Gideon) doesn't know what to make of her, but his compulsion to figure it out drives the romance.

The ghost element was just enough to send chills up my spine, and made this a fun read!

[Kristin Whitehouse]

This was my first book by this author. I liked it. I went and got the next one which was about the main characters brother. Will be reading it soon.

[Issa]

Great story, very engaging characters!

[Stacy]

It was a decent read, but:

1.)The two main characters lacked any real spark
2.)THe mystery was way too predictable

Overall it was a pleasant read, but not great.

[Heather]

Fun little ditty. I really enjoyed this opposites attract story. Good read.

[Mary]

2.5 stars

[Rainy-Night-Reads]

The main character was a bit too helpless for my taste...

[Beachbaby]

In boxed set - "To Die For"

[JaninasBooks]

W

[Julie]

This book was definitely a bit more romance than ghost mystery, but I enjoyed it. The characters were likable and the story was good. It was a lighter read and I would definitely read more of her books.

[Michelle Mesics]

Loved the characters, and the storyline was amazing !!

[AnnMarie]

The Shop of Shade and Secrets – Romantic Suspense is the first book in A Gothic Romance series by Colleen Gleason.
The story is about Fiona Murphy, a single woman who inherits an antique shop from a lovely old gentleman that she had only met once when she sought refuge in his shop during a storm. She was fascinated at the time by the atmosphere in the shop and enjoyed the tour that the owner gave her. It comes as a complete shock when she discovers that he has passed away and has willed her his business.
Gideon Nath the 3rd is the lawyer who is dealing with the old gent's will and it's through sorting everything out with the relatives of the deceased and of course Fiona, that he meets her. At first he thinks of her as just a flake, especially when he finds out that she reads palms. Over time though he finds himself more and more attracted to her. The problem is that he only wants casual relationships with more than one person, whereas Fiona is a straight up, relationship orientated woman and there is no way she is willing to share her man. Will he be able to woo Fiona, or will she stick to her guns?
Their story throughout the book is a pleasure to read, but what is really great about the book is the paranormal goings on in the shop that Fiona now owns. There are mysteries to be solved and a ghost that might just be trying to help them. Or is it trying to harm them??? There is also a secret that only one person, other than the ghost knows, one person that will go to any lengths to stop it from getting out. Fiona could end up in danger over something she knows nothing about.
I really enjoyed this story immensely, a romance book is always a pleasure to read, but one like this one with the added twists, turns and the occasional ghost really keeps me captivated. So much so that I had to read the book in just one sitting. I was up until the wee hours of the morning, but it was more than worth it. Immediately I bought the next book in the series and will be making a start on reading that this evening.

[Rhapsody]

This book was unusually well-written for the genre, but in a weird way I felt that the careful and detailed prose was intended to compensate for a fairly weak love story. There wasn't any amazing spark between the characters, even though the author kept on telling us there was. Or rather, maybe there was an incredible spark between them, but it wasn't written in a way that made it interesting to me as a reader.

This is basically a contemporary and realistic romance story with a few touches of paranormal. I was excited about it originally because I thought it would really be a fun, Gothic-style novel set in modern times. It really didn't have that character though. The heroine is a free-spirit who believes in palm-reading and Tarot cards. She inherits an antique shop from a mysterious stranger. The hero is the straight-laced lawyer in charge of the will. And of course, the shop turns out to be haunted.

This is just my personal opinion/feeling, but I had trouble respecting the New-Age-obsessed heroine. I don't believe in palm-reading or Tarot cards either, at least not so seriously. I would have enjoyed the story more if she had been a flighty artist and the only paranormal element was the haunted shop. But every time she read the hero's palm or someone predicted the future with Tarot cards, I just wanted to roll my eyes. Also, even though the heroine was often in danger and there was this mysterious threat throughout the book, the author was really not able to milk it in a way that made it enjoyable. Gleason really lacks the flare that authors like Linda Howard and Catherine Anderson have for handling damsel-in-distress moments. The book has zero reread value for me.

[Michelle]

Fiona is surprised to receive a call that she has been left an inheritance by wealthy man who owned an antique store. She has only met him once, when she ducked into his store to avoid a storm. She finds herself surprisingly attracted to the lawyer managing the estate, but finds him a bit full of himself. Fiona is shocked that the store is bequeathed to her and decides to take the plunge to run it. She finds that there are some mysterious and spooky happenings in the store and is shocked to find a literal skeleton in the closet. In addition to this mystery, it seems that someone is intent on breaking in to the shop in search of something. Fiona must reconcile these two mysteries and also her feelings for H. Gideon Nath, bringing in her skills for palmistry into the mix. Overall, I was disappointed in this book. I was hoping for something more along the lines of Jennifer Cruise's "Maybe Next Time". Instead, I felt that the plot and character development suffered from a bit too much of the bodice-ripper type of romance and plot twist involving Nath's former girlfriend didn't really add much suspense.

[Dorothea Müller]

Fiona Murphy kann es nicht glauben, sie hat einen kleinen Antiquitätenladen geerbt und ihre Gefühle spielen verrückt. Gideon Nath helft ihr dabei alles zu regeln. Beim durchforsten des Laden kommt ist immer wieder zu ungewöhnlichen Phänomen, Lampen gehen ein und wieder aus, ein frostiger Lufthauch taucht wie aus dem nichts auf.Die sehr mystisch angehauchte Liebesgeschichte, die einen wieder an Geister und Schicksal glauben lässt. Fiona ist ein Freigeist und jetzt hat sie große Verantwortung übernommen. Dabei läuft ihr Gideon über den Weg und die Anziehungskraft zwischen ihnen ist groß. Es ist ja langweilig einfach nur mit zu erleben wie sich beide näher kommen. Deshalb findet Fiona so einiges in ihrem geerbten Laden. Einiges wunderbare und manches eher nicht. Außerdem scheint jemand sich nicht zu freuen, das Fiona den Laden bekommen hat. Spannung pur von der ersten Seite bis zur letzten und immer wieder wird man überrascht . Entweder von den Charakteren oder von den Geistern in diesem Buch. :)

[Fiordiligii]

My first Colleen Gleason started out great but, unfortunately, the story lost some of its smoothness towards the ending. I initially bought the book because DA featured a very recommendable review, and I am always eager to try out new and self-published authors.

The plot itself is quite average but highly entertaining, but what really captured me was the author's writing style and talent to characterise the protagonists. The story reads seamlessly and easy and captivated me right from the start, especially the hero and heroine who come vibrantly alive and are very likable.

It was rather disappointing that in the ending we have a typical pregnancy conflict which turned, admittedly, out better than average thanks to the absence of a typical female antagonist, but I would have preferred a different kind of challenge for the protagonists.

All in all I go with a B-.

[Lisa Richards]

First of all let me say, I loved Gleason's Gardella Vampire series. This book, not so much. It wasn't bad, I read it pretty much in one sitting. But it was just okay. I knew who the "bad guy" was pretty much from the start although I kept telling myself that it was so obvious that it would end up being a surprise twist at the end. Nope, no surprise. I did like the feisty Fiona and Gideon wasn't too bad either but the story just didn't do much for me. While I wouldn't rush out and buy a copy, if you like what was more of a Gothic romance, check it out at the library. If you want to read some really awesome Gleason books check out her Gardella Vampire series. so loved them and their Victorian setting. I did read that these had been updated for new release but I thought they were pretty perfect in their original form.

[Christy]

This book was difficult for me to review. On one hand it was an enjoyable read. I liked the mystery of this story, Fiona's character, Gideon's grandparents, and the twist of Valente's hidden secret. But, on the other hand, as a romance it fell flat. The relationship between Fiona and Gideon never clicked for me. I never connected to Gideon; too often his redeeming qualities felt forced or underdeveloped. The paranormal element also seemed forced, especially at the end. The climax of the conflict in the book was difficult for me to follow and felt a bit campy. I just felt like the tone of the book was muddled; it felt like the author was striving for a complexity and sophistication than never really developed.

[Rebecca]

There were good spots and likable charaters in this book. However, I just couldn't give it a solid 4 stars for basic pet peeves of mine.
The first and most glaringly obvioud was the time line. This author (even the editor apparently) could have desparetly used and outline just to remember her months and dates! The author could never decide if it was spring, summer, or fall!!! It completely drove me nuts when, more than once, the author would say two weeks has passed since they have seen each other but then in the next paragraph say "it was only two nights ago when.."
Second peeve of this story was the new age palmist who refused to believe in ghosts until the very end when it was convenient. SMDH.
Positives were Fiona and Iva.

[Jessica]

Opposites attract in this fun, slightly spooky, romance. Although it did not catch my attention right from the start, I did find myself getting slowly sucked into the world of romantic suspense Gleason created in this story. I enjoyed how the completely different worlds of Fiona and Gideon collide but balance each other out so harmoniously. Story wasn't overly complicated but always had a level of mystery that kept you on your toes. Overall, very much enjoyed this read and would recommend to others.

[Kitty]

This book was a very pleasant surprise. I wasn't familiar with this author, but the sample pulled me in, so I gave it a try. I'm hoping that this will turn out to be the first in a series. I will definitely look for more from this author.

I would call it a light mystery, with a bit of romance, and just a hint of the paranormal. The characters were quirky and interesting, and the book had a good pace. I enjoyed it all the way through.

[Susan Nasiri]

This author was listed as a new Barbara Michelson, whom I really enjoy her ghost stories. So I went into this book with expectations which is always dangerous, and I was disappointed. This is an okay story if you have actually nothing else to read and there are no Law and Order repeats on TV, otherwise if you want a good ghost story with a little history thrown on the side I suggest you check out Ammie Come Home, or the Walker In The Shadows by Ms. Michaels.

[Alicia]

I've now read everything Colleen Gleason has written, and if her Victorian Vampire Slayer series were a 10, the Shop of Shades and Secrets would be a 4.

It was super cute, and I loved the magic, but overall this was much more of a romance story than a super natural tale.

Que the NTTATWWT. Because there isn't. I liked this book just fine.

But when it comes to my novels by Ms. Gleason, I want more vampires, more magic, and more kickass badass women than I do sweet romance.

[Deb]

A Kindle bargain book. I thought it was going to be heavier on the mystery/paranormal side and lighter on the romance but it was the opposite. Fiona inherits an antique shop from a strange old man she has only met once and strange things begin to happen. Entertaining light read with likeable characters.

[Teresa]

I finished this book only because I wanted to confirm my suspicions from the beginning of the book. I wanted to know more about Gretchen, and the book was disappointing in that respect. The twists were predictable. The book was okay, but I wouldn't recommend it to a friend interested in a good book.

[Lynn]

Another author who uses the word 'emotion' instead of making any attempt to describe the characters actual feelings.
The emotion in his eyes/face/voice could be anything (hatred? disgust?).
It just feels lazy and is probably why there doesn't seem to be any real spark between the lead characters.
One of my pet hates and has put me off what might have been an otherwise interesting series.

[Kim Holliday]

Surprisingly good!

I normally do not read romance novels, but I'm glad I read this one. I really like the character development, the author made it effortless to believe in them straightaway. The plot had a nice little twist, although anyone who knows anything about forensics will roll their eyes a bit. Overall, I would definitely recommend as a light summer read.