Brandon Halloran has gained his popularity with the YA fantasy series of the Green Tablet. His characters: John Archer, Vince Bianchi and Kiyomi Fujita, have charmed the world of cosplay fans. Happily married to Heather and a loving son Connor, life couldn’t get any better. Until the tragic loss of Connor. With his lingering grief he’s now divorced and friends are scarce. He’s fallen into a depression and darkness with a treasured glass pendent and a secret. He really needed to seek a place of seclusion, where he can escape the house in Columbus, that harbored feelings of Connor. Besides a change of environment and seclusion, he’s hoping to research and write a new adult paranormal book.Dr. Joshua Zimmermann, can’t believe his fan boy crush, Brandon Halloran has asked him for help. He want’s to rent a secluded place and would like to research history for haunted places and processes for his new book. Josh is excited as he and his friends: Cassia, Hunter, and twins: Kasumi and Hoshi, are ghost hunters. Josh has always considered himself a geek, but he’s more than that. He’s a professor at Ohio University of Dublin in the biology department. He teaches wildlife conservation, studies foxes and writing a doctoral on his research. He’s passionate about what he does and he’s always concerned about the destruction and graffiti of caves and head stones.The more time Brandon spends with Joshua, he comes to realize how passionate Joshua is about the environment and wild life. It’s certainly not something Brandon is use too, but he’s will to follow along. As they’ve covered many haunted sites there’s one that’s especially dangerous, an old hotel formerly owned by Diane McDade a serial killer. Joshua and the ghost hunting team, along with Brandon will face a terrifying event in the old hotel.With his secret, Brandon has forgotten how to live. Will Joshua be able to show him how to open his heart once again? Or will it all be too late?It’s wonderful to read another Jana Denardo novel. In “These Haunted Hills” she brings Brandon Halloran a man struggling with loss and the charming “fan boy” Joshua Zimmermann together. Joshua is immediately likable with his electrical personality. He has a big interest in movies and steampunk cosplay. It took me a little while to warm up to Brandon. But they make for a steamy couple in the intimate moments.I also liked the secondary characters: Cassia, Hunter, Kasumi and Hoshi. Dr Abbott, Archeology Department and grad student Shana Rexroad. Tom and Michelle Zimmermann, Joshua’s parents were wonderful. I have to mention Joshua’s delightful cats: Vince and Kyomi, named after the Green Tablet characters and new comer Grayson.Jana Denardo has really done so much research on ghost hunting tv shows and how much time it takes just to get an hour show. It shows the difference on how Joshua and his group conduct themselves and the many hours they put in. There’s clear description on the tools used in ghost hunting: MEL meter, EMF reader, FLIR camera, shadows, cold spots, and ground penetrating radar. There’s also Sally and Dani who work with cadaver dogs, Lou and Minnie. There’s also some coverage on historical Alchemist’s – Theophrastus von Hohenheim, Elizabeth Bathory and Maria Prophetissa and mention of the Mothman.I highly recommend “These Haunted Hills” by Jana Denardo. I was thoroughly entertained and was taken with the: drama, humor, time spent in nature, steampunk cosplay, intense moments of ghost hunting and romance. As far as the paranormal, it was very well presented and I hope Jana Denardo has another novel in the works.
