Book Review for The Soul Within by Nancy Adams

Alex’s body is in a coma. His soul, however, is not. Desperate to become whole, he must first convince stubborn beauty Evening Sinclair that he is not dead.

For generations, the Sinclairs have been healers. Using a gentle touch to heal the body and a soothing word to heal the soul, Evening Sinclair is no different. Yet despite her secret abilities, Eve has a somewhat normal existence. She enjoys her small physiotherapy practice, dotes on her eight-year-old daughter and occasionally helps souls get back into their bodies-that is until Alex, with his brooding good looks and glowing eyes, appears in her kitchen.

Alex is desperate to get back into his body-two innocent lives depend on it. His only obstacle is Eve and her stubborn fear. Unfortunately for Eve, Alex is ruthless and just as stubborn. He will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. He will not 'go away' and no matter how much Eve tortures him with her lush body and perfect mouth, he will not change his mind. Eve will merge him, and if it takes him haunting her day and night, she will merge him back with a body-any body.

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The Soul Within is an intriguing story that grabbed me from the start and never let go.  The storyline was a mish-mash of many different paranormal elements that worked perfectly together to draw me into the sexy and suspenseful world of two souls brought together through a higher power to keep the innocent safe.

Eve Sinclair comes from a family of women able to merge souls back to their bodies after a major injury.  After a bad experience involving an evil soul she's sworn off helping souls and has gone out of her way to stay far away from where she might encounter them.  One day the unexpected happens and a soul comes to her begging for her help so he can save a pregnant woman marked for death.  She's scared that evil will again intrude and it takes every ounce of persuasion, including sexual persuasion, for this sexy soul to convince Eve to help him.  As Eve starts falling for this flirty and honorable soul she's torn between fear of what will happen when he regains his body and what it means for their future with a life-altering secret that might change how he sees her.  Eve is a strong woman not afraid to put her life on the line to save an innocent.  She does what's necessary even though it scares her and I applauded her supporting this mysterious soul when he needed her most.

Alex Hunter is a government killer but has never killed an innocent.  When his partner tries to kill a pregnant woman for personal reasons Alex intervenes and ends up in a coma.  That doesn't stop him from trying to help this woman and on the advice of a ghost he goes to Eve for help and ends up getting more than he bargained for when unexpected feelings erupt.  Alex is extremely likable and honorable regardless of what he's been forced to do.  He's willing to sacrifice himself to protect those he's sworn to keep safe and I found that truly heroic.  He's also undeniably sexy and the chemistry between him and Eve was instantaneous and combustible.  Their sexual interludes were super steamy and nicely paced throughout the latter half of the book.

The secondary characters, both living and dead, are memorably unique and keep the action moving along at a brisk pace.  The action sequences involving the villain were heartpounding and kept me on the edge of my seat.  Barring the slow beginning, this story quickly immersed me and kept me guessing.  It's a satisfying story with unique paranormal aspects and I'll definitely be on the lookout for more by this author.

My rating for this is a B+

*I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.