Haunted
by Joy Preble
Paperback, 320 pages
Published February 1st 2011
by Sourcebooks Fire
ISBN 1402244681
series Dreaming Anastasia #2
3.5 stars

Anne is trying her best to live a normal life, but she’s still got some power sparking inside her. She’s hearing and seeing things that she tries her best to ignore-like being haunted by a Russian sea nymph that claims the princess Anastasia is still alive.

That’s when Ethan Kozninsky-he of the stunning blue eyes, thick brown hair, and former immortal status-returns. Anne soon realizes that everything she’s been trying to forget might be impossible to bury.

Haunted starts off where the first book in the Dreaming Anastasia series left off, only Ethan is on his own and Anne has a new lifeguard boyfriend, Ben. I have to say I was a little disappointed that Anne found someone new in between book one and two. But Ethan comes back into the picture just in time. Strange things are happening in Anne’s world…visions of the old crone Baba, increasing paranormal power Yaga plus the added appearance of a rusalka-mermaid who seems desperate. At first she is merely an apparition but then her motives become deadly and dangerous.

We learn more Russian mythology and see a completely different slant on sirens of the sea. I savored every minute of the time between Anne and Ethan…sure hope there is a book three coming so we can see what the two of them can accomplish together. There is some swearing and references to sex so I would recommend Haunted to readers age 14 and older as a fairytale with a dose of darkness and a dash of magic. Stay up to date with all the latest Dreaming Anastasia and Haunted happenings at Joy Preble’s website.