The Sceptic By: Lily Morton Narrated by: Joel Leslie

The audio release gave Jacquie a chance to catch up on Lily Morton's backlist with The Sceptic.

From the blurb:

As the best friend of a psychic, Will Buchanan can’t help but believe in the dead. It’s the living that he finds to be problematic. However, after a spate of betrayals, he finally has the chance of a new life within his grasp, and he’s not going to risk it for anyone or anything. Staying safe is the name of Will’s game.

Jem Dawson defines the word temporary. A talented cameraman, he’s here today and will undoubtedly be gone tomorrow chasing adventure and danger. But, while he’s in York, he’s made it clear he wants Will, and Will can’t help liking the charming daredevil.

This inconvenient attraction results in Will accompanying Jem to the site of a notorious poltergeist outbreak. A malevolent spirit has targeted a family, and now the ghost hunting team for whom Jem does camerawork are going to be locked down in the house for three days.

The house is strange and filled with sinister and violent undercurrents. One by one, the group experiences threatening incidents, and as events escalate, Will has to ask himself if he's risking not just his heart but also his life with this impulsive gesture.

This is the first book in the Arcana Books series featuring characters from the best-selling Black and Blue series.

Jacquie's Review:

As usual, Joel Leslie provided a great performance, the characters clear and distinct especially when the voices were Tarquin and Blue.

The story was creepy in places with a mystery needing solved. I do not recommend listening while alone and in the dark!

I adored the parts with Blue. They were the highlights of  The Sceptic for me.

The romance was more of a subplot and very much a slow burn, worth the eventual pay off. I did like Will and Jem together and their HEA was cute.

I'm curious about Ben and Luke, though I think Landon has history with Ben

Rating: 4 Stars

Jacqueleen the Reading Queen's Review:

First let me start off with a warning. If you get scared easily DO NOT listen to this right before bed and/or in a dark room. I swear it was 10 times more creepy being able to hear the wariness in the MCs voices whenever all the ghost activity was going on. *shivers* That being said, Joel Leslie did a fabulous job bringing Will and Jem to life. The Sceptic might be a scary tale, but there is plenty of Lily Morton's signature snark between these two throughout the book. It helped add lightness to an otherwise darker tale. Much of this book is dedicated to the plot line of the haunting, while the romance takes a bit of a back seat until closer to the end. After all, it's hard to be romantic when you're sleep deprived and scared out of your wits. Don't worry though, there's plenty of UST to build up to it all.

Jem was such a likeable character and he was the perfect partner for Will, whom I already adored from his previous appearances in Blue and Levi's books. He was patient with Will, but he also knew when to push which can be a delicate balance where Will is concerned. Will's past experiences prevent him from rushing headlong into any sort of romantic entanglement, but luckily for Jem (and us) he proves too hard to resist. The ending of their story is so satisfying. You can tell how absolutely happy they are with both each other and the direction their lives have taken together. After what Will has lived through, it was a joy to see him happy and settled in the end.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Alyssagp's Review:

The Sceptic by Lily Morton is a spin off of her original series Black and Blue series. This book picks up with the side character and best friend of Blue Billings, Will Buchanan and love interest Jem Dawson. This book was lovely! The ghost mystery was enigmatic and mysterious, but a bit slow. I enjoyed Will and Jem's relationship though! Both characters gradually got close together and built a foundation, and were snarky and sarcastic. I loved their snarkiness. Even so, I still felt more drawn towards Blue and Levi in the previous series, and I wanted them both to show up more in this book. Overall the mystery and slow building relationship between Jem and William was slow, but entertaining and cute as they progressed throughout the story. As always Joel Leslie, did a great job bringing this story to life with his talented voice!

Rating: 4.5 Stars

The Sceptic is available to buy from Audible and is Whispersynced.