Short Story Review – Long Ride Home (Cambio Springs, Book 0.5) by Elizabeth Hunter (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Length: 51 pages
Publisher: Recurve Press
Release Date: July 19, 2012
ASIN: B008N47FNA
Stand Alone or Series: 0.5th book in the Cambio Springs series
Source: Borrowed ebook from Kindle Unlimited
Rating: 4/5 stars
“The first story in the new paranormal series by Elizabeth Hunter, author of the Elemental Mysteries. Welcome to Cambio Springs. In this small desert town, secrets bubble up from the desert floor, and history is written on the canyon walls. Seven friends will gather at the crossroads, because in Cambio Springs, everything—and everyone—changes. Jena Crowe escaped the Springs ten years ago. Now, she’s heading home with two boys to start a new life. With her husband’s ghost keeping her company on the road, Jena will learn that moving back and moving backward aren’t necessarily the same thing, and sometimes the places you try to escape are exactly where you need to fall. Three nights to say goodbye. Three days to come to grips with the future. For Jena and her two sons, it’s going to be a long ride home.”
Series Info/Source: This is a prequel short story to the Cambio Springs series (there are three books in this series and two short stories). I borrowed this as an ebook through Kindle Unlimited.
Thoughts: I read this after reading the first book, “Shifting Dreams”, in the Cambio Springs series. I am actually happy I read “Shifting Dreams” first, I think the background this story provided was more impactful since I already knew all the characters.
This is a short little story about Jena taking her boys on a road trip back home. We are introduced to Bear and Low, her two sons. The main reason this adds good background though is we get to listen to Jena talk to the ghost of her dead husband. This shows us the relationship she had with her husband and gives us some background on their life before they moved back to Cambio Springs.
This was well written and easy to read. It does provide some good back but it is very, very short. It’s more of a prologue to “Shifting Dreams” than anything else. I am happy I read this. However, as I said, I am glad I read it after reading the first book in the series.
My Summary (4/5): Overall this was a well written short story that provides some good background and allows us to meet Jena’s dead ex-husband. It was an easy and fun read and I would recommend it to fans of the series that want a little more filler.
