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Review: Troth – E.H. Lupton

Troth - E.H. Lupton

Genre: Paranormal, Historical, Romance

LGBTQ+ Category: Gay

Reviewer: Maryann

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About The Book

Sam and Ulysses have finally moved in together. Unfortunately, the new apartment is not quite the safe haven they’d hoped for–their neighbors have a ghost problem, and the building has a spider infestation. To make matters more complicated, Ulysses’s brother Laz is back from Vietnam, and he’s not happy about Sam’s presence in Ulysses’s life.

Laz’s anger isn’t their only challenge. When their magical bond starts acting up, Ulysses’s increasing discomfort and attempts to fix it drive a wedge between him and Sam just when it becomes apparent that the spiders are no accident and a shadowy cult may mean them harm. Maybe they’re not done with Sam’s grandfather, Julius Sterling, after all.

The Review

Dr. Ulysses Lenkov has officially moved in with Sam Sterling, after the tragedy at the physics building. The explosion caused great damage and it’s hard for all to put behind them. Now at the Baskerville Building, Sam and Ulysses have Obe’s help. But before they have even gotten settled in, there’s a knock at the door – Vikram Ranganathan, their only neighbor who lives right across the hall on the top floor.

He informs Ulysses that he met his sister Celeste at her shop, and advised him to speak with Ulysses. Vikram has a ghost, and his wife will leave him if he doesn’t get rid of it. Dr. Parvati Ranganathan is Vikram’s late mother who passed a few months ago, and now she’s haunting their apartment.

After a long, drawn out discussion, Ulysses agrees to take care of the ghostly problem, but Dr. Ranganthan is not an easy ghost to dispose of, renewed, and Ulysses has to use the banishment spell. He hates dealing with ghosts and spirits. All he wanted is to go back to Sam, while they move in together.

At dinner at the grandmother’s house, Obe advises him that Lazarus, Ulysses brother, is coming home after being gone for a long time. He always wanted to fly, and went to the Academy at the age of seventeen. Not too long after, he went to the Vietnam war for five years.

Sam is the librarian at the Memorial Library, and works with Dr. Edith Pearlman, the head of Rare Books. She tells Sam she has nominated him for a committee, and warns him that two suits are looking for him.

Now, they have a ghost with secrets, they have to fight off spiders, and there are more than two suits looking for Sam. Ellen is back, and Sam is involved in another production. Ulysses’ magic-using family always finds a way to get involved.  Then there’s Lazarus – he may be trying to adjust, but he seems to not like Sam. How much more can Ulysses and Sam handle?

Troth is the third installment of the “Wisconsin Gothic” series, and is a powerful story. Lupton really pulls out all the stops – the story is filled with spells, sigils and magic, suspense and danger.

I highly recommend Troth – Lupton comes up with many new and chaotic situations for Sam and Ulysses to deal with. Outstanding.

The Reviewer

Hi, I’m Maryann, I started life in New York, moved to New Hampshire and in 1965 uprooted again to Sacramento, California. Once I retired I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida in 2011 and just moved back to Sacramento in March of 2018. My son, his wife and step-daughter flew out to Florida and we road tripped back so they got to see sights they have never seen. New Orleans and the Grand Canyon were the highlights. Now I am back on the west coast again to stay! From a young age Ialways liked to read.

I remember going to the library and reading the “Doctor Dolittle” books by Hugh Lofting. Much later on became a big fan of the classics, Edgar Alan Poe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and as time went by Agatha Christie, Ray Bradbury and Stephen Kingand many other authors.

My first M/M shifter book I read was written by Jan Irving the “Uncommon Cowboys” series from 2012. She was the first author I ever contacted and sent an email to letting her know how much I liked this series. Sometime along the way I read “Zero to the Bone”by Jane Seville, I think just about everyone has read this book!

As it stands right now I’m really into mysteries, grit, gore and “triggers” don’t bother me. But if a blurb piques my interest I will read the book.

My kindle collection eclectic and over three thousand books and my Audible collection is slowly growing. I have both the kindle and audible apps on my ipod, ipads, and MAC. So there is never an excuse not to be listening or reading.

I joined Goodreads around 2012 and started posting reviews. One day a wonderful lady, Lisa Horan of The Novel Approach, sent me an email to see if I wanted to join her review group. Joining her site was such an eye opener. I got introduce to so many new authors that write for the LGBTQ genre. Needless to say, it was heart breaking when it ended.

But I found a really great site, QRI and it’s right here in Sacramento. Last year at QSAC I actually got to meet Scott Coatsworth, Amy Lane and Jeff Adams.