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Tantalize
Haunted Love
Spirit, Texas, is a town of secrets, and as the new owner of the local haunted movie theater, Cody Stryker is juggling more than his fair share. When a mysterious new girl comes to town and runs afoul of the ghost that lives in his theater, Cody’s caught in the middle and needs to figure out exactly who he can trust. HAUNTED LOVE is a short story by New York Times Bestseller Cynthia Leitich Smith� set in the same dark universe as her novels TANTALIZE, ETERNAL, and BLESSED. This story includes a sneak preview of Cynthia Leitich Smith’s latest novel, DIABOLICAL, which unites characters from the previous three novels in the Tantalize Series along with a fascinating cast of all-new characters for a suspenseful, action-packed clash between the forces of heaven and hell.
38 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 13, 2011
188 people are currently reading
977 people want to read
About the author
Cynthia Leitich Smith
40Ìýbooks1,247ÌýfollowersCynthia Leitich Smith is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author and anthologist of more than 20 books for young readers. She was named a 2025 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award Candidate, the NSK Neustadt Laureate, Texas Literary Hall of Fame inductee, and winner of the Southern Miss Medallion for Outstanding Contributions in Children’s Literature. Cynthia has also been named to deliver the 2026 ALSC Children’s Literature Lecture. She is the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint at HarperCollins Children’s Books, and served as the Katherine Paterson Inaugural Chair for the children’s-YA writing MFA program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Cynthia is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and lives in Texas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 139 reviews
March 24, 2012
Rumble, rumble, rumble
Why, what's this?
Toot, toot!
Well bless my undead soul it's the vampire band wagon. Come on everyone, jump on!
To be honest, and fair, I've never read anything by Cynthia Leitich Smith before so for all I know she could have been writing fanged fantasy for many years before Twilight torched the public imagination, spreading in that worrying and unstoppable manner akin to a particularly savage forest fire. Definitely the best Kindle freebie that I've digitally spoon-fed into my brain box so far though.
So there is this young man called Cody who is probably YA crumpet, but I am too old to give such things much consideration and he turns up in a town called Spirit and inherits a haunted cinema called the "Old Love". Haunted love... geddit? Keep up!
Short and sweet ghostly hijinx ensue and in between quaffing internet-ordered cups of microwaved blood and managing the cinema, Cody gets on with being a non sucky vampire who does not arouse the suspicion of the townsfolk regarding his undead credentials. Spirit is a small town and it is likely that these folks are just the sort who might keep a pitch fork and a burning torch handy for running unmentionables out of their god-fearing town. Because it is a short story, the plot starts off at sharp walk, breaks into an Olympic style 100 metre sprint, slows to a trot to wrap up a few details and then stops fairly abruptly. Not unpleasing by any means but it probably had the legs to go a bit of extra distance and be turned into full length story. After all, Vampires live forever so where's the rush?
Why, what's this?
Toot, toot!
Well bless my undead soul it's the vampire band wagon. Come on everyone, jump on!
To be honest, and fair, I've never read anything by Cynthia Leitich Smith before so for all I know she could have been writing fanged fantasy for many years before Twilight torched the public imagination, spreading in that worrying and unstoppable manner akin to a particularly savage forest fire. Definitely the best Kindle freebie that I've digitally spoon-fed into my brain box so far though.
So there is this young man called Cody who is probably YA crumpet, but I am too old to give such things much consideration and he turns up in a town called Spirit and inherits a haunted cinema called the "Old Love". Haunted love... geddit? Keep up!
Short and sweet ghostly hijinx ensue and in between quaffing internet-ordered cups of microwaved blood and managing the cinema, Cody gets on with being a non sucky vampire who does not arouse the suspicion of the townsfolk regarding his undead credentials. Spirit is a small town and it is likely that these folks are just the sort who might keep a pitch fork and a burning torch handy for running unmentionables out of their god-fearing town. Because it is a short story, the plot starts off at sharp walk, breaks into an Olympic style 100 metre sprint, slows to a trot to wrap up a few details and then stops fairly abruptly. Not unpleasing by any means but it probably had the legs to go a bit of extra distance and be turned into full length story. After all, Vampires live forever so where's the rush?
November 13, 2020
Surprisingly, it was heartbreaking good. I would read it again.
September 12, 2018
Haunted love was an easy and a quick read but it wasn't short on drama and mystery.The story follows a young fellow Cody Stryker who recently graduated and insisted of moving away from Spirit, Texas hangs back and reopens an old movie theater called "old love" which is rumored to be haunted. But its not just that Cody seems to be hiding a secret of his own..... A deep dark secret that although saved him from the abuse of his uncle but also left him with an unquenchable thirst for blood. Yes, you guessed it right he's a vampire. After ordering an unknown "power elixir" and consuming the same turned him into vampire. And when a quirky,happy go girl Ginny asks him to help him out with the work load,something evil begins to stir in the haunted theater.After a brief encounter with an athlete Ben who was hassling Ginny, turned out to be the complete opposite.Ginny was not as helpless as it seems and Ben wasn't a bad guy.
This was so surprising in many ways,firstly the characters i thought were good turned out to be evil although i had my doubts about a certain character from the beginning.
A 4 out 5 stars read with a world full of vampire,spirits and obviously vampire hunters.
This was so surprising in many ways,firstly the characters i thought were good turned out to be evil although i had my doubts about a certain character from the beginning.
A 4 out 5 stars read with a world full of vampire,spirits and obviously vampire hunters.
July 13, 2012
For a 23 page short story this was pretty good. It was a freebie I found on my Nook, but honestly, I don't usually read many of them once they're downloaded. In fact, I was looking for stuff to delete when I ran across this one.
Hey, it's only a few pages long, why not read it?
I'm glad I did.
It's not an in-depth story (duh), but the author manages to pack in enough information to make it a readable short. If she can do that with this story, I'm thinking I'd like to check out some of her full-length novels in the future.
Hey, it's only a few pages long, why not read it?
I'm glad I did.
It's not an in-depth story (duh), but the author manages to pack in enough information to make it a readable short. If she can do that with this story, I'm thinking I'd like to check out some of her full-length novels in the future.
July 13, 2023
A ghostly novella with a bite.
3.75 stars
When Cody purchases the Old Love movie theater in Spirit, Texas, he has no idea how to manage it properly. Enter Ginny, the new Mayor's daughter, who pushes Cody into hiring her to work at the theater.
Cody knows about the Old Love's dark past and starts to hear singing coming out of thin air. Ginny begins to have strange things happen to her when she's in the theater, which escalate in physical harm from no visible source.
Cody realizes the singing is from the ghost of a missing girl named Sonia. What follows is a tale of revenge, new beginnings and finding love where none existed.
A prequel to the follow up book "Diabolical".
3.75 stars
When Cody purchases the Old Love movie theater in Spirit, Texas, he has no idea how to manage it properly. Enter Ginny, the new Mayor's daughter, who pushes Cody into hiring her to work at the theater.
Cody knows about the Old Love's dark past and starts to hear singing coming out of thin air. Ginny begins to have strange things happen to her when she's in the theater, which escalate in physical harm from no visible source.
Cody realizes the singing is from the ghost of a missing girl named Sonia. What follows is a tale of revenge, new beginnings and finding love where none existed.
A prequel to the follow up book "Diabolical".
July 1, 2018
Review coming soon!
September 6, 2018
4 Stars
Very well written, though a bit predictable. I enjoyed the characters and the setting of the old, haunted theater. I love the twist on vampires as well. A good, short read.
Very well written, though a bit predictable. I enjoyed the characters and the setting of the old, haunted theater. I love the twist on vampires as well. A good, short read.
July 8, 2024
Quite a lot happening for a short story, liked the characters so worth a read.
March 6, 2017
"Lacked bite"
This was quirky at the outset, and I thought it might develop into a decent, if dark, mystery. However, it soon became apparent it was the usual standard YA vampire-fest. It will still have its fans no doubt.
This was quirky at the outset, and I thought it might develop into a decent, if dark, mystery. However, it soon became apparent it was the usual standard YA vampire-fest. It will still have its fans no doubt.
August 3, 2023
5 stars
I have never read a book from this author, so I definitely thought that it was a standalone until I came across a small excerpt from the fourth book in the “Tantalize series�, called .
Therefore, the main story of Haunted Love is only 17 pages long. And even though it is short, it is worth reading.
I have never read a book from this author, so I definitely thought that it was a standalone until I came across a small excerpt from the fourth book in the “Tantalize series�, called .
Therefore, the main story of Haunted Love is only 17 pages long. And even though it is short, it is worth reading.
March 14, 2015
Cute little story with elements
Part of
Part of
January 6, 2012
Haunted Love is a fun short story. I went into it thinking that it would be a light read set in the same universe as Cynthia’s books such as Tantalize and Eternal. It is set in the same universe but has completely different characters and a different setting.
I really enjoyed Haunted Love; it didn’t take too long to read and it surprised me somewhat to be honest. I loved the ghost aspect and while I had my suspicions about Cody I didn’t expect anything from anyone else which was pretty awesome.
Haunted Love is a cool little story that had quite a few surprises thrown in there. It was a lot of fun to read.
I really enjoyed Haunted Love; it didn’t take too long to read and it surprised me somewhat to be honest. I loved the ghost aspect and while I had my suspicions about Cody I didn’t expect anything from anyone else which was pretty awesome.
Haunted Love is a cool little story that had quite a few surprises thrown in there. It was a lot of fun to read.
June 5, 2015
SPOILERSSSSS
Easily something you can knock out in less than an hour, this was a bit confusing but still fun. Apparently this universe has all kinds of supernatural creatures, which I found out pretty quickly. I was
definitely laughing at the fact that our main character became a vampire by buying an "energy drink" online...that apparently contained blood? I don't know. And there's a ghost who is the jealous type. It's wacky and doesn't make much sense but it is a fun read and it was free so who cares?
Easily something you can knock out in less than an hour, this was a bit confusing but still fun. Apparently this universe has all kinds of supernatural creatures, which I found out pretty quickly. I was
definitely laughing at the fact that our main character became a vampire by buying an "energy drink" online...that apparently contained blood? I don't know. And there's a ghost who is the jealous type. It's wacky and doesn't make much sense but it is a fun read and it was free so who cares?
July 14, 2014
This had all the makings of a cheesy paranormal romance like the sort Smith seems to specialize in, but I was lured by a haunted movie theater premise. The short story actually turned out somewhat better than I expected, although in all fairness my expectations were very low. And of course, there were vampires that this lamentable bastard child of horror genre requires, but the story was entertaining enough, even had a twist and passed the very short time it took to read it decently.
October 11, 2015
These were definitely different
After ordering a vial of something Cody believed was some sort of muscle building product, like steroids. He spins finds out that it is blood, the soon turns him into a vampire.
This was a quick paced read with a lot of twists they kept it engaging and interesting.
After ordering a vial of something Cody believed was some sort of muscle building product, like steroids. He spins finds out that it is blood, the soon turns him into a vampire.
This was a quick paced read with a lot of twists they kept it engaging and interesting.
January 23, 2012
Great short story. Love Cynthia Leitich Smith's books. :)
September 9, 2012
Reminded me of those "scary" books from middle school...meh.
July 12, 2015
I loved this story...
February 10, 2022
Honestly, who wouldn’t want a beautiful old movie theatre to be revived by a new owner?
This tale was filled with creative plot twists. One of the things I liked the most about it was seeing how the author played around with the audience’s expectations as well as the tropes of paranormal vampiric romances. She was clearly well-versed in this genre and knew exactly how to acknowledge the reader’s expectations without necessarily giving us what we were expecting. That’s definitely something to take note of as I haven’t found a lot of authors who are willing to bend things quite as far as she does. Her flexibility made me curious to see what else she has up her sleeves.
There was very little character development in this story. Not only would I struggle to describe how the protagonist changed as a result of his experiences, it would also be difficult for me to talk about what his personality was like in general. I couldn’t even say if he were a shy or outgoing guy, much less anything deeper about who he was or what made him tick. This made it hard to connect with him and even more difficult to get to know the secondary characters who had even fewer opportunities to display their personalities and interests. Figuring these things out was crucial for understanding certain surprises later on, so this truly was a missed opportunity to help the audience bond with the characters and notice when certain individuals didn’t seem like themselves.
I was intrigued by the world building. Spirit, Texas was described as a place that seemed to have a lot of secrets. It was fascinating to begin to piece together who was aware of which secret, and there was still so much work left to be done here by the time I finished the final scene. Still, I was satisfied with what I’d learned about this little town while also intrigued by all of the hints that had been dropped but never pieced together in a way that made sense for all of them.
Haunted Love was an inventive pick for anyone who doesn’t mind a little spookiness in their romance.
This tale was filled with creative plot twists. One of the things I liked the most about it was seeing how the author played around with the audience’s expectations as well as the tropes of paranormal vampiric romances. She was clearly well-versed in this genre and knew exactly how to acknowledge the reader’s expectations without necessarily giving us what we were expecting. That’s definitely something to take note of as I haven’t found a lot of authors who are willing to bend things quite as far as she does. Her flexibility made me curious to see what else she has up her sleeves.
There was very little character development in this story. Not only would I struggle to describe how the protagonist changed as a result of his experiences, it would also be difficult for me to talk about what his personality was like in general. I couldn’t even say if he were a shy or outgoing guy, much less anything deeper about who he was or what made him tick. This made it hard to connect with him and even more difficult to get to know the secondary characters who had even fewer opportunities to display their personalities and interests. Figuring these things out was crucial for understanding certain surprises later on, so this truly was a missed opportunity to help the audience bond with the characters and notice when certain individuals didn’t seem like themselves.
I was intrigued by the world building. Spirit, Texas was described as a place that seemed to have a lot of secrets. It was fascinating to begin to piece together who was aware of which secret, and there was still so much work left to be done here by the time I finished the final scene. Still, I was satisfied with what I’d learned about this little town while also intrigued by all of the hints that had been dropped but never pieced together in a way that made sense for all of them.
Haunted Love was an inventive pick for anyone who doesn’t mind a little spookiness in their romance.
July 18, 2019
Really enjoyed reading this! Very cute, couldn't even look away from the screen!
In fact, I was rather disappointed when it ended. I really wanted to know more about the characters and because of the length of the piece there wasn't much "development." Still! We learned basics of who these characters were - Cody, Ben, Sonia, Ginny, Cody's uncle.
In fact, I was rather disappointed when it ended. I really wanted to know more about the characters and because of the length of the piece there wasn't much "development." Still! We learned basics of who these characters were - Cody, Ben, Sonia, Ginny, Cody's uncle.
March 18, 2018
This book was a really good read for me. I found this book captivating and I couldn't put the book down until I read it.
I felt that everything was planned out well in the book and the characters were talking in good perspective. I didn't actually know this book was about vampires until I read further into the book.
One of the characters had me shocked. After what happened, I'm glad everything turned out for the best.
The ending was great. I don't know what else to say than that.
Overall, This was a great read and I would love to read this again and again if I need a short story to help me unwind.
I felt that everything was planned out well in the book and the characters were talking in good perspective. I didn't actually know this book was about vampires until I read further into the book.
One of the characters had me shocked. After what happened, I'm glad everything turned out for the best.
The ending was great. I don't know what else to say than that.
Overall, This was a great read and I would love to read this again and again if I need a short story to help me unwind.
December 29, 2017
This is a very good quick read. Cody, a recent high school graduate, has opened the Love Theater back up in the tiny Texas Town of Spirit. He employed the mayor’s daughter Ginny to take tickets and run the concessions. But things aren’t as they seem. The theater is haunted, and Cody isn’t what he appears to be.
Those aren’t the only two surprises in this story either. For such a short book, it packs a lot of punch!! Thoroughly enjoyed, thank you!
Those aren’t the only two surprises in this story either. For such a short book, it packs a lot of punch!! Thoroughly enjoyed, thank you!
June 25, 2019
3.5/5 stars
I don't really expect much from shorts. Neither in character or world building, not to mention story.
So I was pleasantly surprised by this one.
I instantly felt that I understood the MC, and so I found myself pulled into the story. While it wasn't extremly original or anything, it did have a twist I didn't see coming, not to mention I found the whole odea interesting.
Also, I liked the ending!
I don't really expect much from shorts. Neither in character or world building, not to mention story.
So I was pleasantly surprised by this one.
I instantly felt that I understood the MC, and so I found myself pulled into the story. While it wasn't extremly original or anything, it did have a twist I didn't see coming, not to mention I found the whole odea interesting.
Also, I liked the ending!
August 20, 2017
This story was absolutely amazing. It had a mysterious quality that kept you guess who the main character was going to end up with. It also has an incredible twist towards the end of the story. It was simply amazing.
August 7, 2018
A reasonably good short story. Started off really interesting with the spooky theatre and ghostly activities. The rest of it is all a bit rushed though, but then it is a super short story. The ending was a bit too much cheese for my liking.
December 29, 2018
To read it is to love it
While I now have a 1950 song stuck in my head I do have to say I enjoyed this story. Fast moving but with enough depth to tell an entire story. Where is the love perhaps it's not what you think.
While I now have a 1950 song stuck in my head I do have to say I enjoyed this story. Fast moving but with enough depth to tell an entire story. Where is the love perhaps it's not what you think.
November 27, 2019
I'm not a fan of vampire books, but this one was pretty good. I liked that it had this character who was in love with this theater and wanted to make it something to be proud of. The twist was very well done and I enjoyed the ending.
Check it out!
Check it out!
January 20, 2021
Nice one
It is a little bit similar to the who Vampire diaries , if you did watch the show it's nice to read otherwise also it's nice and the books name was something I liked and the story has some horror , mystery and love
It is a little bit similar to the who Vampire diaries , if you did watch the show it's nice to read otherwise also it's nice and the books name was something I liked and the story has some horror , mystery and love
October 8, 2017
Great short read
This book is well written. It is a great short read. It is entertaining. I have never read anything from this Author.
This book is well written. It is a great short read. It is entertaining. I have never read anything from this Author.
October 21, 2017
bad joke
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