Body and Soul

by Susan Krinard

The bestselling author of Prince of Shadows and Twice a Hero again displays her incredible talent and imagination in an enchanting new romance about a love so deep it will bring a man and a woman together...in another century, another life.

Jesse Copeland, an expert in mountain rescues, has returned to Manzanita after years in the Peace Corps. Despite an indomitable courage that sent her rappelling down cliffs, she is haunted by the nightmares and shadowy half-memories surrounding her mother's mysterious death. Now she is determined to find out if her mother's "accident" was murder. What she finds instead is a man as transparent as air--sensual, muscular, his blue eyes burning into hers as she cries out one word from a place deep within her: David.

David Ventris, Lord Ashthorpe, late of His Majesty's Light Dragoons, is, simply put, a ghost. He's waited two centuries to be called back to earth by the woman he wronged. He knew her as "Sophie," a wondrous lady who sparked a passion so blazing that time could not dim the flames. Now he is being given the chance to guard her from danger and get back his soul--if only she will believe him real and not madness. If only she will love him enough to create a miracle...and give him life again.

Genres: Romance, Paranormal Romance, Historical Romance, Paranormal, Ghosts, Fiction, Contemporary Romance

312 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1998

About the author

Trained as an artist with a BFA in Illustration from the California College of Arts and Crafts, Susan Krinard became a writer in 1992 when a friend read a short story she'd written and suggested she try writing a romance novel. A long-time fan of science fiction and fantasy, Susan began reading romance -- and realized what she wanted to do was combine the two genres. Prince of Wolves, her first romance novel and one of the earliest to feature a werewolf hero, was the result. Within a year Susan had sold the manuscript to Bantam as part of a three-book contract, and the novel went on to make several bestseller lists.

Since then, she's written and published over fourteen paranormal and fantasy novels, and written stories for a number of anthologies, both fantasy and romance. Both the anthology Out of This World (which included Susan's "Kinsman") and the novel Lord of the Beasts appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List.

Susan makes her home in New Mexico, the "Land of Enchantment", with her husband Serge, their dogs Freya, Nahla and Cagney, and their cat Jefferson. In addition to writing, Susan's interests include music of almost every kind, old movies, reading, nature, baking, and collecting unique handmade jewelry and decorative crafts.

Reviews

[Misfit · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

The setting for this story is Manzanita, a small town in California's Trinity Alps. When Jesse Copeland was a young girl, her mother committed suicide (supposedly), and a distraught Jesse attacked the man she believed responsible. She was *sent away* for her own good, and when *recovered* went to work for the Peace Corps. When the story opens, she's recently returned to town and trying to rebuild her life when the man she believes responsible for her mother's death suddenly returns to town and he's definitely up to no good.

So who does a girl get to help her when everyone thinks she's a bit off her rocker and the bad guy is the best guy ever? In Jesse's case, she stumbles into "David Ventris, Lord Ashthorpe, late of His Majesty's Light Dragoons". David fell in battle at Waterloo and has been in ghostly limbo ever since, and Jesse just might be the woman do get him out of limbo.

"You wanted to know who I am? I'm a lost soul, and you are the key too my salvation...If you refuse me I'm quite simply damned."

Oh hell, it's too complicated to explain without spoiling half the story. I found this a light, easy read for a beach read/brain candy kind of day. I liked both characters, and there was definitely a lot of sexual chemistry between them. Some of the storyline is a bit predictable, but there were also enough twists and turns to keep me reading. There is a lot of woowoo in this story, with the ghost and the reincarnation of several people from a past life, let alone the appearance of Wellington at the end (a bit of a stretch), so YMMV if this book is a good fit or not.

While there is a storyline surrounding the characters from the past, it gets very minimal coverage, so don't expect something like you'd get from Susanna Kearsley. And while there isn't sex on every page, when it does happen, it's more front and center and not behind closed doors, reading tastes vary so I try to point that out.

[Katherine 黄爱芬 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jesse kerap bermimpi buruk sejak kematian ibunya ketika dia baru beranjak dewasa. Jesse yakin bahwa ibunya dibunuh oleh Gary, kekasih gelap ibunya.

David Ventris, adalah hantu, seorang kapten prajurit dibawah pimpinan Wellington saat perang melawan Napoleon. Rohnya masih bergentayangan karena masih ada misi yg belum dia selesaikan.

Betapa kagetnya David ketika mengetahui bhw Jesse adalah reinkarnasi istrinya, Sophie dan Gary juga reinkarnasi dari adik kandungnya.

Jesse telah menjadi duri dalam daging bagi Gary. Sbg org yg ambisius, dia berniat mencalonkan diri sbg senator dan dia tidak mau satu hal pun menodai masa lalunya termasuk kematian ibu Jesse. Namun Jesse tetap mencari bukti-bukti yg memberatkan bhw kematian ibunya disebabkan oleh pembunuhan, bukan bunuh diri. Dibantu oleh hantu David dan ibunya, Jesse mendapatkan surat terakhir yg ditulis oleh ibunya.

Ternyata David juga menutupi rahasia yg sebenarnya di masa lalu. Sophie bukanlah wanita yg dicintainya, hanya terpaksa dinikahi karena sudah hamil. Setelah anak perempuan mereka lahir, ternyata meninggal saat masih balita. David tidak melihat ada alasan lagi utk tetap tinggal di rumahnya dan memilih pergi ke medan perang, meninggalkan istrinya dibawah pengawasan Avery.

Sophie kerap menulis surat kepada David yg ada di medan perang, selalu menangis dan ketakutan oleh intimidasi Avery. David pulang sebentar, tidak mempercayai Sophie dan menganggapnya berbohong demi mencari perhatian dirinya. Fatalnya, David kembali ke medan perang dan mengabaikan surat terakhir dari istrinya yg merupakan saat terakhir pula hayat hidup istrinya.

Saat David memutuskan menceritakan hal ini kepada Jesse, tanpa sadar Jesse ikut merasakan menit-menit terakhir kehidupan Sophie yg mati terbakar di kamar tidurnya. Saat sadar kembali, Jesse memutuskan utk merelakan melepaskan David ke dunia lain. Akankah David mengulangi kesalahan yg sama seperti masa lalu dgn meninggalkan wanita yg dicintainya?

Cinta beda dua alam ini dgn sedikit suspense digarap cukup baik. Hanya saja jika alur ceritanya tidak terlalu "angst", mungkin saya bisa memberi lebih utk ratingnya. Terlalu banyak narasi dan setelah lebih dari 80% baru ketahuan "hint" nya. Hampir nyaris mati bosan saya membacanya. Untunglah di penghujung cerita mulai menarik atensi saya dan saya pun selamat berhasil menyelesaikan membaca buku ini. Congratulations!!!

[Gloriamarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gotta tell you, I love me some Gothic novels. Have done since I first discovered them in Cox's, an early precursor to the modern convenience store. Of course, it was better than a convenience store because it sold comic books (now called graphic novels ) and books. That was in the mid-1960s and I devoured every Gothic novel I found there and also the public library. Give me the eerie, the touch of the paranormal, the strange inexplicable events, the strange inexplicable people.

Add to that good plot development, deft character development, believable characters, with some twists and surprises and I am quite happy. This book delivered it all and I intend to read more my this author.

[Alejandra Guerrero · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled on how to rate this book. On one hand, I liked the heroine. Jesse is strong and generous (maybe a bit too generous), and David was Ok, I guess. The reincarnation thing was better than many other books with this trope. Sophie's soul evolved and even though Jesse is the reincarnation of Sophie, they are different people, and David wasn't really in love with Sophie, but fell for Jesse, because he grew as a person. That part was well written. What took some of the enjoyment was that anything to do with the ghost part was never explained. In the end it leaves more questions than answers, and I just couldn't suspend my disbelief that much.

[Terryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't 100% sure on this book when I first started reading it, the beginning seemed a bit off putting. I wasn't sure where the book was leading to. The storyline is mainly about past lives and how they intertwine with present day lives. A past life ghost who is after forgiveness and meets a present-day female who can give this to him. Unbeknown to her is that her past life is that of his wife with whom he is trying to reconcile with. Other characters within the book also have past lives that intertwine with each other. HEA ending.

[Karen Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

Good love story. This is about reincarnation of two men, a woman and a child. Jesse is a rescuer and she dreams about other people who used to be alive. David is a ghost who is a reincarnation of Jesse’s husband in another life. There is also the villain who is a reincarnation of another evil man. The main characters finally figure out who they once were and all ends well.

[Melanie Atchley Robb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Proof readers needed

I enjoyed the story very much. I read this book years ago as a paperback. I liked it then. I have enjoyed Susan Krinard's books over the years. This story was fascinating, and not outside the realm of possibilities.

[JoAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Body and Soul as a whole was a pretty good tale. Except the end... You have this complex story about a ghost and 3 reincarnated souls, but the ending is so simple and basic it ruined it for me.

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just ghosts in this one. Fun.

[Antoinette · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my thing.

[Katie Lowther · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cheesey romance but the thriller plot was pretty good.

[Lacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This ebook had a lot of spelling errors, but it was an alright story.

[Paranormal Romance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Memories from her childhood still resonate with the heroine even these long years later. The repressed events which convince her that her mothers murder was done by the boyfriend, the years spent in a mental hospital as the heroine had what's known as a breakdown at the funeral where she accused the man of murder. All these things have weighed heavy on her heart and as such she's a very distrusting and reserved woman. She's only returned to this small town of her childhood to remember details she has forgotten and see the man responsible brought to justice. She undergoes hydrotherapy in an attempt relive her past but while she goes under believing she'll see memories on her childhood, she instead sees weird visions of what seems to be a previous life. Memories of pain and heartache, longing for a man to return to crying out to ask him why he must stay away. The visions unnerve her but what really frightens her is the sudden appearance of a ghostly man in uniform who begins to follow her. The hero has waited 200 years for the chance of redemption and now, with the reincarnation of his murdered wife in the body of a beautiful but lonely woman, he finally has a chance. All he needs to do is get the soul of his murdered wife to forgive him for his wrongs against her. Problem is, the heroine is a very repressed individual who he's convinced will fire him back to the nothingness if he confessed the truth. So. he decides to lie to her. To tell her he doesn't remember what he did to earn his damnation but that he knows she is the only one to save him. He admits to being a rather selfish man. His ignorance and his lack of true empathy towards others are the reason he's not a wandering ghost looking for peace. But regardless of his past mistakes, he tells himself to use to the heroine for his own purpose and finally be free of this in between state. They become friends of a sort. The heroine is charmed by this Englishman in uniform with good manners. She wants to help him but first she must take care of her own issues. She admits to herself that he is a great comfort to her. He's always there when she needs him and he allows her to see past her own grief and self pitying behavior to the life waiting for her. But there's still the secret he's been keeping from her and now that they've made love and she'd admitted her love towards him, he feels more guilt than ever because that love is false. The heroine may forgive him for past transgressions which had nothing to do with her but she can't forgive his lies. The hero pleads and begs with the silent ones above for a chance to save her. No matter what happens to him, no matter forgiveness or reward or anything insignificant, all that surges into his heart is saving the woman he loves.

This book was a hard one to review. On one hand I liked it, while on the other I didn't like it as such as I thought I would. It was deep on a emotionally level and I strongly appreciated the message of forgiveness and life throughout the pages but this was Susan Krinard. This was supposed to be amazing as is usual with this author. Perhaps My problem is that I'm measuring it up against what I have in my mind this author is capable of. Maybe that's unfair but it is true. Oh well. We'll start with the characters. The heroine was a tormented soul who really took a whole lot of burden onto herself and shouldered guilt that she really didn't need to. Despite her rough childhood and her stigmata as a Crazy girl after her bid in a mental hospital and despite most people of the town nothing thinking too much of her, she was loving person. To those very choice few who could be called friends, she was loyal to and devoted to. She was the reincarnation of the heroes dead wife and as such had dreams and visions of a past where she died in a fire. When the hero shows up she is frightened that his presence will mean she's crazy again but it turns out he's very real even though only she can see him. The hero was a selfish creature. But what made him worse was his ability to appear noble and in need to help. His selfishness and his ignorance cursed him to purgatory 200 years ago after he betrayed his wife and to be honest, it took him a while to evolve as a person. He started out with the same selfish personality but was able to charm the heroine and appear like he was a hero rather than a man just using people. He grew into a man by the end, a man willing to sacrifice himself for the good of others and to realize the true fault in his actions. The romance was a bit stilted and a whole lot of suspended belief went into this couple. How the hero could have an orgasm when he doesn't have a body is quite beyond me. But as I stated before, this book was good it just wasn't what I would have expected from an author of this caliber.

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm typically turned off by reincarnation stories - not that it affects my ability to enjoy the story, but I'm always doubting the characters' feelings for one another since the characters come pre-loaded with emotional baggage. The story premise is complicated. The heroine is experiencing past-life memories (and several other characters in the book are tied to her from her past-life). The hero is the ghost of her past-life husband. And that was a whole other thing that got confusing - who made the rules for his ghostiness?

One thing I appreciated was that the heroine was not the same person as her past-life (the person she shares her soul with), she's been shaped by her experiences - which just makes sense really. It's why I hate those time-travel books that have the heroine ending up with the reincarnated soul of the hero - wouldn't his soul have changed over time? He'd be a different person by the time they got together. Anyway, Jesse has gone the opposite track of her past counterpart - instead of needy, she is brutally independent. David, the hero, has been in limbo for 200 years and this has also changed him, but it takes some time for him to realize it. He comes to her seeking salvation and tries to maintain a cold, calculated distance - but can't seem to manage it. And there is plenty of angst there towards the end, which I liked a lot. Could have probably done without the reincarnated daughter though

The past-life thing wasn't too bad really - I still would have rated this 4-stars (even with the reincarnation thing), but for me the book was hard to stay with. It was well written and definitely rather unique, but I found myself struggling to keep reading. I kept wanting to sit it down and do something else. So despite how interesting I found it after the fact, it clearly didn't engage me the way I expect a book to. That's the only reason it's 3 stars instead of 4.

[R · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was quite strange. Usually I avoid reincarnation books, especially if one of the couple remains alive, but it had a ghost, and I had just read and rather liked For the Earl's Pleasure by Anne Mallory, so I figured why not. (Besides, my usual method of picking books at the library is to just grab a bunch with historical-looking covers, which this has, even if it is contemporary, so it was in my stack.)

I went along with the plot pretty well, despite the reincarnation and some other problems I had, until the Duke of Wellington appeared and started playing god. Really? Could you come up with no better historical figure (if you really want to use a historical figure)? And if you must use him, why not expend at least a tiny bit of research to actually get his personality correct? Yes, he's the hero's commander, but he wasn't really the benevolent uncle type—he's called the Iron Duke for a reason. And he's definitely not someone I'd want to get relationship advice from, considering what a failure his marriage was.

That was probably the weirdest part of the book, although the logic behind the reincarnation and how the ghost worked kind of baffled me. But I won't get into that, because I'm still trying to figure out Wellington.

[Jeri]

Jesse Copeland comes face to face with an old enemy who reminds her of her mother's mysterious death when Jesse was a child. She cannot remember as much as she should, she's having nightmares, and she finds herself talking to the ghost of a man who has been dead for almost 200 years. David Ventris, Lord Ashthorpe, has been called back to earth for his only chance of forgiveness. He had wronged Jesse in a previous life, and now it is time for him to make things right. For the sake of his soul -- in a very real way.

Susan Krinard tells a good story. I had more of a problem with the reincarnation than with the idea of a ghost, but was caught by the story in spite of my disbelief. I enjoyed it, though some of her earlier books are still my favorites.

[SandraE · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story that includes ghosts and past lives. Somehow Krinard was able to take something that can be really over the top and make the reader not even question it for a heartbeat.

[Shevaun · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great writing. However, the trope where a woman is experiencing something that puts her in the position of being thought crazy while she's in real danger is not for me.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just enjoyed rereading this novel.I read years ago.