This is a short story (14,000 words) that takes place in Tassamara between the ending of A Gift of Thought and the epilogue of A Gift of Thought. It is as spoiler-ific as it could possibly be for A Gift of Ghosts, as in every secret gets given away, while it's only a little spoiler-ific for A Gift of Thought. Consider yourself warned!
Akira's plans are simple: write wedding invitations, bake Christmas cookies, and eat red meat. (The last surprises her, too.) But when Rose, the ghost who haunts her house, asks for a favor, Akira can't say no. Little does she realize that although she's faced danger before, even death, a toddler who doesn't like peanut-butter-and-jelly might just be her worst nightmare.
Sarah Wynde graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in English, which she actually managed to put to use by becoming an editor. She's worked on magazines, websites, and books, including ten years spent as a senior acquisitions editor with Pearson. Eventually, her love of writing pushed her into independent publishing. She likes to think of the stories she writes as unexpected fiction—bending, blending, and occasionally breaking genres.
Akira and Zane are preparing for their wedding as well as getting used to the idea of their first child coming. Akira is experiencing strange cravings, for her, of steak etc. but, is also scared silly of taking care of a child. After all her own mother died when she was an infant so she had no role model to follow.
Zane is busy trying to ease her fears when Rose, their house ghost, runs in and begs Akira for a favor. It seems the 'mean ghost' inhabiting the house Akira refused to even view, is threatening the woman and child in the house if they won't leave.
Akira who loves Rose, the teenager that died of suicide in the 50's, agrees to try and convince the woman to move. The woman, of course, thinks she is nuts and tells Akira to leave. Her son, however, sees the 'mean lady' and so...
Then there is an emergency...Akira and Zane rush to aid the woman and child.
To tell you more would probably be move words than this short tale has. I will tell you that it answers questions about Rose that I had been developing in my mind. Great tale and leaves you thinking.
I'm enjoying this series so much that I am now following Sarah Wynde's blog, and as a result, received the pdf of the short story about Maggie's arrival to this (fictitious) Florida town of Tassamara. I wasn't finding this "Spirits of Christmas" in any of my usual digital library collections, and didn't have the patience to see if any of them would follow my purchase recommendations. It's pretty short, so they may not be inclined. Therefore, I bit the bullet & purchased this one through Amazon Kindle. I think it was a hefty $1.99. :-) 'Looking forward to book 3 now.
A Sweet Story That Will Fill You With Happiness and Joy
This is a wonderful short story that warms your heart, makes you chuckle and brings the Spirits and spirit together for a beautiful ending that will make you smile!
Sweet novella about a home in Tassamara being haunted by a grandmother who just wants to apologize to her son. Funny to see Akira pregnant and coming to terms with becoming a mom.
I'm a sucker for holiday themed stories in general, and this was a great light-spirited read. I enjoyed that it was well developed for a short story. It was nice to learn the back story of another Tassamara ghost, and I hope the author continues to write more stories about the various singular residents of this paranormal fantasy town. I did find some of the dialogue to be a bit more forced than usual, but it is understandably hard to write a toddler's speech. Also, naming two characters Nick and Nora was the slightest bit corny, but it did make me smile.
*I received a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own*
Akira is pregnant, trying to plan her wedding and Christmas when Rose asks for her help. Hannah's house has new residents and Hannah doesn't want them there. Akira reluctantly gets involved with Nora and Toby. Akira is surprised when Toby can see Hannah and Rose but can't speak with them. Akira makes an agreement with Hannah, give her two weeks to find Nick before creating havoc in the house. With a few surprises for Hannah, when Nick arrives home to meet his new daughter and reunite with Toby and Nora. Cute, make you feel good story.
I'm not going to tell you the plot of this story, you all ready know that, you came here to the reviews to see how I felt about it. Well being a person that does believe is the reason for me reading it and I found it to be most delightful. When you take Christmas and kids, then you mix them together, you come up with love. This story is well written with that main ingredient and the cast is so believable. If your a spirit person join me in a wonderful Christmas story.
Short story but lovely one. Akira is planning her wedding and the birth of her baby when Rose says someone needs her. A ghost is mad that someone moved into her house and she wants Akira to make them leave. But, the woman is pregnant also and due any today. And she has a young son. She has to figure why the ghost is mad, take care of a child which she has never done, and find the father of the young woman's child. Wonderful short story.
Yes I read these out of order,but it didn't really matter! I hope there are more short stories in the future! It was nice to revisit the grumpy ghost from book one and it was great to read more details about Roses transformation. Akira is my favorite character of the series. I love the staunchness or her science practicality warring with the preternatural part of her life's cannot recommend this series enough
Pure delight. If you enjoyed A Gift of Ghosts, you'll love this followup. Akira and Zane are back with more ghostly problems, character-driven drama, and happily-ever-afters. And even though The Spirits of Christmas is a short story, it's long enough to really work.
(Oops, forgot to add that I got a free copy of this book in exchange for a review.)
I said I wanted to read more, so I downloaded this to my Kindle - a short story for $ .99? Why the heck not? I loved it, even if I did figure it out pretty quickly - this was a short story, an enjoyable read, and again, the characters work well. I plan to read the other two books already out, and am looking forward to future works as well~
Loved this story. Unlike some short stories that leave you hanging by your fingers and wanting to jump up and down screaming because you want to know what happens next; this story has an ending, thank goodness. You will love it and guess what, you can read this authors full stories in her other books.
Adorable story! Just like in the first book Akira, Zane, and Rose are such loveable characters! The plot line was thoughtful and perfectly told even in this short story length. I love Sarah Wynde's writing style and this book was truly a treat to read!
A delightful story. Once again Akira & Rose pulled me right in and introduced me to new people. This series makes me wish that Tassamara was a place I could visit. Interesting people appear at every corner that I would love to meet.
I love the characters and the storylines. to me it's wonderful to think there are ways to help ghosts crossover and I love the way the heroine just follows her instincts. Will read them ALL!
Love this author. I am reading everything I can find that she has written. Enjoyable reads and just plain fun! Take some time out and read a book just for fun.
This is not going to win a pulitzer prize, but not everything has to be serious, does it?
Sweet short story that revolves around a couple of the characters from the first book in this series, Gift of Ghosts. Because it was so short it didn't have time to fill out the new characters, but the 'old' ones stepped up and made it a great short!!
This may have been a sort story, however it packed a punch. I love everything about Akira and what she does. I even cried, I was so happy with the ending. I kinda thought it though! Thank you again Sarah for taking us away in the world of Ghosts. Love it.
This was a good short story about all the characters I'd read about previously, it was lovely to see the characters again and to watch them become part of another story, it had a twist in it but overall it's definitely a feel good story
I really enjoy these stories! My only 'complaint' is I wish they were longer! It feels like they go to fast! Ms Wynde does a very good job of providing characters you like right away and that makes you want to know what happens next and know more about them. :)
A very quick read and very quick for Akira but sometimes in life things accelerate when they're just meant to be. This is a sweet short story to compliment the other books in the series and I highly recommend it.
Such a sweet story! Akira is unsure of herself as a soon to be mom. Toby is a little boy who can see the mean lady and the pretty one. Hannah just wants her house back. Cute, sweet story with characters I love!