Haunted

by Elle James

Hard-hitting investigative reporter, Cecilia Lovelace has forgone love to focus on her career. The same accident that takes the lives of a boy and his mother, places Cecilia’s body in a coma while her spirit is free to roam. The boy who died asks her to deliver a message to his father, the only living man who can see and hear her. Cecilia's first love.


Zachary Alston is consumed with grief over the loss of his five-year-old son. Duped by his ex-wife, dumped by his first love, and distrustful of women, he’s hesitant to believe Cecilia when she insists she has a message from his dead son. Even more unbelievable is that she’s a ghost.


Together, they learn the accident was deliberate and meant for Zachary. In their search for those responsible, they fall victim to the killer and to their own burgeoning love.

ebook

First published April 1, 2011

About the author

Award-winning author Elle James grew up as an air force military brat. She received her work ethic from her rock-solid father, her creative streak from her artistic mother and inspiration from her writing partner and sister, Delilah Devlin. As a former member of the army reserves and a current member of the air force reserves, she's traveled across the United States and to Germany, managed a full-time job, and raised three wonderful children. She and her husband have even tried their hands at ranching exotic birds (ostriches, emus and rheas) in the Texas hill country. Ask her, and she'll tell you what it's like to go toe-to-toe with an angry three-hundred-and-fifty-pound bird and live to tell about it!

Her adventures in the army and air force reserves, and the wild antics of her life on a small ranch in Texas give her fodder for mystery, suspense and humor in her writing. Elle writes gothic, paranormal mystery for the Harlequin Intrigue line and paranormal romantic comedy for Dorchester Publishing. A former manager of computer programming and project management professionals, Elle is happy she now has the opportunity to pursue her writing full time.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the part where she's a ghost! Oh, and the last paragraph of the book is awesome! (no skipping ahead! If you don't read the rest you won't understand.)

[Carla Eacret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Touchingly wonderful

[Anita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 2.5 Stars

Haunted is a fairly short read that I picked up on a whim and breezed through pretty quickly. It has a device that I had enjoyed once or twice in the past: Our main male character, Zachary Alston, is being haunted by the spirit of Cecilia Lovelace, who is hanging in some sort of spiritual limbo where she isn't dead yet, but she can't return to the living. She meets Zach's son, Jake, who had died in the same car wreck that has put her body into a coma, and the little boy tasks her with delivering a message to his father. But as the story progresses, Cecilia realizes that there is something more sinister at work and her automobile accident was probably much more than just an accident after all.

While having an enjoyable premise, story progression, and a straight forward unfolding of plot and twists and such, the narration and the writing style felt slightly lackluster. The book requires some editing. The characters were likable, but at the same time a little flat. Even as a Paranormal Romance, this book employs all the known devices as any regular Contemporary Romance.

Overall, the book is enjoyable and easy to read on a rainy day. Despite liking this kind of paranormal story device, this particular one didn't quite work out for me as I had hoped. Still, I found a good amount of enjoyability, so I don't have too much to complain about, really.

It DID make me think of a similar story though--the Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo movie Just Like Heaven. Except this movie isn't a Romantic Suspense and was just a fun, feel-good, witty Romantic Comedy that I really loved when it was released--I haven't seen in a years.