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Chasing Ghosts
Nic is a successful ghost writer, making a decent living churning out best-selling autobiographies of celebrities and other notable figures. She’s also a recovering alcoholic—three years sober and still tempted, every day, to open the bottle again.Luckily she has distractions—this time in the form of Isobel DeWitt, an award-winning and well-loved actor in her prime, who has decided to release a tell-all autobiography. Nic finds her likeable, charming and fascinating…but also impossible to crack. Every draft sounds like just another magazine piece full of perfectly crafted sound bytes, but there’s no soul.Undeterred, Nic continues to dig into the actor’s history in search of the clue that will unlock it all and finds it in the form of one Melody Graham, a reclusive playwright and, if rumours are to be believed, Isobel’s erstwhile lover. Nic chances everything to reach out to her and unbelievably she responds, sharing stories about her time with the tempestuous actress and helping Nic get further and further into Isobel’s head. The problem now is figuring out where Isobel Dewitt starts and Nic ends…
- GenresLesbian
ebook
Published August 7, 2017
1 person is currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
M.K. Hardy
7 books27 followersMK Hardy is the pen name for two geeky women living and writing together in Scotland.
Their debut Sapphic Gothic Horror, The Needfire, is out now from Solaris Books!
Their debut Sapphic Gothic Horror, The Needfire, is out now from Solaris Books!
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 19, 2017
As a reader who really dislikes being addressed by the narrator, I had serious reservations about the first 15-20% of this story. However, once I got over that initial bump, and warmed to the authors’ style of writing, I found myself feeling as though I was on a coffee date with the heroine while she told me her story. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the story was all tell, no show.
To be honest, I somehow deduced from the blurb there would be more page time given to the topic of alcoholism, but that wasn’t the case. Sure it’s a central part of the main character’s character (did that make sense?) but she is on the wagon - and does a great job of staying there. The one time she got up close and personal with some wine was a classic part of the story.
Having never met a ghost writer, at least not that I’m unaware of, the plot provides an insightful view of what it might be like for a writer to research what another person wants them to write, especially when the person concerned wants to publish an autobiography.
The plot is engaging and kept me guessing right to the end. I had no clue if Nic/Nicola would find love or not, or who, if anyone, her suitor would be - Isobel or Melody? And I’m not going to disclose a thing.
On a final note, I'd like to say, what an awesome cover.
Copy generously provided by the publisher, NineStar Press, upon my request.
To be honest, I somehow deduced from the blurb there would be more page time given to the topic of alcoholism, but that wasn’t the case. Sure it’s a central part of the main character’s character (did that make sense?) but she is on the wagon - and does a great job of staying there. The one time she got up close and personal with some wine was a classic part of the story.
Having never met a ghost writer, at least not that I’m unaware of, the plot provides an insightful view of what it might be like for a writer to research what another person wants them to write, especially when the person concerned wants to publish an autobiography.
The plot is engaging and kept me guessing right to the end. I had no clue if Nic/Nicola would find love or not, or who, if anyone, her suitor would be - Isobel or Melody? And I’m not going to disclose a thing.
On a final note, I'd like to say, what an awesome cover.
Copy generously provided by the publisher, NineStar Press, upon my request.
July 17, 2017
~ARC provided in exchange for a fair review~
I'm... not sure why I picked this book to read. It's f/f, yes, which is right up my alley, but I'm much more of a laser beam spaceship shoot em up person, or if that isn't available, a mage and elves kind of person. This was book was straight up modern day normal. No aliens, no elves, no magic, and I loved it.
Plot
Nicola is well-known ghostwriter who takes an assignment of writing the memoir of Isobel, a movie star-director-gorgeous type lady. You know the kind. That's...pretty much it in terms of direction, except there are all these OTHER women who keep coming into play, things get derailed more than once, and there are enough romantic plot twists to have you screaming at your e-reader (I certainly was). There's Melody, the former moviestar lover, the redhead whose name I can never remember, Julie, the best friend, and they all weave together to form this really deep portray of the intricacy of professional lesbian life. Also sex. The sex scenes are well done and tasteful, and while they didn't leave me sweating, they did leave me blushing. That's a nice medium.
Characters
I found Nicola relatable and sympathetic. She makes mistakes that are understandable, she feels deeply, and is easy to connect with. Isobel is a wild ride and I did stumble sometimes with this character, as I felt some of the twists were more author convenience than actually well foreshadowed events. Melody, on the other hand, had the delightful 'surprising yet inevitable' quality that makes for a great character. All three had great arcs.
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
Pacing was, for the most part, just about perfect. The start was slow--in fact the first fifty pages almost had me shelving the thing, but once it picked up, it picked up and I couldn't put it down. The sexual tension was spot on, the characters mostly perfect, and the world was fleshed out without being overwhelming. Nicola seemed very competent when she needed to be, and her development arc was just about perfect.
And finally, my 'yelling at the book' moment, below.
Final Thoughts
Definitely worth a read, even if this isn't generally your genre. Persist through those first fifty pages, and you'll be rewarded with a warm, often surprising story that will keep you spellbound.
I'm... not sure why I picked this book to read. It's f/f, yes, which is right up my alley, but I'm much more of a laser beam spaceship shoot em up person, or if that isn't available, a mage and elves kind of person. This was book was straight up modern day normal. No aliens, no elves, no magic, and I loved it.
Plot
Nicola is well-known ghostwriter who takes an assignment of writing the memoir of Isobel, a movie star-director-gorgeous type lady. You know the kind. That's...pretty much it in terms of direction, except there are all these OTHER women who keep coming into play, things get derailed more than once, and there are enough romantic plot twists to have you screaming at your e-reader (I certainly was). There's Melody, the former moviestar lover, the redhead whose name I can never remember, Julie, the best friend, and they all weave together to form this really deep portray of the intricacy of professional lesbian life. Also sex. The sex scenes are well done and tasteful, and while they didn't leave me sweating, they did leave me blushing. That's a nice medium.
Characters
I found Nicola relatable and sympathetic. She makes mistakes that are understandable, she feels deeply, and is easy to connect with. Isobel is a wild ride and I did stumble sometimes with this character, as I felt some of the twists were more author convenience than actually well foreshadowed events. Melody, on the other hand, had the delightful 'surprising yet inevitable' quality that makes for a great character. All three had great arcs.
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
Pacing was, for the most part, just about perfect. The start was slow--in fact the first fifty pages almost had me shelving the thing, but once it picked up, it picked up and I couldn't put it down. The sexual tension was spot on, the characters mostly perfect, and the world was fleshed out without being overwhelming. Nicola seemed very competent when she needed to be, and her development arc was just about perfect.
And finally, my 'yelling at the book' moment, below.
Final Thoughts
Definitely worth a read, even if this isn't generally your genre. Persist through those first fifty pages, and you'll be rewarded with a warm, often surprising story that will keep you spellbound.
November 25, 2017
Not quite my usual fare, but I enjoyed this charming romance. Nic makes for an intriguing protagonist; she's a pretty remarkable person in her own right but sees herself as entirely ordinary. No doubt it's in part a reflection of her career, which is also something refreshingly outside of the typical (as I understand it -- like I said, I don't read much romance).
The love interests are similarly well-developed. Isobel is magnetic, Melody captivating. Laura is a bit of a cipher, but that's unimportant. I appreciated the fact that nearly the entire cast of the book is female, save for the odd waiter or driver and one named character with a couple of lines of dialogue. Otherwise, even the minor roles go to women.
The romance is sweet and believably developed, the sex scenes tastefully written (I normally skip 'em, and didn't this time), and aside from a slightly abrupt ending I have no complaints about the plot. The prose is solid overall, with some really witty lines sprinkled about, though it could use just a tad more polish -- you'd be forgiven for thinking that "smirk" was Nic's default expression, for example. The authors also attempted to do something really interesting with Nic's POV -- it's quite analytical, with some fourth-wall-breaking moments. It's an interesting choice and one that I strongly believe is true to the character, but there were moments where it didn't quite work. At those times, "analytical" became "detached" and it almost felt as if the prose was keeping the reader at arm's length. Yes, Nic's view of the world is a writer's view of the world. But the reader still has to be in her head, and not just outside of it.
I'll also note that there were a couple of chapters that ended with a whimper rather than a bang, where the emotional core was undercut by a short finishing paragraph -- or even mini-scene, the most obvious example that springs to mind was set off by section breaks -- which narrated a bunch of detail or exposition that could have been left out or moved somewhere else.
That said, it's a good story, a solid book, and I'm very glad I read it.
The love interests are similarly well-developed. Isobel is magnetic, Melody captivating. Laura is a bit of a cipher, but that's unimportant. I appreciated the fact that nearly the entire cast of the book is female, save for the odd waiter or driver and one named character with a couple of lines of dialogue. Otherwise, even the minor roles go to women.
The romance is sweet and believably developed, the sex scenes tastefully written (I normally skip 'em, and didn't this time), and aside from a slightly abrupt ending I have no complaints about the plot. The prose is solid overall, with some really witty lines sprinkled about, though it could use just a tad more polish -- you'd be forgiven for thinking that "smirk" was Nic's default expression, for example. The authors also attempted to do something really interesting with Nic's POV -- it's quite analytical, with some fourth-wall-breaking moments. It's an interesting choice and one that I strongly believe is true to the character, but there were moments where it didn't quite work. At those times, "analytical" became "detached" and it almost felt as if the prose was keeping the reader at arm's length. Yes, Nic's view of the world is a writer's view of the world. But the reader still has to be in her head, and not just outside of it.
I'll also note that there were a couple of chapters that ended with a whimper rather than a bang, where the emotional core was undercut by a short finishing paragraph -- or even mini-scene, the most obvious example that springs to mind was set off by section breaks -- which narrated a bunch of detail or exposition that could have been left out or moved somewhere else.
That said, it's a good story, a solid book, and I'm very glad I read it.
July 27, 2017
Chasing Ghosts by MK Hardy was an ARC so I knew that I had to finish it and provide a review. I was so thankful I forced myself to read on. The beginning was a bit slow, and honestly I didn’t like the main character, Nic, who was a recovering alcoholic and ghost writer. She appeared like an uninteresting character from the very start until Isobel and Melody were introduced. After that moment everything changed and couldn’t wait to turn the page. Even Nic was transformed and she evoked feelings within me such as anger for her mistakes and tiring indecisiveness. More than once I felt pity for Nic, and at the end I was completely in love with her. Perhaps it was the writers’ intentional strategy to create a main character with very specific characteristics. Nevertheless, it worked. I loved Nic and her romantic relationship to Melody.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews