Светският живот сред превзетото лондонско общество не се нрави особено на младата лейди Джулиана Кингсблъд. Затова тя се оттегля в родовото си имение, под чиито прозорци се плискат морските вълни… Неочаквано в къщата се появява призрак, който всяка вечер посещава спалнята на красивата отшелница и покрива лицето й с горещи целувки… Сън ли е това, или действителност?
Running from a broken heart, Julianna gets a bit drugged (or drunk? I can't quite remember right now) on her first night in her ancestral home in mining country. Just drugged enough so she mistakes a stranger in her room as her lover. The man feels barely alive, still recovering from wounds that should have killed him; he's 'haunting' the house to hide out from those that attacked him. He can't help but be intrigued by Julianna, especially after the first meeting.
By day, Julianna deals with the issues with the miners, union talk, poor conditions and an increasingly belligerent working class. Her grumpy, mouthy, mysterious gardener doesn't help matters. By night, Julianna is slowly seduced by the man 'haunting' her home. As tensions increase in the town, Julianna goes from wanting to know exactly who is in her bed, to embracing the escape his anonymity offers. But the man knows it can't continue, especially when Julianna needs him.
I read this many years ago and it's one of my favorite romances. Sure, the writing has it's rough spots (head hopping, for example), but Laura Parker handles the characters well. And she does an excellent job of keeping the daytime identity of the 'ghost' secret until nearly the end. Julianna is sometimes foolish, but engrossing to read as she copes and changes. Also, I quite enjoy the actual lusty, ghost lovers supervising Julianna and her man and doing things to push them together.
Admittedly this may not be to everyone's taste. The first sex scene may rub some the wrong way since Julianna's not truly present. Then there's the ghost angle. But I've read it a good half dozen times over the past 15 years and I jealously guard my used copy.
Pretty good book. It has a great start with a wonderful plot. The end seemed to drag on, yet at the same time there was so much that just didn't close well enough to my taste, so I had to take away a star.