A Ghost of a Chance

by Josh Lanyon

Over a century ago Illusionist David Berkeley committed suicide in his mansion by the sea, thus dooming his restless spirit to wander forever. Or so the local legend goes. Professor Rhys Davies, a part-time parapsychologist, is writing a book on California hauntings and he believes the crumbling ruins of Berkeley House will make a terrific chapter -- if he can gain access to the house and grounds. The only obstacle is brooding cop and self-appointed caretaker, Sam Devlin. As obstacles go, Devlin is a big one. But you know what they say. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Genres: M M Romance, Paranormal, Mystery, Ghosts, Romance, Contemporary, Audiobook

164 pages, Paperback

First published October 24, 2007

About the author

Author of 100+ titles of Gay Mystery and M/M Romance, Josh Lanyon has built her literary legacy on twisty mystery, kickass adventure, and unapologetic man-on-man romance.

Her work has been translated into twelve languages. The FBI thriller Fair Game was the first Male/Male title to be published by Italy’s Harlequin Mondadori and Stranger on the Shore (Harper Collins Italia) was the first M/M title to be published in print. In 2016 Fatal Shadows placed #5 in Japan’s annual Boy Love novel list (the first and only title by a foreign author to place on the list). The Adrien English series was awarded the All-Time Favorite Couple by the Goodreads M/M Romance Group. In 2019, Fatal Shadows became the first LGBTQ mobile game created by Moments: Choose Your Story.

She’s an EPIC Award winner, a four-time Lambda Literary Award finalist (twice for Gay Mystery), an Edgar nominee, and the first ever recipient of the Goodreads All Time Favorite M/M Author award.

Josh is married and lives in Southern California with her irascible husband, two adorable dogs, a small garden, and an ever-expanding library of vintage mystery destined to eventually crush them all beneath its weight.


Find other Josh Lanyon titles at www.joshlanyon.com
Follow Josh on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.

Reviews

[Snjez · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This was cute, fun and just a bit spooky. I liked the characters and the chemistry between them, as well as the mystery part. The audiobook was really good.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella is outstanding!

I am beginning to see a pattern with Josh Lanyon's writing, but I can't say I mind that. At least you already know you're gonna like it when you meet the characters.

Rhys is a 30 year old History professior with an unusual interest: Ghosts. He is currently writing a book on haunted mansions and decides to spend the weekend on the site of a famous ghost house, the Berkeley House, that belongs to a friend of his. He is convinced the site will make a great chapter in his book.

However, he doesn't know that his friend, an elderly gay casanova, also lets his nephew Sam stay in the house.

Sam mistakes Rhys for a burglar at first, so they have a rather bad start, but of course, the hot older cop is incredibly charismatic and will sweep Rhys off his feet. You can already tell the first moment Rhys stumbles against the guy's hairy chest when he tries to get into the house.

The story surrounding the haunted house is both a paranormal plot and a crime plot, so be ready to be spooked.

I simply have to point out three things about this story:
1.) It features one of the most beautiful sexual moments I have ever read (think: swimming naked, think: kissing underwater, think: exhaling your breath into your lover as you float down to the bottom...) Gorgeous!
2.) These guys throw any conventions on sexual roles over board, which was refreshing to see.
3.) And I am surprised to see that the guys go bare and don't even question it, which was kind of odd. They were two strangers after all, right?! And didn't Rhys' previous relationship end because his partner didn't want to be monogamous? There was even another character whose partner died of HIV here. I would have assumed this gave Rhys pause - but apparently not. It just strikes me as very unusual in a romance story by Josh Lanyon.

But still, 5 stars and may all the restless souls finally find peace!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

A Ghost of a Chance is filled to the brim with everything I love about a Lanyon tale--mystery, chemistry, sarcasm, humor, and love. And just when I thought I couldn’t possibly love Josh Lanyon more, he throws in a guillotine! Guillotine, people! Haha….

The sea breezes rustle the pines causing soft murmurs and shadows in the night. An abandoned house sits alone on a sea cliff slowly decaying and inching towards collapse or a cliff dive death. “Eerie glows”, cobwebs, moonlight, and a headless dead magician set the mood lamp on spooky for this mysterious ghost tale. A ghost story with magic, art, broken hearts, and blood that lures Professor Rhys Davies to town to investigate the validity of paranormal happenings and sightings in the old haunted house. Rhys hits town with a broken heart of his own and plan, which gets blown to all hell as soon as he bumps into Sam Devlin. A tall, lean, grim, green-eyed macho force of love and tension!

”It felt good to hold onto someone, to feel bare skin. I wanted more. Needed more.”

These two charismatic heroes light up the page with an instant “oh-my” intensity and spark filled with heat, humor, and jabs! Now make no bones about it--Adrien and Jake are my favorite Lanyon duo, but these two guys are a very close second. I could not look away! Sam and Rhys move, talk, and bump heads and egos with each other at first sight with a perfect mix of tension and steam that may just lead to a different kind of bumping and grinding. Hehe…That was classy. Sorry. Anywho…I loved their hold and power on the page. Pure magic! You can feel the heat between Sam and Rhys as they walk side by side in the woods or watch each other move around the kitchen preparing a meal. One of the sexiest ways to flirt is by watching his every move. Very hot! But it was their conversations and exchanges that truly made me sigh, smile, and laugh out loud.

”Spam? Nobody eats Spam.”
“I got news for you. Spam is delicious and nutritious.”
“I’ll give you delicious. No, actually, I can’t in good conscience give you either of those.”

The mystery, on the other hand, was pretty obvious here, which did not bother me at all. Mr. Lanyon sets, paints, and fills the stage with characters, humor, sounds, colors, and feelings that pull me in and keep me there long after the story is done. My heart loved it all. Have I mentioned the guillotine yet? :D Even though the sleight of hand tricks did not fool me, I still fell hard for this story. Charmed once again. With Rhys and Sam on the page, well you could say my heart didn’t stand a chance.

Have fun! I want more Sam and Rhys.


**Favorite Lanyon words in this story: nipping and nuzzling

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the audio book of this, sweet, spooky and low spice. I liked that even if it was short it definitely had enough for the romance to feel interesting to listen to. Intriguing ghost house plot too but I wish there were more added to that part of the story but I enjoyed the romance.

[Preeti · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 🌟" Another awesome read by Josh Lanyon." 

Just like other works by JL, this too had a well-woven mystery plot, a half-cooked but beautifully written romance, and a sarcastic MC. But, what wowed me most about this 100-page novella was the spookiness. I am not much for paranormal stories and didn't mind that it was not the central theme of the book. 

Again, I noticed that JL gives a haunting tone to romance in her stories. Either by writing about unrequited love or by writing about asshole exes. Here, it was more pronounced in the story of side characters. And, this time the ending worked perfectly for me. 

I hope I never run out of her books. 
Highly recommended…..

P.S-I half read and half-listened but the audiobook narration by Kevin R Free certainly deserves 5 🌟. 

[CrabbyPatty · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mystery with a scary house, a dark chilly cellar, and an unlikely romance. I liked it. Loved Lanyon's writing:

Like the philosophers say, the line between genius and stupidity is a fine one. Actually, it wasn’t the philosophers, it was Nigel in Spinal Tap, but the point is still a valid one.

I took a sip of coffee and nearly choked. “This is terrible.”
He nodded gloomily. “Yeah.”
“It’s probably the worst cup of coffee I ever had.”
“I know.”
I couldn’t quite read him. “Do you… prefer it this way?”
He took a mouthful from his own cup and shuddered.
“No. It just always turns out like this.”
He was permitted to carry a gun but couldn’t figure out how to use a coffee machine?

Visit my blog, Sinfully Good Gay Book Reviews

[Sun · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This book scared the BEJEEEEZUS out of me! No joke, there were times I had trouble breathing out of sheer fear. True, I am a wimp of EPIC proportions. But when it comes to those "Do NOT go in there! Why are you going IN there?!" moments, I am especially terrorized. This books had LOTS of these moments.

Rhys is writing a book about haunted houses and visits this small coastal town to research Berkeley house, the home of a magician who beheaded himself after his fiance ran off with his best friend. Whoa...drama much?! No worries, it's happened over 100 years ago! While staying at a friend's house, Rhys meets the friend's nephew Sam, a big, burly cop (Wheee! My favorite kind!) who warns him against going anywhere near the house!

As you can guess Rhys and Sam get to doing the nasty and go all enemies-to-lovers on us and develop feelings. This part of the story left me unimpressed as I had no notion of what attracted them to one another (I mean, Lanyon even describes Sam, through Rhys' eyes, as unattractive!) And the just short of insta-lust to insta-love...well, I wasn't buying it.

But this matters not in this book (what? A romance reader not caring about the ill-developed romance arc?). The true stars of this book where the creepy crawlies...the black figures in the night, the cold miasma coming from the cellar, the eerie sounds of chains, the guillotine. Those are the things that grabbed me and drew me into the story. The mystery and the suspense.

I guess because of that, despite the fact that Lanyon sometimes has a tendency of leaving me hanging at the end of books in the relationship category, I felt complete at the end of this book because the mystery element was solved.

Scary, with some smexy lovin'...and a rip roarin' good time. Caution: read with the lights on! :)

[Chris, the Dalek King · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a lot of interesting ways to meet new men-–not that Rhys Davies is looking for any new men after what the last one did–-but being wrestled to the floor by a strong naked man, is definitely in the top ten. Which would be all fine and dandy except said naked man, Sam Devlin, is a cop and pretty much convinced that Rhys is either an inept burglar, or his uncle’s latest twink. That Rhys is neither is somthing Sam just can’t buy. But hey, it is his uncle’s house and if he wants to board a crazy, ghost hunting twink for the weekend, so be it.

Except Rhys seems to be an expert at getting himself in trouble, and Sam can’t seem to just let the man die in some stupid ‘condemned house fell on your head and now aren’t you regretting not listening to me about staying out of the house you fucking idiot’ accident. He’s a cop, after all. Too bad Rhys is convinced that the Berkeley house is really haunted–-and that he is the best man to prove it.

Oh, reading ghost stories at one o’clock at night…what could possibly go wrong?

Yeah…that wasn’t one of my most brilliant ideas, I must admit. Especially since I am a great big wimp when it comes to all thing spooky. Blame it on my overactive imagination–-or that my house has way too many suspicious noises going on–-but I think next time I pick up a ghost story it shall be read at noon, outside, in the bright, non-threatening, ghost/shadow/darkness/creepy-ass creaking noise free sunshine. Just, you know, to be on the safe side.

Despite the fact that I had to talk myself out of going to sleep with the bedside lamp on, I quite enjoyed this novella by Josh Lanyon. It has been one of those stories that I always planned to get around to, but there is quite a lot of Lanyon to go around, and it has been missed in my scattered attempts to read everything by this author. Until now.

The ghost part was truly creepy, and even better for the fact that I never quite knew if the ghost was real or not. There was a lot of evidence going both ways for most of the story, and I liked that I was unsure if Rhys was a bit batty or if there really was something going bump in that old house.

And while I was unsure about what exactly was going bump in the Berkeley house, there was some very obvious bumping going on over with Sam and Rhys. Like most mysteries by Lanyon, the romance plays second fiddle, but it is usually such a good accompaniment that you don’t mind. At least I don’t. This story only takes place over a weekend so there isn’t exactly a lot of room to grow as people or a couple, but it was a very nice beginning for them.

My only niggle, really, is that the end felt a bit rushed. And the culprit a bit…well, it oddly felt a bit obvious and a bit out of left field as well. Which may just be me with my cold mucking up my head. I think this is just a factor, though, of the story being not quite long enough to build up the necessary clues to bring it up to usual Lanyon standards.

Still enjoyed the story, though, and I’ll add it to the giant pile of Josh Lanyon books that I recommend you read. Just, if you are anything like me, don’t try and read it late at night when there are things like accident-prone cats around to scare you out of your wits.


This book was provided free in exchange for a fair and honest review for Love Bytes. Go there to check out other reviews, author interviews, and all those awesome giveaways. Click below.

[Elsbeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

- Narrator: Kevin R. Free

Well crap, this was way too short!!!



I want more Sam and Rhys.. I was just getting into the ghost-story...

Sam’s eyes met mine. “Congratulations, Professor.”
“Kind of gives you a dim view of romance, doesn’t it?” I remarked.
He said quite seriously, “I’m willing to take a chance. If you are.”
“Okay,” I said. “Just this once.”

You don't just end a book like this, dammn.... *pouts*

I adored Kevin R. Free.. I love his voice

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

The paranormal aspect of this had me on the edge of my seat at times and the romance was unique (I especially liked Sam). I think I wanted the romance more fleshed out ... maybe it should have been a little longer?

[Denise H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

***** This is a superb, slick, snarky and scary, short (2hrs) ghost story. I loved it.
The guys are opposites and fabulous characters.
One is a cop, Sam, late thirties, black hair, green eyes, big and burly;


the other is Rhys, 30s, a blonde, cute professor of history,



working on paranormal cases as a hobby. Each man is funny, witty, smart, and sexy.

We get a terrific setting, with a haunted, abandoned house on a cliff, strange sightings, and noises, plus the marvelous descriptions and mysterious side characters.

Magnificent writing by Josh Lanyon, a sleek plot, sassy guys, sexy times and lots of spooky fun !
ENJOY !

====
Thank you dear Martin for the rec !

=====

[Meep · Rating 3 out of 5]

Same as previous reads. Liked it, but too much happens off page.
-- --
2.5 rounding-up

It's a nice enough story, two people bump into each other, keep bumping parts, a little mystery thrown in. But it's forgettable - on re-read the only thing I remembered was how they met.

Unfortunately the book is underdeveloped as though intended to be a far longer story but never completed. We don't get to know any of the characters enough to really champion them, the mystery both ghostly and present day shenanigans are too distant to offer more than the slightest chill. Everything is wrapped up neatly off-page. There's potential here for a really great story but it lacks substance.

An enjoyable read, but no lasting impression.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an awesome book and the audiobook was excellent. I just wish it were longer.

[Eugenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spooky
Wish it could have been longer!

My rec: stay away from the audiobook, it doesn’t do the story justice.

[Ninni · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be able to investigate a haunted mansion Rhys Davies has been invited to live at a friends house near by. Arriving there he discovers that he's not alone - there's also Sam, the irritating nephew of said friend. And he has strong opinions whether it safe to looking for ghost in a house which has been abondoned for over a century. While Rhys's sneaking out at night looking for ghosts he also realise that Sam aint entirely bad. Add some burglars and excentric neighbours to the mix and your get this 4 star read ⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Ula'ndi Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

2025-04-20 - Re-Read - Cause nothing except re-reads is
doing it for me at the moment.

------------------------

Overall book rating: 4
Audio Book: N/A
Book Cover: 4

One of these days....



Myself, and I’m sure a whole support club of Lanyon fans, are going to hold an intervention meeting.

In said intervention meeting we will discuss the pro’s and con’s of Josh Lanyon writing MORE D.E.T.A.I.L.E.D ENDINGS!!

I really really enjoyed this one. Well I really really enjoy most of her books if we are going to be honest. LOL

I was damn right scared at some points of this story! It was creepy! And done really well in my opinion.

Again, I have to say that I really have a thing for the way the MC are written. Never the ‘same’ and always interesting to get to know.

The humor in these books are a bonus. It’s never overdone and timing is really well.

This was waaaaaaaayyyy to short in my humble opinion. But then again, when you enjoy something it will always be too short.

[Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remembered almost none of this one, but I enjoyed rereading it and rediscovering it. I did start to worry about Rhys's poor noggin, the number of times he got whacked over the course of a few days. I don't know how you can diagnose a concussion while someone's asleep in bed though. You certainly can't diagnose anything else that way. 🤦🏻‍♀️

On the romance side, this was a decent start, but this was too short and only took place over a few days, so it's hard to call this even an HFN ending.

[Dante Love Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has a million reviews, so I'm just going to say it was great, better than I expect at the start. Great atmosphere, a little creepy, nice mystery, and a more believable romance than a lot I have read.

I also loved that Sam was unattractive!

There really needs to be more ugly MCs. I'm tired of all this MM physically flawless men bullshit. Looks have very little to do with actual attractiveness in the end, anyway.

[Emma Sea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm perplexed by this book, because it wasn't a romance, but the MCs end up together at the end, and it devolved from a lovely atmospheric classic gothic ghost story to a Scooby solution.

I feel like this was supposed to be a book twice the length, and then Lanyon got to 92% and the publisher said "Nah, that's fine, just wrap it all up in a single chapter."

[Heather C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved every second...and every goosebump of this story!! It was spooky. It was funny. It was engaging. I loved the ghost mystery...even though I DID have part of it figured out. I loved the hate-lust romance these guys had going on. Very smexy!

[Ije the Devourer of Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first audio book. I am not a great fan of audio but I listened to this while doing some brisk walking as exercise. And I really enjoyed it and I am sure the exercise will do me good if I keep it up.

I enjoyed the story. It was quite a simple ghost/mystery story but I loved the way it was narrated with different voices. It made the reading/listening experience thoroughly enjoyable and the story came alive. Great story and some excellent narration!!

[Skye Blue ☆*~ﾟლ(´ڡ`ლ)~*☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book, but then I always love Josh Lanyon books.

This one isn't my favorite. It seemed like we just got to the meat of the story, and then it was quickly wrapped up. It felt like there was a chunk missing...and a big part of that chunk was the romance.

It was still a great book.
Fun and quick.

[Sonia ~Ruber's fiancé in Crystal Court universe~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

As it usual is with a Josh Lanyon book, this was a fun, engaging and awesome book!

I love the narrator's voice (Kevin R. Free) it's simply beautiful and he does an stunning job about changing his tonality for the different characters.

[Desinka · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This was too short and took place over a very short period! I hardly had time to get used to the characters when it ended. The story was interesting enough and it had potential to be great had it been twice as long...

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

That's one of the down sides to reading short stories or novellas, sometimes they leave you wanting more. This was no exception. I was really enjoying it and could only have wished it was a full length novel. Loved it!

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great read--Lanyon at his best---perfect little mystery/ghost story and as always, wonderful romance-

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ugly, muscled cop with a bad attitude, along with a blond, prettyboy ghost buster?

Duh.

[⚣Michaelle⚣ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.9 Stars

[Vanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story: 4 Stars
Audio: 4 Stars

Entertaining and interesting plot with some paranormal elements too. Liked both the MCs.. 🥰

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grrrr. Josh Lanyon! Why do you have to leave me wanting more?!