FeaturedParanormal Romance

Love & Ghosts

By

Loved it! 😍

A great Big Easy romance and a fun ghost story, with just a little hint of scariness.

I'm a sucker for all things New Orleans, and this romance did not disappoint. An everyday heroine, new to the city, and a princely son of old wealth connecting over a love of The Princess Bride movie, make for a deeply romantic pair. Secondary characters, both living and ghostly, liven up our main characters' lives and stories, and add to the ride, although the author does miss an opportunity to reflect some of the city's rich diversity, sticking with an all-white cast.


Emily is a vocal disbeliever in all things paranormal, preferring the rational and logical above all else. The reader soon learns that Emily's disbelief is of the "protesting too much" variety when she pours a salt ring around her bed, a nightly ritual to prevent nightmares. From there the plot revolves around Sean needing to break down Emily's defenses so that she can accept that he knows that spirits are real.


Sean has seen ghosts all his life and has learned how to keep their contact on his terms, and to prevent them from becoming intrusive. He's a talented artist who often chooses ghosts as his portrait subjects, and owns a Ghost Tour company in New Orleans. Although wealthy, Sean is not the typical alpha billionaire hero; he works for a living, plays laser tag with his staff, and comes across as a gentle, romantic guy.


The story takes us through Sean and Emily's first few encounters and dates, and does a nice job of developing their attraction and relationship. The real plot comes from how they both interact with the paranormal elements, and how that affects their feelings for each other. The world-building here is simple and understated: ghosts exist. Sean and Emily both know that, but Sean embraces it while Emily is terrified of the power she has seen them wield. Readers who enjoy a classic grovel scene get that from Emily in this book, a reversal from the usual gender roles.


The prose is smooth, the pacing hits all the beats, the characters lively and their chemistry sparkles. In the end, this is a sweet, satisfying romance with just enough ghostly spookiness to have you sighing and saying, "As you wish."



Reviewed by

I've been running my review blog, AlphaHeroes.net since 2007, reviewing mainly Romance in all subgenres, Urban Fantasy, and occasionally speculative or high fantasy. I reviewed for RT Magazine for 3 years, and have been a member of the Avon Romance super reader team ("Avon Addicts") since 2012.

The Masquerade

About the author

Carrie Pulkinen has always been fascinated with things that go bump in the night. Of course, when you grow up next door to a cemetery, the dead (and the undead) are hard to ignore. She's also a sucker for a good happily ever after, so writing paranormal romance is right up her alley. view profile

Published on April 24, 2019

Published by

80000 words

Contains mild explicit content ⚠️

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Reviewed by