Review by Ronny
Good Spirits is a fun, addictive read with just the right amount of spice.
Favourite Quote:
On the first day of December, the universe gave to me—
A string of bad luck and a … ghost, apparently.
Book Synopsis:
He’s the Ghost of Christmas Past. She’s not exactly Scrooge.
Ghost of Christmas Past Nolan Callahan intends to spend this holiday haunting like every other—get in, get out, return to his otherwise aimless existence as a ghost awaiting the afterlife.
But when he’s faced with Harriet York, the sweetest assignment he’s ever had, he suddenly finds himself wishing for a future.
Harriet York has no idea why she’s being haunted. She’s a good person—or, at least, she tries to be. A people pleaser to her core, she always does what’s expected of her. But as she and Nolan begin to examine her past, they discover there are threads that bind them together— and realize there might be more to moving on than expected.
With the deadline of Christmas Eve fast approaching, will they find the key to their futures in each other’s pasts? Or will they stay firmly in the present, indulging in their unexpected, spirited connection?
Filled with magic, mayhem, and cozy holiday charm, this swoony romance is B.K. Borison’s best yet!
Review:
This is my favourite Christmas read of the season! I was a bit nervous going into this book. This year, a few contemporary romance authors have crossed over to the paranormal romance world, and unfortunately, they struck out with their paranormal debut novel in my eyes. It’s not an easy thing to blend a contemporary romance with paranormal elements. It needs to be perfectly balanced, and paranormal world-building is important. Good Spirits was perfection in my eyes. B.K. did a fabulous job of bringing in paranormal elements into a contemporary Christmas story.
This is a fun, spicy, and romantic story. I adored everything about it. B.K. took the classic Christmas Carol and put her own charming and fun spin on it. We get to look behind the scenes at the ghostly/spirit world that exists parallel to our own. She kept things light and fun, giving her readers all the information they needed to understand the world she had created. But what made this story extra special was that, beneath all that light, there was tremendous depth and heart. B.K. touches on grief, death, family issues, and learning to stand up for oneself, while ensuring her readers aren’t drowned in heaviness. Everything is perfectly balanced. The story flows so well that attention is captured throughout. I read the majority of this book in one sitting at my brother’s apartment. The world around me disappeared when I was reading it.
Both MCs are great. Harriet is fun and just bursting with Christmas charm. She is not the typical person Nolan would visit before Christmas. Nolan thinks Harriet is hiding some dark secret that would book her on the “Scrooge”-person-needing-to-redeem-themselves list. But as they explore Harriet’s past, it becomes clear that all is not what it seems and that these two characters are connected in mysterious ways. Harriet’s journey in this book is so heartwarming and a little heartbreaking. Harriet has to deal with overwhelming family pressures and has to make the impossible decision of doing what makes her truly happy or doing what makes her family happy. I thought her story was really well done. Nolan is a great, grumpy, and exasperated ghost of Christmas past. I loved watching as we peeled back those layers and saw who Nolan really is under that gruff exterior.
The romance is both sweet and spicy, which is just the way I like it. I loved the chemistry between these two. It’s witty and so delicious. I am a sucker for an exasperated man whose world is completely turned upside down because the heroine is a whirlwind of chaos (that happy chaos energy). There was just something about their story that felt so right, which is pretty typical for a B.K. romance. She knows how to create a connection that is both swoony and romantic, yet feels so real. These two don’t just fall into bed with each other. There is that gradual, slow burn to their relationship that allows that romantic connection to build until there is no denying that what is happening between them is real.
Good Spirits is the perfect holiday romance.
