Aubrey Ellis leads a normal life on the outside: a newspaper job, an impending divorce, and a loving grandmother. She keeps her paranormal gift of being able to communicate with the dead as under the radar as she possibly can. When the skeletal remains of a body no one thought would ever be found surfaces, Aubrey is assigned to team up with reporter Levi St John to find the mystery behind the body and why the person locked up for the crime may or may not have been the one to commit it. Keeping her gift a secret has never been harder, and as romance flairs between them, Aubrey is certain of only one thing: justice must be found.

GHOST GIFTS is a wild adventure of a mystery, brimming with layers, secrets, and more than one person who should feel guilty. The novel is on the longer side, but each puzzle piece is absolutely needed, making the story read at a quicker pace. The paranormal twist gives the plot favor, and Aubrey's carnival background also adds a fun spice. Some of the most intriguing scenes come from flashbacks centered around Missy, placing the reader in a very different sort of mindset and making the murder mystery much more personal.

The romance is a nice slow burn one, full of conflicts in the form of Aubrey's ex-husband, Levi's on again/off again girlfriend, and haunted pasts for both of them (though Aubrey's is a bit more literal). Readers will enjoy their banter as much as their teamwork and will find it hard not to agree with Aubrey's grandmother on all thoughts of romance. It's a close call as to whether the romance or the mystery is most consuming, but thankfully, both are there, and both are bound to keep readers up far past their bedtime.

Paranormal mystery/romance fans will find a gem of a story in Laura Spinella's GHOST GIFTS.

Book Summary

All Aubrey Ellis wants is a normal life, one that doesn’t include desperate pleas from the dead. Her remarkable gift may help others rest in peace, but it also made for an unsettling childhood and destroyed her marriage. Finally content as the real estate writer for a local newspaper, Aubrey keeps her extraordinary ability hidden—until she is unexpectedly assigned the story of a decades-old murder.

Rocked by the discovery of a young woman’s skeletal remains, the New England town of Surrey wants answers. Hard-nosed investigative reporter Levi St John is determined to get them. Aubrey has no choice but to get involved, even at the terrifying risk of stirring spirits connected to a dead woman’s demise and piquing her new reporting partner’s suspicions.

As Aubrey and Levi delve further into the mystery, secrets are revealed and passion ignites. It seems that Aubrey’s ghost gifts are poised to deliver everything but a normal life.

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