Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1822023 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-03
• Released on: 2003-06-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Customer Reviews

Really a Three and one half Star Rating
Christian Reade, heir to an earldom, was famous as the ghost-buster or ghost de-bunker of a haunted house. This unfortunate bit of fame was not something he had been looking for and was something that would be `haunting' him for the rest of his life. Christian knew nothing of ghosts, but he figured out that the hauntings of a spectral claim at Belles Corners were more of a mortal nature than supernatural and now he was being `haunted' by all sorts of requests for him to perform the same services.

Abigail Parkinson inherited Sibel Hall, three new cousins she had no knowledge of, and it appeared - a ghost - Sir Boundefort. She has never seen the ghost who seems only to appear to scare away prospective buyers and she really does need to sell this house! She writes to ghost chaser Christian Reade, (her last resort) with the request to help her rid the property of the unwanted specter. Christian does not want to go but at the request of his ailing grandfather agrees to help this damsel in distress.

Now, I am a huge fan of Deborah Simmons - have read and immensely enjoyed all of her previous novels (absolutely loved the DeBurgh series) so I was really looking forward to the release of her latest book. Unfortunately, this story comes nowhere near the freshness, sensuality, and the excitement of her previous novels. The story, for me, really broke down when Christian arrives to an extremely cold reception from Abigail - remember - she requested that he come! He cannot understand (and the reason is not revealed until the last two pages of the book) why she treats him with such disdain. The three eccentric cousins are relatively flat and though key to the story did not, in my opinion, give it much life. I can generally read a 316 page book in less than a day but this one just did not garner any anticipation from me in that it was too easy to put down and I was not anxious to pick it back up other than to try and figure out why the heroine was so rude to Christian - I stretched this read out to almost three days! Emery the cousin was obnoxious as all get out and why a hostess, did not curb the disdain shown to a houseguest and a peer of the realm was not in keeping with the times. Again, I have read all of this authors earlier books and have to say that this was not up to her usual standards.

Great reading!
Miss Parkinson has a problem. The real estate market is historically poor, but having a ghost makes the idea of selling a house frankly impossible. Her solution is to hire noted ghost hunter, Christian Reade who has recently had a noteable success. For his part, Christian is sick of ghosts and just wants a vacation, but accepts the job as a favor to his grandfather.

To his surprise, the occupants of Sibel Hall, especially Miss Parkinson, are not all that happy to see him and there appears to be a mystery that needs solving, one with an all too human answer. However, the biggest mystery that Christian wants to get to the bottom of is how to win Miss Parkinson's heart.

***** Fans of Regencies and ghost stories alike will find this a charming story with quirky characters abounding. *****

****EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING***
I really don't know what to say. I have NEVER given a book a 1 star review. I have every single book Ms Simmons has written and a fair amount are on my keeper shelf. Agree with the other reviewer about the DeBurgh series(on keeper shelf) and her other books. They were "can't put it down kind of books" and loved them, so was looking forward to this book. I don't remember being so disappointed in a book before, know I probably have, but after her other ones, was surprised. I did some skimming and had a very hard time finishing it. I am the type reader, that once I start a book I have to at least give it the benefit of the doubt and finish it, no matter how hard it is. WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AT ALL.