Entries Tagged 'Ghost' ↓
February 26th, 2010 — 4 Stars, Artist, Contemporary, Doctor, Enemies, Estranged, Friends, Ghost, Movie Reviews, Rogues and Rakehells, Time Travel, United States of America
This is a fabulous contemporary update of the Christmas Carol
. Matthew McConaughey is Connor Mead. Connor is the new Mr. Scrooge, except he’s gorgeous, charming, and wealthy. So what’s wrong with the guy? Connor is a miser, just like Scrooge. How? Unlike Scrooge, Connor withholds love/feelings instead of money/possessions. Just like Scrooge, Connor gets visited by 3 ghosts and is forced to learn just what kind of man he really is.
The first ghost is the Ghost of Girlfriend Past. She is a 16 year old girl to whom Connor lost his virginity. Played by Emma Stone, she’s hardly recognizable in braces, frizzy red hair in pigtails and a crazy outfit. If it wasn’t for Stone’s distinctive voice I wouldn’t have been able to place her at all from her role in House Bunny.
Noureen DeWulf plays Melanie, the Ghost of Girlfriend Present. As Connor Mead’s overworked secretary she is the most consistent woman in his life. Melanie’s job includes scheduling everything from photo shoots to play dates. She draws the line at breaking up with his women (a firm believer in karma). DeWulf is fantastic and a sheer joy to watch on screen.
Nadja, Ghost of Girlfriend Future, is played by Emily Foxler. Beautiful and ethereal she leads Connor through the life he can expect if he doesn’t change his ways. Silent like the angel of death from Christmas Carol, she is nevertheless affective in communicating to the audience.
Daniel Sunjata is the wedding beefcake brought in to sex up Jenny Perotti’s love life. It bugged me the whole movie how gorgeous he was and how familiar his face and unable to place him. Ladies before you go to IMDB.com he’s James Holt from the Devil Wears Prada. He plays a sincere, sweet, and intelligent man, luckily for him when Jenny and Connor reunite he is not left out in the cold.
Jenny Perotti, played by Jennifer Garner, is the love of Connor Mead’s life. We watch them as youngsters, as teenagers, as just starting out in life adults and as established adults. Jenny is the girl next door, the one right under your nose. She’s been hurt by Connor in the past. If only being around him didn’t make her feel for him all over again she could move on with her life… will Connor learn his mistakes and if he does can he get her to believe in him again?
I predict Ghosts of Girlfriends past becoming a favorite among many. It certainly is one of mine!
Rating: 4 Stars
Buy: Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
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Originally posted 2009-05-13 05:17:07. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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January 27th, 2010 — 4.5 Stars, A-C, ARC, Contemporary, Dukes and Earls, Entrepreneur, Ghost, Great Britain, Jane Austen, Memory Loss, Regency, Rogues and Rakehells, Scarred Hero, Survival, Teacher, Time Travel
WWJAD is quick fun read. The story is flirty and cute just like the hero, Lord James Shermont. Read it in the bathtub, on the beach, while waiting in line at the post office, wherever, it’s sure to make you smile and leave you eager to turn the page.
Eleanor Pottinger (yes it is unfortunate that is her real last name) is a fan of Jane Austen. We meet her trying to get a room at a Jane Austen convention only to be told the room she booked has been given to somebody else. Luckily there was a newly renovated suite that was available…if she didn’t mind ghosts!
Of course Eleanor changes her mind about ghosts the minute they materialize. Sisters Deidre and Mina from the time of Jane Austen need Eleanor’s help. They are stuck as ghosts and can’t move on without her help. Eleanor jokingly offers to help if they can guarantee she can meet Jane Austen. They agree and before Eleanor can cry “Just Kidding!” Deidre and Mina have transported Eleanor back into the past.
When Eleanor wakes up she is stuck in the Regency era and is believed to be the girls’ widowed cousin Ellen who was arriving from America. Eleanor plays along and gets away with it because they haven’t seen the real Ellen since childhood. The ghosts tell Eleanor her tasks are to keep them out of the clutches of Lord Shermont, a rakehell of the worst sort, and to make sure their brother, Teddy, doesn’t enter into a duel with Shermont over their reputations.
Eleanor was once foolish enough to try and make a Mr. Darcy out of a Wickham, is she smart enough not to do the opposite? What would Jane Austen do?
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Buy: What Would Jane Austen Do?
Originally posted 2009-04-28 05:47:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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December 5th, 2009 — Alien, Demon, Dragon, Fey / Fae, Ghost, Lycanthrope, Magic Users, Merman/Mermaid, Necromancer, Paranormal, Super Hero, Supernatural, Vampire, Werewolf
Truth or another whiny complaint from males about our reading material? Does paranormal romance hopelessly increase our expectations in a man? Let’s examine the paranormal hero to find out:
- He isn’t human. The paranormal hero is vampire, lycanthrope, demon, shapeshifter, angel, or other. Can a normal man get that irresistible dangerous edge? Yes, and he needn't even have a romantic suspense hero occupation. Role play and grab that Halloween cop uniform! Practice your growl. We love it when men growl their excitement!
- He has otherworldly powers. The paranormal hero is powerful in many aspects from his body to his personality, from his wealth to his influence and even to the impossible. Just because the paranormal hero can enter our minds, doesn't mean a real man can't guess what's in ours. Hint: A glass of wine, and a backrub will give any man superhuman powers.
- He’s ridiculously good looking. It’s our fantasy! Besides have you never heard of a gym? You expect us to be perfectly coiffed, made up with shaved legs, I think a few hours in a gym is not asking too much. Quit complaining and give me twenty! Or two hundred as twenty a six pack does not make.
- He’s an out of this world lover. The paranormal hero is a skilled lover. He’s sex walking and a giver of multiple orgasms. Nervous? Don’t worry. Real men can be phenomenal lovers too. It’s all about the E^E equation: Experimentation ^ Experience = Amazing in Bed.
- He’s too perfect. Not all the time! If the paranormal hero didn’t screw up sometime he wouldn’t be so perfect now would he? Flaws create the perfect character. Real men have flaws too.
Conclusion: Paranormal men sparkle. Real men can sparkle too.
Photo Credits: http://weheartit.com/
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November 10th, 2009 — 3.5 Stars, 4 Stars, Book Review, Comedy of Manners, Contemporary, Cursed Lead, Ghost, Headaches, Ireland, M-O, Paranormal, Survival, Suspense/Thriller
I managed to sneak another romance novel in time for Halloween that has a spooky overtone. Wild Sight by Loucinda McGary takes place in a fictional town in Ireland with a lot of real cities and sights thrown in for good measure. This little mystery romance has a paranormal edge with the hero having what the Irish call, “The Sight.” So we get the spectral ghosties in Wild Sight to complement the passing of the Samhain, which actually falls within the books timeframe.
Samhain, if you don’t know, is an Irish holiday or at least a word derived from the ancient Celtic month bearing a similar name. On this day the veil between the spirit world and the human world is thinned and can be breached – kind of like the witching hour superstitions but allocated to a date instead of a time. The corresponding days to our calendar is Halloween or All Saints Day, October 31st and November 1st. It also marks the end of summer.
The Sight, which Donovan O’Shea possesses, manifests itself in different ways for everyone. For Donovan he comes near or in contact with an object or place of an event and he receives a vision. These visions leave him with buzzing, headaches and take place with a swirl and bright flash of colors. His mother possessed it too, but it’s not elaborated how the Sight is different from her to him. We do get to see a little bit of another version of the Sight by a character in Donovan’s past.
Donovan at age seventeen left Ireland behind as fast as he could. He’s now a naturalized American citizen, a CPA to be exact on the east coast. The start of the novel has us meet him a month or so after he’s arrived back in Ireland. He’s here to visit his ailing father, who has suffered a massive stroke, that’s left him partially immobilized and without the ability to properly speak. Donovan is hurriedly trying to sell off the old family land, has started the process to sell the pub his father owned to a third partner, all in his attempts to get the hell out of Ireland before the Sight takes him.
Too bad for Donovan, he’s a little too late.
Rylie Powell is in Ireland trying to track down her MIA father; the very same father she has never met, the one who abandoned her and her mother a very long time ago. She had once promised her mother never to track him down as sometimes the reasons people leave are reasons you don’t want to know. But now that her mother is dead, Rylie doesn’t feel obliged to keep that secret. She feels guilty about her step-dad’s acceptance of her need to come face to face with her real father, but not guilty enough to not go. She takes the directions her hired PI gave her and tracks down her father’s pub. When asking to meet with Dermot O’Shea a tall hunky guy unfurls himself from a corner booth.
She never imagined step-brothers… Older, seriously gorgeous half-brothers.
For Rylie and Donovan it’s instant lust that they fight as they search out the truth of her parentage. Donovan is dead certain his father is not her father (he’s right of course or there wouldn’t be a novel). Rylie wants to believe him, because she doesn’t want to feel sexual desire toward a half-brother. But she fears he’s wrong as she has a history of being attracted to the wrong men and who could be more wrong than Donovan?
As Rylie unravels the mystery of her parentage, a murder twenty years old is exposed on Donovan’s land as archeologists try to uncover ancient Celtic history. Dermot is implicated and Donovan must find out the truth – even if it means evoking the Sight on purpose. He really must be crazy.
Rating: 3.5 Stars if you don't like mysteries with your romance and 4 Stars if you do.
Originally posted 2008-10-29 10:40:33. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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October 29th, 2009 — 4 Stars, A-C, Book Review, Captain, Category, Contemporary, Cursed Lead, Ghost, Journalism, Paranormal, Pirate, Rogues and Rakehells, Sailing, Suspense/Thriller, Travel, United States of America, Writer
Hurray a ghost romance! Double hurray there’s pirates! Oh I was so excited to start this novel and it was a thrilling and sexy story.
The first sexual contact? Burns your fingers it’s so hot!
Tyree's ghosty capabilities include walking through doors, levitating off the bed, solidifying into a sexy sinful lord of the night, and invisibility from most of the populace.
Pirate Captain Tyree St. James cursed to a life of wandering the earth for two hundred years or until a woman loves him so much she is willing to die in his place after accidentally killing his best friend and his love Elizabeth. Terrified a woman would be foolish enough to do that Tyree is steers clear of women and romance. Now he’s been tempted… sorely tempted… by Clara Fergussen.
Clara is the great-great (and so on) grandniece of Tyree’s best friend and curser Captain Sullivan Fouquet. Ironic – but this novel is littered with the relatives of several of the parties apart of the two captains’ lives two hundred years ago. She’s there to research Fouquet and dreams a very erotic pirate dream her first night in Rose Cottage only to find out the next day Tyree is real… if delusional.
The heroine’s stubborn refusal to believe Tyree is both a credit and a discredit. It makes Tyree’s story more poignant, her sacrifice more believable, but it also is highly annoying after about halfway through. Luckily Tyree is sexy enough and there are plenty of pulse heightening moments to overlook the heroine’s obstinacy.
The fire crime mystery is anti-climatic. It’s not wrapped up enough for me – especially with the fire captain, Andre Sullivan. How exactly does he fit in other than looking like a dead ringer for the late pirate captain?
Who knew eye-patches were so sinfully delicious? The one week whirlwind romance is exactly right.
Rating: 4 Stars
Buy: Ghost of a Chance
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October 17th, 2009 — 4 Stars, Architect, Cursed Lead, Doctor, Ghost, Memory Loss, Movie Reviews, United States of America
One of my favorite movies is Just Like Heaven with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. I first saw Mark in the romantic comedy of 13 Going On 30
. He plays the slightly dorky but still hunky guy very well. His face is very expressive and paired with Reese Witherspoon’s spunky perky attitude and good looks it’s a match made in heaven. Pun intended.
Just Like Heaven fits well with all of the hospital television dramas like ER
, Grey's Anatomy
, Scrubs
, House
, etc. If you like one or all of those shows you'll be sure to enjoy Just Like Heaven. Elizabeth Masterson, played by Witherspoon, works hard. In fact, work is all she does. Despite having moved to San Francisco to be closer to her sister and her sister's family, she's not swung by to see them all that much. Because let's face it Elizabeth is dedicated to her work to the point that she's lost all contact with things outside of work. She wants the attending position and is competing for it with another doctor.
The movie starts off following her through one of her many overworked, overtired, entirely too stressful days as she struggles to be the best doctor she can be. By the end of the day her biggest worry is taken care of and she finally gets ready to leave to meet her sister and nieces for dinner. On the drive to their suburban home, tragedy strikes. Elizabeth finds herself in a head-on collision with a semi-truck. Fortunately, she survives. Unfortunately, she's a ghost.
David Abbot, played by Ruffalo, is a depressed architect. His life has seen tragedy as well. Grieving for a lost love, David scours San Fransisco for an apartment with a decent couch. Having found one, he learns the renting contract is more than slightly bizarre. It's rented on a month to month basis, but considering his other options, David immediately accepts and moves in. Just as he's settling into the new place Elizabeth startles him. Several cat and mouse encounters later, David is sure he's either crazy or that Elizabeth is a ghost. A ghost that can't even remember her name (to begin with) and certainly can't recall her life. Determined to get rid of her, David reluctantly agrees to help her solve the mystery of her limbo existence.
Similar to Ghost
with Whoopi Goldberg, this movie has the two characters interact without being able to touch. Luckily David can see Elizabeth or Jon Heder, from Napoleon Dynamite
, who plays an occult bookstore attendant would have to act as the messenger between David and Elizabeth. Well he does have a scene where he interprets the vibes between them, but nothing like Golberg's character in Ghost. Heder plays his part exceptionally well with a good sense of humor. Whether you liked him in Napoleon Dynamite or didn't like him in Napoleon Dynamite you will be hard pressed not to love him in this movie.
Overall this movie is a that weaves grief and humor together so sweetly you can't help but fall in love alongside the characters.
Rating: 4 Stars
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Originally posted 2008-10-18 10:36:05. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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September 12th, 2009 — 3 Stars, Barons and Baronets, Book Review, Ghost, Great Britain, J-L, Lycanthrope, Older Woman/Younger Man, Paranormal, Spinster, Victorian, Virgin Heroine, Werewolf, Working with Land
This was an impulse buy. The cover was pretty (I only saw the front b/c this was an online purchase) and I was fairly certain the inside would give me a wounded/scarred/brooding hero because of the title. To my surprise it was a historical paranormal!
Nicodemus Wulfson is as you guessed it, a werewolf. His brother is being tormented by ghosts, something he emphatically does not believe. He decides the best way to help his brother is to go to London and obtain a person who claims to hold an affinity with ghosts and winds up with Philomena, a ghost-hunter/communicator with spirits.
The mystery behind the haunting was fairly predictable but contains several unique elements. I easily narrowed it down to the two major suspicious persons but was undecided as to which one it was until much later in the novel.
Philomena is a much older heroine than we are used to seeing in romance. She’s forty years old and a spinster, though she’s not unaware of what takes place behind closed doors due to the ghost of a prostitute named Fanny.
Nicodemus is twenty-seven and is determined to claim Philomena. Around her his wolf practically demands he get on with making her his in every way. At first he thinks it is just lust but quickly concludes that he wants more than an affair; he wants a wife and mate.
This book is quite possibly part of a series involving Merlin’s Relics but is well written enough to be a stand alone. Kennedy has marvelous world building skills. We are introduced to this alternate reality of the world where the aristocrat are descendants of Merlin and hold magical powers. The most powerful are royalty followed by the other noble ranks in order. It is the baronets that are lycanthropes or weres and they can be many animals from the more traditional werewolf to snakes, ducks, horses, etc.
Another element that I liked but wasn’t a major factor in the story was the idea of hedge witches (and wizards) who were the bastard children of the nobility. Even if they were claimed, most of them lack the power to be associated with rank.
Rating: 3 Stars
Buy: Enchanting the Beast
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August 15th, 2009 — About, Alien, Demon, Dragon, Fey / Fae, Ghost, Lycanthrope, Magic Users, Merman/Mermaid, Necromancer, Paranormal, Succubus, Super Hero, Supernatural, Vampire, Werewolf
This post is in response to a little nugget that I read in Heather’s article at the Galaxy Express entitled Does Science Fiction Romance Need More Alpha Heroes? The specific section that caught my eye was this:
In response to the My Paranormal Malaise post at Dear Author, Lisa Paitz Spindler asked:
"Why is it the paranormal character is so often the hero and not the heroine?"
Yeah, what's up with that?
I can tell you exactly what is up with that as I am a fan of paranormal romance and fiction. So here it goes… six reasons why the paranormal character is always the hero!
- We like our heroes mysterious. What is more mysterious than a mythological creature, be he vampire or lycanthrope or other?
- Strong powerful hero + average heroine = swoon. When an extraordinary specimen of the male gender sits up and takes notice of a rather ordinary female it is easier to place ourselves in the heroine’s shoes. That’s not because we think of ourselves as unworthy, this formula just makes it more accessible for readers. This scenario also tends to fill the tenderness and protectiveness side of the fantasy.
- Strong powerful hero + kickass heroine = hell yeah. When number two’s formula just doesn’t cut it there are the novels about strong heroes and stronger heroines. In this scenario the reader and heroine tend to dominate over the situation. The hero must work around the heroine to get in her good graces and who hasn’t imagine upon at least one occasion a strong sexy male groveling at your feet?
- Angel, Spike, Jean-Claude, Asher, Edward Cullen, Jasper Cullen, Eric Northman, and Bill Compton. Do I really need to go on with this point? I think this pretty much brings it home. Otherworldly men are downright sexy! Especially vampires!
- The desires of the paranormal fit better on a hero. The act of drinking blood is considered highly sexual in vampire romances. It’s become part of the erotic fantasy. Sometimes the heroine likes to pretend to be helpless and the hero’s act of feeding gives her a thrilling rush. Besides, I think I pretty much covered how icky it can be to read a heroine drinking blood.
- Redemption always looks better on a man. Many paranormal stories involve the preternatural lead repenting his past acts dictated by his nature, circumstances, and misinformed beliefs due to change. This makes him now a brooding hero and occasionally puts the heroine in the middle of the path toward his salvation or as his savior.
So there you go—six reasons paranormal stories always feature preternatural heroes.
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