People say they won’t suffer fools. I, however, will not suffer a bad book. And I won’t make you suffer a bad book either. Welcome to The Post’s October book review.
For this month, we look at the newest paranormal romance novel Ghosted by Northern Beaches local, Amy Hutton.
Releasing this October just before spooky Halloween season, Ghosted follows the story of Holly Daniels, a ghost-whisperer. Two years after
breaking up with paranormal podcast host ex-boyfriend, Callum Jefferies, he turns up again and asks Holly for help. Callum wants the two of them to
investigate East Mill, an infamous haunted house, and stay in adjoining rooms in its rundown guesthouse.
Now, as a rule, I’m not a fan of reading a second-chance romance. I like the meet cute, the anticipation of a new love interest, and experiencing the emotions of a love story as they happen. But Ghosted does second-chance so well, it made me reevaluate. Instead of a meet cute, I got the thrill of needing to know why the two broke up. Instead of watching a love story unfold, I got to see one come back together again.
Ghosted is a special book. Mostly, I’ve yet to read another quite like it with ghosts, haunted houses, paranormal podcasters.
Author Amy Hutton is a fan of all things otherworldly, and consumes media like TV shows Supernatural, Teen Wolf, and the Vampire Diaries. So much so, Amy named her pup Buffy. She drew inspiration from this love of the paranormal when writing Ghosted.
Amy is a lover of great, witty banter between characters, and that shines through with Holly and Callum, and even with the ghostly side characters. But more than that, Amy believes great romance starts with great characters, and despite the fantastical element of the genre, romance needs to hit home for readers to have the story be impactful.
‘Romance books are a Trojan horse—you think you’re going in for this fluffy, fun reading experience, but often they have much deeper content in the
storyline,’ says Amy. ‘Romance characters must be realistic. They must be going through things in their lives where readers can connect with them, while still being a fun, hope-filled story.’
Ghosted was fun, flirty, and spooky. Perfect for the season. Not to mention, the cover design is beautiful, and that alone had me excited to add it to my bookshelf.
