About the Book
A woman is haunted—both literally and figuratively—by ghosts of the past in this second novel of the Royal Street series by New York Times bestselling author Karen White.
Nola Trenholm may not be psychic herself, but she’s spent enough time around people who are to know when ghosts are present, and there are definitely a few lingering spirits in her recently purchased Creole cottage in New Orleans. Something, or someone, is keeping them tethered to this world. And not all of them are benign.
But with the sudden return of Sunny Ryan, Beau Ryan’s long-lost sister, Nola has plenty to distract her from her ghostly housemates. Especially when the tempting—yet firmly unavailable—Beau, wanting to mete out justice to those he blames for Sunny’s kidnapping, asks Nola for a favor that threatens to derail her hard-won recovery and send her hurtling backward. He asks her to welcome Michael Hebert back into her life, even though Michael is the reason for Nola’s bruised heart. Beau is convinced that Michael’s powerful family was behind Sunny’s disappearance and that Michael is the key to getting information the police won’t be able to ignore—if Nola is willing to risk everything for which she’s worked so hard.
Torn between helping Beau and protecting herself, Nola doesn’t realize until it’s almost too late why the ghosts are haunting her house—a startling revelation that will throw her and Beau together to fight a common enemy. Assuming Nola can get Beau to listen to what the spirits are trying to tell him, because ignoring them could prove to be a fatal mistake…
My Review
I have read so many of Karen White’s books and tend to feel a pull whenever I get a review request for her next offering. This is the second book in a series and I have read the first, The Shop on Royal Street, so I was curious to catch up with Nola, Beau, and the sudden reappearance of his sister Sunny that we learn about at the end of the first book. There is also the storyline of Nola and Beau and their obvious attraction to one another – and their obvious unwillingness to admit said attraction exists.
While Nola is still dealing with the house she purchased in New Orleans coming with some ghostly visitors, and trying to mend her heart after the disaster with Michael Hebert, she is less than pleased when a scheme is devised that will put her back in touch with her ex, Michael. Even through Sunny’s insistence that Nola and Beau don’t try to learn if Michael’s family had anything to do with her disappearance, they come up with a plan to get more answers. I enjoyed some new characters to emerge here, namely Nola’s half-sister I thought was super interesting to meet, and while I had an idea I knew the backstory behind Sunny Ryan, I was still curious to watch it play out. There were some intense scenes in here – the ending especially had my heart pounding – but I did feel there was a pretty big plot twist that didn’t really get explained and was just glossed over. I’m wondering if we’ll have a third book in this series to maybe go a little more in depth into that one – and to see if Nola and Beau actually ever do get together. If you are a mystery lover, enjoy reading about a city full of history (and mystery) like New Orleans, I think you’ll enjoy this one and I’m hoping for another.
4 stars
