Title: Ghost of A Chance
Series: Dreamspun Beyond 12 / Requiem Inc. 01
Author: Kris Bethke
Genre: Paranormal
Length: Novel (216 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (16th Januasry 2018)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: 💖💖💖💖 4 Hearts
Blurb: Only love makes life worth living—over and over again.
Ghostwalker Blake Jones dies every day. It’s his job and how he helps trapped souls cross over. But to return to life, he needs an anchor. His new partner, Derek Scott, is a surprise. Not only is he male, but his appearance belies a caring and gentle heart. Despite attraction and a strengthening relationship, they know they shouldn’t take things further.
But there’s a big difference between knowing and doing.
Their growing love presents a problem, though not the one they expect. Blake and Derek have to decide if they should take their relationship to the most permanent level—an unbreakable metaphysical bond. Doing so offers both risk and unimaginable reward. Can Blake let go of his fears and put his complete trust in Derek in order to have the happily ever after he’s always craved?
ISBN: 978-1-64080-034-2
Product Link: Dreamspinner | Amazon US | Amazon UK
Reviewer: Prime
Review: I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up Kris Bethke’s book, part of Dreamspun Desire imprint, Ghost of a Chance. Firstly, I’ve never read anything by the author before. Secondly, reading the blurb I was a little concerned because I had been burned by books that featured “dream walkers” before, but luckily this is nothing like that I just wasn’t understanding the blurb properly when I was reading it. My bad.
Turns out I really loved this book and I was keen to get onto the next two installments in the series.
The concept is different to what I’ve read in the past. There is a special group of people that work for a company called Requiem Inc. It’s not an ordinary company in that the people are charged solely to ensure that spirits are at peace and do not become malicious entities. There are people, Ghostwalkers, with a special gene which means they can die and come back to life, their body heals with some Wolverine type accelerated healing and as a result they can live up to a couple centuries. Then there are another group of people which have a gene which makes them, essentially, the perfect care giver, called anchors. Each ghostwalker needs to be paired with an anchor so that they can go through the trauma of being killed, helping dead spirits who are usually traumatized, coming back to life, living and doing it all over again.
We are introduced into this complicated world by Blake Jones, a ghostwalker who is without an anchor. Despite being gay, or because of being gay, Blake prefers females anchors so that he can’t form a romantic attachment to his anchor. However, his new anchor is a good looking, kind and very male who happens to be a bit of a rarity. Derek Scott possesses the gene to be a natural anchor, which by all accounts is a unique experience for ghostwalkers when under the care of an anchor.
Derek dives into his job as the new anchor for Blake with enough cheer to melt the most bitter, or the most reluctant, of hearts. Which is pretty much Blake. He doesn’t want to get close to Derek, but their chemistry and attraction is off the charts, and Derek is just what Blake needs in his life. Of course, there is always complications when it comes to office romances, but being a paranormal romance this means that there is also the possibility of the guys getting together on a more intimate, literally soul binding level. While Derek is happy to take the plunge, Blake needs a lot more persuasion.
This was a fun and cute story with a good sprinkling of paranormal. I loved the uniqueness of the whole ghostwalker concept. I loved the romance between Derek and Blake, it was a relatively simple love story, the main guts of the story was how the world of Requiem Inc. works. Yes, there is a little angst from Blake’s part but it was definitely vital to making the story a fantastic read.