John McIntyre and Nick Kelley are living their lives in what seems to be happy bliss when Nick begins to pull away from John. As John struggles to understand Nick just grows more and more distant. What John doesn’t know and what Nick won’t tell him is that he is getting premonitions and he doesn’t’ know how to explain them to John. Sure, John knows that Nick is a psychic but their time in Scotland has been ghost free and Nick isn’t sure he isn’t just going crazy. Then comes the phone call that sends them across the Atlantic and into a mess of an estranged father, a gold digger, and angry ghost eager to have Nick all to themselves.

Giving up the Ghost is the second book in the Laying a Ghost series. While it can stand alone I recommend reading Laying a Ghost first in order to gain a true appreciation of John and Nick’s relationship. Jane Davitt and Alexa Snow have written a story that sinks its claws into you and refuses to let go. I love John and Nick, I love that they aren’t perfect and that as much as they love each other they both still make mistakes. Being the second book in the series Giving up the Ghost brings us to a point in Nick and John’s relationship where they are over the first “you are perfect” part of any relationship. They have been together about a year and both men are learning that things have to be discussed instead of ignored if the relationship is going to make it. John is probably my favorite character, as this stoic Scotsman who has to learn to move beyond the traditional way a man is expected to behave. He grows into a more mature partner in the relationship and I loved him even more by the end. Nick also grows and learns in this novel and not just emotionally but psychically as well. The sensual scenes aptly displayed the various emotions that the men were feeling; from the mechanical, just having sex because it was expected to the tender, touching, emotionally charged lovemaking that shows just how connected these two men truly are. I can’t wait to read the third book in this wonderful series, Waking the Dead, and find out what happens next.

Reviewed by: Hayley