Whispering Shadows

David Ellis, although a Pulitzer Prize author, has just gotten out of jail after five months. Even though he is not sure what he wants to do with himself, he is sure that he needs to have sex, and soon. The best he can do at the moment is the fantasy he has of doing it with his real estate agent. Unfortunately, the only thing she wants from him is to lease him the house she has brought him to.

He knows the house is too large for his needs, but he becomes intrigued when told that the previous owner had been a famous ballerina who had died thirty years before at the age of 25. Her name was Jenna Whitcomb and her portrait hung above the fireplace. It is black and white. The real estate agent says that Jenna’s mother swears that the day Jenna died the painting was drained of all its color and would not get it back until Jenna was happy again.

David’s first night in the house is eventful. Just as he starts to get one of his very painful headaches, the apparition of a beautiful woman appears and takes away his pain with an amethyst. He is sure it was a hallucination, but begins to doubt it when he ventures into one of the rooms in the house and finds the former owner dancing there. After a very erotic, physical encounter with Jenna, David begins to wonder if he is so sex-deprived that he is allowing himself to fall in love with a ghost. However, after investigating the attic, David finds evidence that Jenna may be in a mystical world and is trying to reach out and contact him.

I found this to be a spellbinding story where I never knew if I was in the real world, David’s fantasy world or a magical world. Every time I think I know which reality David is in, the author jumps in with something to show me that I am wrong. And talk about the eroticism! I wish I had a man that would revel in touching me like David touches Jenna. This would be a great novella to read before bedtime. Pleasant dreams will “haunt” you all night!

Reviewed by: Kathy