Lace and Shadows

Jessamyn has waited over 100 years for her true love to appear…but can she make him see the sensual woman who is trapped in a spiritual body?

Professor Bret Tyler had bought Bonnie Doon, a spacious plantation mansion in Southern Carolina against his better judgment. He had to use all of his savings to buy the decrepit house, but it had felt so much like home that he could not deny himself. Workers were employed to make the house livable because Bret was expecting his fiancée, Carla, to join him shortly.

Bret had been quick to dismiss tales from the workers about a ghost. After finding a lost portrait of a beautiful young Southern belle, he has erotic visions of her in his bedchamber that night. Even when the ghost confronts Bret in the library, he is still not sure if it is reality or all due to overindulgence in alcohol and fantasy.

The old slave’s prophecy was finally coming true. Jessamyn recognized her soul mate the moment he entered her house. She had only seen him once when she was alive, but she knows that this is the man that she has been waiting for. Her hunger is so great that Jessamyn finds it difficult to hold back on her carnal appetite. Bret obviously desires her too, but he is feeling the guilt of an engaged man. He is determined to resist her feminine charms and find a way to set the young girl free before Carla arrives. Having been denied passion in her lifetime, Jessamyn is not willing to slink in the shadows, watching her man making love with another woman.

Catriona MacGregor’s erotic, haunting tale brings together the spirit of a young woman, desperately searching for the love that she was promised, with a man who is caught between the love of his fiancée and the love of a woman who is no longer flesh and blood. The tale is set against a backdrop of a rambling Southern plantation, complete with a library filled with family diaries, hidden passageways and ruthless treasure hunters searching for a rumored bounty of gold hidden by Confederate raiders. Readers are soon absorbed in this story as the character of Jessamyn comes alive with her lovelorn yearnings. She was taken on the brink of womanhood and is going to stubbornly hold on to her lover now that he has finally arrived. Bret is the essence of a mortal man; he loves his fiancée but is helpless when confronted with the sensual charms of the willful Southern belle. Catriona MacGregor has created a believable dilemma, and Jessamyn’s ghostly abilities are explained and expanded in a way that makes her a credible character. The erotic acts are explicit and compelling because readers understand the hero’s moral entanglements as well as his overwhelming masculine instincts. The fast-paced conclusion will have readers turning pages deep into the night. This is a ghost tale with a twist and a sweetly erotic flavor. I would definitely recommend it to others and will be keeping a watch on this author.

Reviewed by: Naomi